Experience Making a Difference

Experience Making a Difference

Welcome to IVC Syracuse

Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world.  Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.

St. Teresa of Avila

Giving purpose to the next stage of your life

The Ignatian Volunteer Corps of Syracuse, NY was established in 2009, when Syracuse’s first IVC Director, Tom Coman, was strongly encouraged by his wife, Sally, (pictured above). He entered into a partnership with the Le Moyne College Jesuits, the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, and Catholic Charities of Onondaga County. His successor, Ron Russell, continued to expand the number of service corps members serving the poor and needy in the Syracuse area.

Linda Zimmerman, the current Syracuse Director, began in Fall, 2017 and worked to create a more formal working partnership with Le Moyne College and in 2018, the Currie Alumni Partnership for Service (CAPS) was signed. Syracuse continued to establish itself as one of the regions within the Ignatian Volunteer Corps. Although smaller than many metropolitan areas, Syracuse does have similar community needs and perhaps an even greater proportion of those in need of services.

Currently, IVC Syracuse has approximately 30 volunteers working at service sites for the poor, the homeless, immigrants, refugees, and those who are materially in need in and around Syracuse. Each service corps member works with a specific partnering agency during the year and all of the service corps members meet monthly to pray together and share their volunteer experiences. In addition, each service corps member is offered the opportunity to meet individually with a spiritual reflector to discuss their service corps activity and how it affects their lives on a day-to-day basis. The Service Corps Members also gather for an annual retreat focused on Ignatian Spirituality. The IVC of Syracuse provides the opportunity for people who are retired, or semi-retired, to make a meaningful difference in their community, while enriching their own personal relationship with God, as reflected through their service experience.

Are You interested in Becoming A Service Corps Member?

Click here to complete IVC Syracuse Volunteer Application Form.