Washington, DC
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PROGRAM PARTNER
National Capital Presbytery
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Washington, DC YAV site offers an opportunity to experience service and community life while living in the nation’s capital. Volunteers will serve beside the poor and low-income residents of DC—and will have the unique opportunity to engage issues such as poverty, hunger, and homelessness on the policy level. YAVs will seek and give witness to God’s activity in the city, and in their lives, as they learn practices to sustain a lifetime of justice-seeking.
PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
- The Office of Public Witness for the Presbyterina Chuch (USA):
Volunteers will work with the Office of Public Witness staff to communicate the social witness positions of the PC(USA) to decision-makers in DC, while also empowering Presbyterians to be faithful advocates and citizens. Volunteers will engage a public policy issue of interest, following it through the political and decision-making process, experience vocational discernment in the field of public witness, hone their advocacy skills, and think theologically about the role of the church in the public square.
- The Pilgrimage at the Church of the Pilgrims:
Volunteers will work with the Pilgrimage’s coordinator to set up projects for groups visiting the city in soup kitchens, food banks, urban gardens, and homeless shelters, as well as lead them in post-experience reflections on the root causes of poverty. The Pilgrimage is the principal outreach ministry of the Church of the Pilgrims, and it hosts groups in hostel-style accommodations while they engage with the poor and low-income residents of the city through experiential learning projects.
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Washington Seminar Center at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church:
Volunteers will work with ecumenical partners on Capitol Hill to coordinate direct care for people experiencing homelessness, and will lead visiting congregational groups in conversations about poverty. A typical day would include serving breakfast to the homeless, teaching a midday seminar to a visiting group on the root causes of poverty, and spending the afternoon with the guests at Shirley’s House—a shelter for women and children. Located just steps from the Capitol, the Washington Seminary Center welcomes groups from all over the country who come to DC to serve. - NEXT Church:
Volunteers will work with the director of NEXT Church to build a movement across the Presbyterian Church (USA)—encouraging the church to be more relational, more diverse, more collaborative, more hopeful, and more agile. Volunteers will do relational organizing, maintain a social media presence, fundraise, publicize, learn the ins and outs of small non-profit management, and plan regional and national conferences. Volunteers will be on the ground in local congregations while also involved in denomination-level questions and initiatives.
HOUSING
Volunteers will live together in a diverse neighborhood of DC, and will commute to their placements by bus, bike, or Metro.
INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY ASPECTS
Volunteers will be expected to live as a community and draft a covenant for their common life. Practices of simple living, prayer, and spiritual reflection will be explored weekly with the site coordinator. The YAVs will cook together, explore the city together, retreat together, and find emotional and spiritual support from placement mentors, local spiritual leaders, YAV alum, and the site coordinator.
REQUIREMENTS
Age: 20-29
Education: college desirable
SITE COORDINATOR
The Rev. Sarah Cairatti
