Community Service

The Ministry office is located on the second floor room 270 of the Stritch School of Medicine building at Loyola Medical Center, 2160 South First Avenue in Maywood.

COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

“Community Night” Homeless Outreach
Every Thursday, Loyola medical students make bag lunches and deliver them to people who are homeless on Lower Wacker Drive and in local parks. Nearly all the food is donated from local businesses including: Great Harvest Bread, Prairie Bread Kitchen, Starbucks, & Ultra Foods. Each week the students meet in the home of one of the University Ministry chaplains, have dinner together, make the sandwiches and pack the lunches and deliver them to some of Chicago’s homeless men and women. Community Night provides a wonderful opportunity not only to serve the most vulnerable who live on our city streets, but also to build community among Stritch students.

Fall Urban Plunge
During Fall Break, Ministry Staff organize with students the Fall Urban Plunge, which generally takes place over 2 days in a central city Chicago neighborhood. The group stays overnight in a local church or shelter (even sometimes with families) and spends the days both serving and learning about life in the community. Among the projects with which our students have worked during Urban Plunges include the following: soup kitchens and food pantries, schools and after school programs, drug/alcohol rehab centers, medical clinics, gang intervention centers, community centers, ESL programs, and community development projects. The Urban Plunge has taken place in these communities in Chicago’s West and Southwest sides since its inception in 2001: Pilsen/Little Village, Austin, Lawndale, and Garfield Park.

Hunger Week
For over 30 years, Hunger Week has been a strong tradition at Loyola University Chicago. Taking place in November, more than a week of programs and events take place with the goals of raising awareness about the continuing hunger epidemic in our world as well as raising funds to support organizations dedicated to ending hunger, both locally and globally.

Hunger Week is spearheaded by University Ministry Staff, but it is really a student effort with collaboration from many individual students and student organizations such as: Physicians for Human Rights, Family Medicine Interest Group, Student National Medical Association, Medical Student Union, and Class Officers.

In recent years, over $5000 has been raised each year through events such as: Hunger Week Fast, Powderpuff Football Game, Hoops for Hunger 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament, Hunger Awareness Dinner, Coffee House Talent Show, Pennies Competition, Underserved Area Physician Panel, Coat Drive, Canned Food Drive, and other initiatives.

Recipients of Funds from Hunger Week include: Oxfam International, Concern USA, The Heifer Project, Santa Luisa Nutrition Center in Dolores, Guatemala, Las Mercedes Nutrition Center in El Progreso, Honduras, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Franciscan Outreach, Loyola SSOM “Community Night” Homeless Outreach, St. Pius Soup Kitchen in Pilsen, St. Procopius in Pilsen, Our Lady of Lourdes Food Pantry, Rock of Ages Baptist Church in Maywood, and many other individuals and organizations.

Thanksgiving Baskets
Loyola Stritch medical students with the support of University Ministry organize the collection and distribution of Thanksgiving Baskets to provide meals for local needy families. Each year, over 200 baskets are donated from various individuals and departments representing every corner of the Loyola Health System community. Baskets consist of canned goods, vegetables, desserts, and a gift certificate to buy a turkey, and often include “extras” such as tablecloths, toys for kids, candles with candleholders, and other extra “goodies” that the donors decide to give. Students deliver these baskets the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to needy families in Maywood, and in Chicago’s West and South sides.

St Vincent DePaul Homeless Outreach Day
Loyola SSOM medical students and physicians team up with the St Vincent DePaul Center on Chicago’s North side for their annual Thanksgiving event for local homeless people. Clinical students triage the guests with the support of Paul Hering, M.D., offer basic screenings and provide referrals. First & second year students serve as hosts for the guests, directing them to services that include donated clothing, shoes, and sleeping bags, a Thanksgiving dinner, haircuts, medical and podiatry assistance, and many others.

Christmas Toy Drive
The Christmas Giving Tree is organized by dedicated medical students who, with the support of Ministry staff, connect with local organizations to provide toys for needy children at Christmas. Students make ornaments and provide the name and age of each child from local schools, churches, community centers, and shelters that are sponsored. Last year, over 200 children received age-appropriate gifts through the Stritch Christmas Giving Tree.

AIDS Week
Like Hunger Week, AIDS Week at SSOM is a collaborative effort. Organized by SSOM’s chapter of Physicians for Human Rights, AIDS Week takes place in early March and is a week of events to raise awareness of the devastating worldwide AIDS pandemic, the disparities in access to treatment, the heroic people who have dedicated their lives to fighting HIV/AIDS, and many more topics. In addition, funds raised from AIDS Week have benefited the following organizations in Africa which are working to support people with HIV/AIDS: Nyumbani in Kenya, and Upendo Village in Tanzania.

Student Organizations & Student Affairs offer other Community Service Opportunities including (but not limited to):

Special Friends – Medical Students are paired up with a child with cancer in the peds-oncology unit. They serve as a mentor, playmate, and support for the child and his/her family.

Community Health Clinic Night on Tuesdays – The Free Clinic in Humboldt Park neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side serves primarily Puerto Rican & Polish Immigrant families. Loyola students & physicians run the clinic on Tuesday nights by volunteering their time seeing patients. This is organized by the student organization “Students for a Healthy Community”

STATS (Students Teaching AIDS to Students) – Students travel to local schools to educate children and teens about AIDS and other STDs.

Christmas in April – A version of “Extreme Makeover-Home Edition” this is a home building/improvement project that takes place on one Saturday in April. Loyola medical students join hundreds of other volunteers and sponsor low-income families to support and work alongside them to repair whatever needs they have in their homes.

Spring Break Service Immersion trip to Appalachia – With the support of AMSA, Loyola students spend their spring break in Harlan County, Kentucky, working with low-income families on repairing and building projects.