Loyola 4 Chicago is a volunteer organization through the Office for Community Service & Action at Loyola University Chicago. L4C is one of the first organizations I involved myself in during the first few weeks of my freshman year. I wanted a weekly service opportunity in which I immersed myself in the local community and performed hands-on work at a grassroots level.
Through my freshman year, I performed service at Northside Housing off the Lawrence "L" stop in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. Northside Housing is an overnight men's homeless shelter helping aboout 75 men every night in the basement of a Baptist church. Upon arrival, I spent time with the men. We played Jenga and cards as well as watched TV and engaged in great conversations. Sometimes I helped them create email addresses using my laptop or update/create resumes if needed. After a while, we served the men dinner and then helped clean up after they finished. I did this weekly for 9 months and on the last Wednesday of volunteering, we organized a concert for the men while they enjoyed dinner. Below this paragraph is a link of one of the men and myself singing Greg Lake's "Lucky Man," on the last day of volunteering.
At the end of my freshman year, I decided I wanted to be more involved with Loyola 4 Chicago since my experience was so positive. I interviewed to be a leader of a volunteer group and earned the position. For the duration of my sophomore year, I led a group of 9 peers to Misericordia on Monday nights. Misericordia is home to over 600 children and adults with developmental disabilities from diverse racial, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Wednesdays are gym nights. My group travelled via the bus to the Misericordia campus and we played various sports like basketball, bowling, hockey, baseball, volleyball, and many others with the residents. Witnessing the pure joy on the residents' faces is one of the highlights of my sophomore year at Loyola University Chicago.
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