For more than 60 years, the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) has been a pioneer in the service landscape. With over 100 volunteers each year and over 12,000 alumni, they are one of the largest lay, Catholic, full-time volunteer programs in the world.

JVC gives young adults the opportunity to engage in service and solidarity with local communities, rooted in the values of spirituality, simple living, community and social justice. Host Mike Jordan Laskey recently spoke with JVC’s president, Tom Chabolla, who has served in the role since 2018. Tom has more than 30 years working in faith-based and community-development organizations and he brings a wealth of expertise to the role. Mike asked Tom about what inspires him in his work, plus how he and his team navigated the pandemic. They also talked about the challenges JVC and other similar organizations are facing today and how they’re responding.

This conversation is the second part of a two-week series on full-time volunteer programs in the Ignatian family. Be sure to listen to last week’s conversation between my colleague Eric Clayton and Mary McGinnity, president and CEO of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, which typically works with volunteers quite a bit older than JVs, folks who have spent decades in career and family life.

Jesuit Volunteer Corps: https://www.jesuitvolunteers.org/

About Tom Chabolla: https://www.jesuitvolunteers.org/jvc-news/meet-tom-chabolla-jvc-s-new-president-jvc-is-proud-to-welcome-tom-at-the-helm-of-the-organization-starting-november-1

www.jesuits.org/

www.beajesuit.org/

twitter.com/jesuitnews

facebook.com/Jesuits

instagram.com/wearethejesuits

youtube.com/societyofjesus

jesuitmedialab.org/