Although juniors were unable to participate in the annual Urban Plunge immersion trip, the Symbols and Ethics classes instead explored local resources and heard from community partners to learn more about people experiencing homelessness in the East Bay.
Vanessa Miranda, Campus Minister for Community Service and Social Advocacy, and Symbols & Ethics teachers in the Religious Studies Department collaborated to reimagine a new three-day Urban Plunge experience.
On the second day, Cheryl DeSimone from Monument Crisis Center presented to Symbols & Ethics classes, sharing the work the center does with the low-income community in Concord. She also shared about the many years of history and connection between Carondelet and De La Salle and the Center.
On the final day, students participated in a prayer experience where they imagined themselves in the story of the woman who anoints Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.
In the pictures included, students are reading client scenarios and discussing the center’s programs that would best aid their family.
Rather than just a single afternoon volunteering, students analyzed the complexity of homelessness and food insecurity within low-income communities during this three-day, safely immersive experience. Throughout the experience, we turned to the Gospel and recognize our call to serve the dear neighbor without distinction.