SHARE:  
"People in every nation enhance the social dimension of their lives
by acting as committed and responsible citizens."
- Pope Francis
Introducing CSSA's All-New Podcast: Living the Mission
Delaney Burns '21 and Caroline Maltese '21 bring you "Living the Mission," the Center for Service and Social Action's official podcast. We welcome you to join us on our journey toward becoming more socially responsible leaders. Our goal is to bring you insights regarding CSSA’s values and the Social Change Model of Leadership as we interview some friends from our John Carroll community. Let’s create some positive social change together.




You can also listen to Living the Mission on Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts, or Apple Podcasts
The Become a Refugee Response Youth Mentor
The goal of the Youth Mentoring Program with The Refugee Response is to connect refugee students with volunteer mentors in order to help students: achieve their own academic, language and social-emotional goals, nurture a growth mindset, and build confidence in their skills, abilities and identities. Youth mentors are academic tutors, role models and friendly community connections. The Refugee Response believes these connections significantly bolster student development. The relationships between students and mentors not only result in increased confidence in English language skills but also increased comfort in new communities. 

This opportunity is virtual this fall. View their flyer for more information.

Visit the Youth Mentoring Page on their website for an overview of the program and their students. Visit the Become a Youth Mentor Page for an overview of each role requirement and a link to the application.
Service Challenge: Walk in Solidarity with Refugees
Join Jesuit Refugee Service/USA in raising awareness for and expressing solidarity with refugees by participating in this 40-day challenge to reach 40 miles!

Walk, run, cycle, or move in the way that works for you to reach 40 miles by November 14 – JRS Day and JRS’s 40th Anniversary!

As we continue to social distance and limit our travel, this 40-day challenge to reach 40 miles will assist JRS in raising awareness for refugees and of our work to accompany, serve, and advocate on behalf of refugees and forcibly displaced persons. During the challenge they’ll bring the stories of refugees to your inbox and ask that you walk with them as you physically walk 40 miles in solidarity. Then, share your experience with your network and community.

Deadline to register is TOMORROW, October 6! Learn more and register here. Please contact outreach@jrsusa.org with any and all questions.
Learn: 15 TED Talks on Refugee Resilience
These TED and TEDx Talks that highlight the resilience of refugees from all around the world. These are just a handful of voices representing the ingenuity of tens of millions of displaced persons and the daily struggles they face. Here is a list of 15 of the most inspirational and beautiful Talks from refugees and the humanitarians working with them. Each Talk is short – so feel free to bookmark so you can come back and listen to each unique perspective.

Advocate 1: Urge Your U.S. Senators to Support the
Global Child Thrive Act
The U.S. has been a leader in addressing global poverty and providing life-saving aid to millions of children worldwide, but children globally are still at risk of not being able to reach their full potential due to poverty, conflict, forced displacement and malnutrition.

More than half of the world's refugees are children. Many face life-long challenges in their development due to the trauma of having seen the devastation of war in their communities and the stress from being forced to flee their homes.

COVID-19 make supporting and caring for vulnerable children even more critical. And your voice can help make a difference. 

Advocate 2: Tell U.S. Senators & Representatives to Support the Refugee Admissions Program
On November 30, just minutes before the deadline, news broke that the Trump administration plans to set the Fiscal Year 2021 refugee admissions ceiling at just 15,000, a dramatic all-time low. This would be a 16.5% decrease from last year’s ceiling of 18,000, which was already the lowest number in the history of the US Refugee Admissions Program. Historically, refugee resettlement has seen strong bipartisan commitment, with an average of 95,000 refugees resettled each year prior to 2017.
 
The US Refugee Admissions Program, once the leader in the world for resettling refugees, needs our vocal support more than ever. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are nearly 30 million refugees in the world—the highest number in human history. As the world faces uncertainty in a global pandemic, now is the time to express our compassion and our willingness to welcome refugees, rather than ignore the needs of the most vulnerable.

The Administration’s drastic cut in refugee admissions has not yet been consulted with Congress, and thus this is still a pending decision. Call your Senators and Representatives and tell them to demand raising the number of refugees admitted to the United States in 2021. You can also share this bipartisan letter expressing support for the Refugee Admissions Program, signed by more than 540 elected officials from both sides of the aisle.

