Community Partners

Through Community Based Learning courses, Holy Cross students have the opportunity to work with a variety of organizations in Worcester County on either service or research projects.  Some of our community partners and projects students have worked on include:

EDUCATION/MENTORING

Boys and Girls Club of Worcester
The Boys and Girls Club offers a variety of opportunities for Holy Cross students. Two to four students collaborate with Club staff to run Smart Girls, a weekly mentoring program for girls aged 8-17. A group of students also runs the Healthy Habits program, which teaches children to incorporate nutrition, fitness, and wellness into their daily lives. Holy Cross students also provide childcare, tutoring, swim instruction, art classes, and gym activities. Prospective volunteers attend an orientation in which they are introduced to the building, the different programs, and rules and regulations of the Club.

Nativity School
The Nativity School of Worcester is an all-boys Jesuit middle school that is located in the Main South neighborhood of Worcester.  Volunteers assist with administrative tasks, tutor, and spend time with the boys. Nativity especially welcomes Holy Cross students who want to make a more significant and very regular commitment to working 1:1 with a student for a minimum of 5 hours per week.  These volunteers must have at least one full day or two mornings/afternoons free.

Girls C.H.O.I.C.E.
Girls C.H.O.I.C.E. is a mentoring program for middle and high school girls that meets at the YWCA on Saturday mornings.  Holy Cross students meet with the participants and Girls C.H.O.I.C.E. staff for group mentoring activities every Saturday from 10:30-1:30.  The organization seeks reliable female volunteers who are willing to make a personal commitment to the girls they mentor.

Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad (no website available)
ICC Community Kids Club is a free faith based neighborhood program providing after hours recreational, educational, and cultural activities for elementary, middle, and high school youth ages 6 to19.  Activities include arts and crafts, basketball, games, movies, dance, open discussions groups on youth issues, job skills, and leadership skills.  The program needs volunteers Monday and Wednesday nights from 5:45-8:00 p.m.

Big Brothers Big Sisters
Big Brothers Big Sisters matches at-risk youth with mentors from the local community.  In addition to serving as big brothers and sisters, Holy Cross students assist the organization with fundraising, event planning, and recruitment within the Worcester community.

The Latino Education Institute
The Latino Education Institute (LEI) at Worcester State College seeks to improve academic achievement and the general well-being of Latino individuals and families in the Worcester area.  Two programs that Holy Cross students have been involved in through LEI are:

Innovative Services for Latino Achievers (ISLA) focuses on academic success, leadership skills and well-being, and prepares students for the transition from elementary to middle school.  ISLA is looking for mentors to work with students Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 2:30-4:30 at two Worcester sites. 

Latina Achievers in Search of Success (LASOS) engages sixth grade Latina girls and their mothers in an educational after school program which focuses on self exploration, personal development, cultural enrichment, early college awareness and career exploration.  The program meets one evening per week for two hours.

North High School
North High is one of seven high schools in the City of Worcester.  Volunteers will participate in designing and implementing an Afterschool Homework Center for high school students enrolled in the AVID program.  AVID is a new program at North aimed at providing intensive in-school academic support to help prepare students for college.  The Afterschool Homework Center is intended to provide these students with additional learning supports through tutoring and mentoring by college students.  Students must be available to tutor one or two afternoons per week.

In addition to tutoring, Holy Cross students work on various projects at North High.  During the Spring 2010 semester, students enrolled in African American Music: From Blues to Rap hosted students from North and South High Schools for a hip hop symposium.  Each semester, Let’s Get Ready expands access to college in America by mobilizing, equipping, and empowering a movement of college students helping high school students get to college.  The group meets at North High on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00.

ENVIRONMENT

Massachusetts Audubon Society
Broad Meadow Brook is the largest urban sanctuary in New England.  Broad Meadow Brook offers a variety of exciting volunteer opportunities and internships for people of all interests and experience levels.  In the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters, students enrolled in Theology & Ecology and a Montserrat course cleared trails at Broad Meadow Brook.

REFUGEE AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES

The New Citizens Center
The mission of the Dr. James A. Caradonio New Citizens Center is to provide a warm welcome to Worcester Public School students who arrive from other countries with significant academic gaps.  The school focus is to teach English Language Learners not only the English language, but also academic and school-based cultural skills, which will promote successful future academic and social endeavors in their home schools.  Volunteers at NCC will work alongside classroom teachers to help students with social skills and development from 12:00 – 2:30 any day of the week.  Volunteers are also needed at Worcester Technical High School on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:45 – 4:45.

Lutheran Social Services
The Unaccompanied Minors Program at Lutheran Social Services provides foster home care and supportive case management services to refugee children and teens who have been separated from their families and fled their homelands alone because of war and persecution.  Holy Cross students help the adolescents with their homework and serve as mentors and role models.  Many of the children are Spanish-speaking.

The Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center
RIAC is a very small office that focuses primarily on resettling refugees in the Worcester area.  The single case worker in the Worcester office welcomes families and individual refugees who come from Africa and Southeast Asia, providing all kinds of support, from greeting clients at the airport to helping them fill out public assistance applications.  During the 2009-2010 academic year, a group of Holy Cross students helped RIAC to implement drop-in center for children who need ESL practice.  Volunteers worked in small groups or one-on-one with clients to build and improve vocabulary, familiarize new arrivals with the culture of Worcester and the US, and to practice working with computers.  Afternoon or Saturday availability is required for this project.

TRANSITIONAL HOUSING/SHELTERS

Abby’s House
Abby's House is a shelter for homeless, battered, and low income women and their children in the Worcester community. Many students work overnight shifts, opening the shelter in the evenings, interacting with the guests, and returning to campus the following morning. Abby's House provides a safe, supportive environment for women in the community and Holy Cross volunteers to learn from one another. Evenings spent at the shelter are a great time to offer an ear to the stories and struggles of these women’s lives.

Dismas House
Dismas House is a supportive community that provides transitional housing and services to former prisoners and real-life educational opportunities to students from area colleges, and from throughout the US and the world.  The men and women of Dismas House live and work as a family, helping each other grow towards the goal of reintegration into society.  In the Fall 2009 semester, students enrolled in a Labor Economics course worked with the residents on a job placement project.  Volunteers are needed for two projects: the residents sell hand-made soaps and candles, and they would like help with marketing these items.  Dismas also needs volunteers to help with fundraising.

The Friendly House
The Friendly House is an emergency shelter for homeless families.  They provide the families with a reliable source of food and shelter while they attempt to relocate into an affordable and permanent home.  They provide advocacy, job search assistance, and education to facilitate this transition and ensure future stability.  The shelter is in desperate need of back-to-school clothing and supplies, and would greatly benefit from a volunteer to organize the solicitation and collection of donations.