Beyond the Belle and Common Good Fellows are two cohort-based programs sponsored by Saint Mary's Center for Faith, Action and Ministry (CFAM), where student site leaders guide volunteers in weekly service with a South Bend Community Partner.
Sarah Neitz, assistant director for justice and solidarity at CFAM, embraces the concept of radical hospitality — a core mission of the center — dedicated to creating inclusive spaces for people from all backgrounds and walks of life.
“Radical hospitality is this idea of going above and beyond to be able to welcome people into spaces and includes ideas of inclusion and belonging,” Neitz said. “We're a place where you can talk about politics and religion and climate change, and so if you like those topics, CFAM is the place for you.”
Beyond the Belle student site leaders work with seven community partners weekly: Notre Dame's Center for Civic Innovation, Center for the Homeless, Darden Elementary School, Dismas House of Indiana, La Casa de Amistad, St. Margaret’s House and Our Lady of the Road with each volunteer cohort capped at five participants.
Common Good Fellows student site leaders work on essential day-to-day tasks from four community partners approximately eight to 10 hours per week: Dress For Success, For the Good, The Local Cup and St. Margaret’s House.
Junior Kaitlynn Rowe, a Beyond the Belle site leader in the Center for Civic Innovation, helps tutor first to sixth graders on reading comprehension and mathematics. Her passion for community engagement, coupled with her volunteer experience at a hospice center this past summer, sparked her interest in working with CFAM.
“I think one of my favorite things so far with CFAM has been about trying to not create such a power dynamic between universities and communities, and I think that's so important, especially within the tri-campus community when we have all of these resources. Not just going into these sites and just kind of shoving resources at people, and instead, actually trying to engage with the people around you,” Kaitlynn Rowe said.
Rowe believes community partnerships are an essential part to balancing this dynamic, who aim to directly assist and support underserved areas and populations within South Bend.
Darden Elementary School empowers its K-5 students by improving their reading skills before they enter middle school and offering them opportunities to interact with undergraduate volunteers pursuing diverse goals. LaCongia McKinney, the family and school specialist at Darden, is intentional about exposing students to a range of future pathways they can achieve through hard work and dedication, including interactions with undergraduate volunteers.
“We have the students come in; they go to the classrooms and assist with maybe some small groups, or maybe as little as two kids, or just a student that's in need of help and extra assistance,” McKinney said.
Working with children is an important aspect within St. Margaret’s House, which serves as daycare center in downtown South Bend with the overall mission of providing a safe space with necessities available to women and children below the poverty line and in financial hardship.
Cathy Hall, the director of marketing, believes every woman should have the opportunity to shape her own destiny, supported by community resources, regardless of her socioeconomic background.
Hall mentioned how Saint Mary’s has had a “very long relationship” with St. Margaret's and how there are a variety of transformative experiences and service opportunities for volunteers.
“We have a lot of Saint Mary's students who are involved, which is so cool, and we have a couple of interns right now who actually do their work study hours here,” Hall said.
Motivation to help those who are economically disadvantaged is shared by Our Lady of the Road, a ministry of the Saint Peter Claver Catholic Worker community in South Bend. The organization provides those who are unhoused with accommodating services such as a laundromat, cafe, dining room and showers along with serving breakfast primarily by volunteers every Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning to anyone in need. The service is in collaboration with other homeless service providers for the rest of the week, with Beyond the Belle volunteering with the routine breakfasts every Friday morning.
Jonathan Schommer, the executive director at Our Lady of the Road, said volunteering “can be an experience of encountering somebody with a different life experience and background.”
“My experience, and I know a lot of folks, is in these conversations with people who are in a very different state of life, there's so much learning and wisdom a student can really gain and grow from in these conversations and interactions,” Schommer said.
The sentiment of creating connections between volunteers and the people they serve is shared by Matthew Kaczmarek, the program director of Dismas House, which provides transitional housing for men and women who were previously incarcerated and builds a supportive family community focused on rebuilding. Through its partnership with CFAM, the organization offers residents a weekly Tuesday dinner, where volunteers prepare a variety of meals and join the residents for a shared dining experience.
“We define a supportive community as characterized by students and returning citizens living together in a family setting with a spirit to open and participate in decision making with an emphasis on the common good. We're a unique place where college students, returning citizens and volunteers come together to create a community,” Kaczmarek said.
Neitz believes that through CFAM, volunteers are not only given the opportunity to give back to the community but also find a pathway to discovering their own identity and place in the world.
“I think we have people who come to CFAM from really different walks in life, and often are looking for different things as they engage in our programming. So I always hope that people are able to grow on the journey that they're on as they come to CFAM,” Neitz said.