Register Today: Sustainable Cleveland Virtual Summit 10/14 and 10/15
Since 2009, Mayor Frank G. Jackson’s Sustainable Cleveland initiative has engaged more than 15,000 people from all walks of life, working together to design and develop a thriving and resilient Cleveland region. Over the past eleven years, Sustainable Cleveland has supported collaboration and action to make Cleveland a greener, cleaner place to live, work, and play for all. From improved water and air quality to increases in bike infrastructure and clean energy, Sustainable Cleveland has come a long way... but we know there's more work to do.
 
We invite you to attend the Sustainable Cleveland 2020 Virtual Summit from October 14th -15th. We will celebrate the many people and organizations that have gotten us this far, and build off this foundation for even greater progress. The Summit will include remarks from Mayor Frank Jackson, keynote presentations, recognition and awards, facilitated discussions on key priorities going forward, and much more.

If you are interested in attending the 2020 Sustainability Summit on October 14th and 15th, you can REGISTER HERE. This event is free!
Are You Registered to Vote?
Ohio's Voter Registration Deadline is TODAY, Monday October 5!

Find out how to register to vote at vote.gov! Select the state where your permanent address is located. Click on "Find out how to register" and you will see the steps you must take and the important voter registration deadlines in your state.

Need help with voting? www.nass.org/can-I-vote is a nonpartisan website that was created by state election officials to help eligible voters figure out how and where to go vote! Not sure if you're already registered, or need to update your information? Check your voter registration status by clicking on "Voter Registration Status" and selecting your state and county.

For those of you living in Ohio, visit Frank LaRose, Ohio's Secretary of State's website to register to vote or update your voter registration information online. Ohio's voter registration deadline is TODAY, October 5!
Holy Spirit Church Opportunity

Parish School of Religion at Holy Spirit Catholic Church is looking for two John Carroll students to help successfully deliver online instructions to PSR students and parents. The PSR program is continuing remotely this fall and they are looking for students to help support technology use and procedures. They are requesting approximately 3 hours, every second Saturday of each month for assistance.

If you are interested in assisting Parish School of Religion at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, please contact Dr. Reiko Simmons at rsimmons@jcu.edu
Get Involved with Village in the Heights
Village in the Heights is a nonprofit all-volunteer organization that services University Heights, Beachwood, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, South Euclid, and Lyndhurst. Their members/clients are active older adults living independently in their own homes, who occasionally need help with transportation, light duty home repairs, and visitation.  

Right now, they are seeking people who will deliver groceries and prescriptions to members, once an individual member places and prepays their orders online or by phone.

THIS IS A NO-CONTACT PROCESS.
- Purchases are prepaid - so no money handled by driver
- Purchased goods are placed in driver's car
- Driver contacts member by phone or text to say the merchandise is on its way
- Merchandise is left in front of Village member's door
- Driver again contacts member to say delivery is complete.

Interested in getting involved with Village in the Heights? Find out more and register HERE. Questions? Email service@jcu.edu.
Our #MyMagisMessage for the week comes from CSSA Student Leadership Team member, Maya Williams, a Senior Environmental Science and French major from Cleveland! Maya has served with Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Correctional Facility, Famicos Foundation, Fatima Family Center, and St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School.

If you had to state your life mission off the top of your head, in one sentence, what would it be?
Follow the things you are truly passionate about no matter what anyone says because passion is what helps us find our purpose and helps us find the beauty in the things we do best!

#MyMagisMessage
I have always been a very passionate person, whether it was my passion for fighting climate change or fighting my bad habit of procrastination. However, there was a time when I lost passion for everything that I cared about. There were times where I felt lost, broken, and no matter how much I wanted to care about being the change I wanted to see in the world, my world was crumbling before me. All I could focus on was what I had lost rather than what I still had or what was yet to come.

