While arguments over tax-supported social programs rage on in the halls of Congress, some human services are beyond a price tag: visits to a lonely senior citizen; tutoring sessions with eager but disadvantaged youngsters; grocery shopping lessons for a young adult with a disability; cleanup campaigns in rundown neighborhoods.
At Notre Dame, the Center for Social Concerns sees its mission as "calling us all to service and action for a more just and humane world." Every year, more than 1,200 students respond to the call and regularly give time to any of 40 social-service organizations in the South Bend area. These are not one-shot deals but ongoing commitments of time and energy.
Three of those twelve hundred -- Colleen Cahill, Isaac Duncan and Amy Vosburg -- are profiled here.