Our volunteers approach service from a place of compassion and walking with people in solidarity.
We are so excited to host Andrea Haller today, November 3, 2021 here at the University of Detroit Mercy. She will be both in person in the Ford Life Science conference room 102 on the McNichols campus as well as on line via zoom from 2:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern.
Topic: Andrea Haller, Mercy Volunteer Corps Meet and Greet
Time: Nov 3, 2021 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://udmercy-edu.zoom.us/j/99503810030?pwd=NzA0MVgzR2xRL2piakNhVy9qd1psZz09
Meeting ID: 995 0381 0030
Passcode: 661342
This Meet and Greet will focus on how Mercy Volunteer Corps service:
- Will position you to make meaningful contributions in community service either locally or abroad
- Can be a year-long clinical site as a gap/enhancement year
- Will support you ( housing, food, transportation) as you support others
- May give pre-health college grads the time to study for national exams and apply to graduate schools in the health professions during this transformational year of service
It’s so awesome to discover resources! In August, Pre-Health Advisor Carmen Gamlin interviews Andrea Haller who is a Coordinator for Mercy Volunteer Corps. Andrea provides information about the year-long post bachelor service opportunity and how Detroit Mercy recent graduates can apply.
- Most students and alumni have heard of the Peace Corps where citizens serve a couple of years in another country. However, Mercy Corps is not as well known here at a Mercy Institution. Would you share what Mercy Corp is?
Mercy Volunteer Corp is a year-long service program with the option to do a second year similar to peace corp but this is a faith based program. So we’re really going to dive into those values of spirituality, simplicity, social justice and community.
People serve in all different kinds of areas in 12 different cities throughout the US and South America.
- I work with Pre-health students here at the University of Detroit Mercy who are both local (metro Detroit) and from all over the country. How does the location and site selection work for volunteers?
We consider it a mutual discernment process…If there’s a particular area that you want to serve, that’s taken into consideration…What’s really important to us is that you find a service site that really matches with your goals and the things you are passionate about.
Say you’re most interested in working with people experiencing homelessness, we’ll say here are some cities where you could do that and work in the healthcare field and then you would tell us which one speaks most to you. Which one are you most interested in? You have the opportunity to talk with the [people] at that service site to see if it really does feel like the right fit, and if not, that’s ok; we can go to another option for you to look into.
- Is the Mercy Corps Volunteer program limited to Mercy College students? How can someone apply?
It’s not limited to Mercy students that attend Mercy universities. All are welcome as long as they share those common values of social justice, compassionate service, spiritual growth and simple living.
Our volunteer year starts in August so in September our application is released and that includes your transcripts, references and written responses that just tell us a little bit more about you and your commitment to these shared values…we will screen your application between staff and alumni and then after that you would be offered an interview…Depending on if you’re interested in serving internationally or in the US, you would go to discernment weekend…If you’re interested in serving in the US, then at that point you would be accepted as a mercy volunteer and then we will work through that placement process that I talked about earlier.
*Bonus* Andrea discusses Detroit Specific Mercy Volunteer Corps Opportunities and Support
We have a variety of needs, some of those right in Detroit we have two free healthcare clinics that our volunteers work in; so there are two positions in Detroit. This is particularly a great opportunity if you’re interested in going into medical school later. We also have a public health physician in Detroit working with Detroit People’s Water Board to ensure that [people] are getting access to clean, affordable water in the city..
Throughout the US there are other clinic positions. There are some working with elderly [people] to provide more of the social work side of the healthcare system. We have another position working in the emergency room to offer support to [those] who aren’t sure where to go.
Now as a volunteer, you might be thinking, well how am I going to afford to live? We’ve got you covered! We provide a monthly stipend for all of our volunteers. One of those stipends covers all your household needs, like food, your toiletries…Then another one that is for your personal use to use however you choose.
We also provide transportation for all of the volunteers. Depending on where you’re living. For example Detroit, you would have a car and we would provide you a gas stipend…Additionally, we also provide the housing for the volunteer. So you’ll live together with other volunteers and then if you have student loans, there are opportunities to defer those student loans so you don’t have to worry about them while you’re serving.
Andrea Haller (she, her, hers)Community Coordinator
Mercy Volunteer Corps | 215.346.6643
andreahaller@mercyvolunteers.org