Luckily, I was set up to go on an immersion in Cleveland, and that lit a spark in me because I was able to forget about my own worries and hear from others following their own passions and fighting for what is right. Something I love about immersions is that you can feel so far away from the world, yet home is only 20 minutes away. I was also able to create incredible friendships along the way and make memories that I will never forget. I heard incredible stories from others, learned about and saw the injustices surrounding homelessness, and went to places that I did not even know existed in Cleveland. Coming back from the immersion, I felt refreshed again. I started to find my passion because I was surrounded by others who inspired me to want to make a difference again. Even though my worries were still there when I came back, I was in a much better place to deal with them. Unfortunately, when I was ready to face my hardships we went into the pandemic and I felt like I was spiraling out again because I was stuck alone with my thoughts and nothing was there to distract me. However, there was more to come for me. Throughout summer, it was a bumpy road. There were good days and a lot of bad days. I had to navigate dealing with my mental health and it was incredibly hard to do, but as time passed I grew stronger everyday.

With all that being said, I am living the magis by being patient and understanding with myself and knowing that I cannot control everything in my life. I learned a lot about myself this summer, even though there were a lot of downs. I had to understand that it is okay not to feel your best all the time. I had to understand that it is okay to let yourself feel all the emotions and cry when you need to. Most importantly, I had to understand that I needed to heal before I could focus on anything else. This is where I learned that some things were just out of my control. You cannot just snap back into your old life and feel better all of the sudden. I was holding myself back by not letting myself feel the necessary emotions I needed to process through. As I let time and love from family, friends and myself help me heal, I began to focus on what I still have in my life. I had an internship that I loved over the summer. I have family and friends that cared about me. I made new friendships along the way. I still have my bad days, but when I look back to how I was dealing with my pain six months ago, I feel proud of myself for how far I have come.

My favorite site that I have gone to is St. Thomas Aquinas. I was able to do a French tutoring service there and I was always excited to go back and teach others something that was a big part of my life. Language is so important and learning a new language can be incredibly fulfilling and vital. Everyone deserves to have access to learning something that connects you with more parts of the world and it opens up more doors too. Being surrounded by the students at St. Thomas Aquinas and seeing their excitement to learn a new language was incredible. There was a lot of laughing and silliness as we tried to pronounce French tongue twisters. As we learned new words and tried out pronunciation, there was so much determination and passion shown from the students. Their eagerness and liveliness always kept me going and wanting to do better. This service allowed me to find joy in things I did not always appreciate, like education. It made me grateful for all that I had in my life and made me realize how important finding your passions are. Passions are what bring me joy and even though I felt that passion fade away at one point, I was able to bring it back. The students I worked with at service continued to show up and always had a willingness to learn. They brought so much joy into my life. They showed true perseverance, even when some pronunciations were harder than others.

Now that I am a senior, I hope to continue to follow my passions, even though I may struggle on my path towards them. I want to also continue to never forget the people I met or the stories I heard from my service and immersion experiences by always sharing their stories with others. Since their stories inspired me, I think it is important that other people are able to be inspired by them as well and can find hope when they feel like it is lost during certain hardships in their lives. I know many of us are feeling hopeless right now and feeling like our worlds are falling apart, but I want everyone to know that you are not alone. Changes are going to happen in life whether we like them or not, but it is what we learn from them that is important. It is also important to take time for yourself when you need it most and let yourself feel all the emotions. As we all continue through the uncertainty, remember that you must follow the path that feels best for you that will ignite important change. Lastly, remember to always #TreatYoSelf!
October 14-15 .... Sustainable Cleveland Virtual Summit
October 19-26 .... Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice
Tuesday, November 3 .... Election Day
Sr. Katherine Feely, SND, Ed.D  | Director |   kfeely@jcu.edu   | 216.397.1966
Heather Craigie | Assistant Director, Student Development & Logistics|hcraigie@jcu.edu |216.397.6233
John Jackson  | Assistant Director, Community Partnerships | jnjackson@jcu.edu  |  216.397.1662
Carolina Kane |  Marketing Specialist |  cxkane@jcu.edu | 216.397.2024
Amy Bartter  |  Administrative Assistant |  abartter@jcu.edu  |  216.397.4698
Blake Yoho '22G  | Graduate Assistant |  byoho22@jcu.edu | 216.397.6283
JCU Center for Service and Social Action
Administration Building | AD-32
216.397.4698 |  (f) 216.397.1661

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