HCA celebrates 25 years of service
LIZ KAHLING
News Writer
This fall's Holy Cross Associates will be the 25th group of post-graduate students to embark on the year-long service program.
It began with five volunteers in Portland, Ore., and one in Chile. The program now has expanded to six more domestic sites in Phoenix, Ariz.; Coachella, Calif.; Colorado Springs, Colo; South Bend; Brockton, Mass.; and Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
The anniversary celebration begins in August with reunions in Portland, Chicago, New York and Washington with the program's more than 700 alumni. The administration is also hoping to compile a book of letters and correspondences as a written history of the program and its people.
The planning is still in the works, but this year's accepted associates should expect even more excitement in anticipation of their future experience as well as the celebration of the tradition of this post-graduate service program.
The tradition of HCA strikes a timely national chord in light of President Bush's State of the Union Address, calling for more volunteer corps to rebuild communities, mentor children and teach in troubled schools — much of what the associates have been doing for years. HCA continues to be a model for other faith-based volunteer services, providing training and development.
"We are focused on how we can connect with other programs that will benefit all service programs," said Rebecca Go, South Bend assistant director.
John Pinter, the South Bend director, said, "The anniversary celebration is kind of an indirect form of recruiting by example of what people have gone on to do."
Pinter explained that HCA provides recently graduated students a chance to discern how to use their talents as students in service and a way to test their skills.
"Some people say it's a year off, but it's really a `year-on,' focusing on your God-given strengths and applying yourself," he said.
Alumni, according to the director, continue to draw from their experiences and find different ways of reconnecting with the program's four pillars: commitment to service, community, living a simple lifestyle, and spirituality.
Although additional sites have been added, officials do not foresee any future sites in the immediate future. The idea is to be big enough for plenty of options in sites and jobs but not so big that the associates would not get to know the other 40 associates, according to administrators.
The process of establishing another site can be slow.
"It takes money and the local community has to be ready for it, as opposed to us saying `we'd like to send some people to you,'" Pinter said. "There needs to be some pull from the community."
All News Stories for Friday, February 15, 2002
