Service Immersions

Service immersions offer a unique opportunity for students to volunteer, experience a new culture, build community and reflect on their service experiences. The Center for Community Engagement and Service invites all students to live the mission of Salve Regina through these programs.

Spring Break– Rose Island Lighthouse Winter Keeper

March 11-16, 2025

Rose Island's success as a public resource has always been a community effort. Winter keepers are part of the island's tradition of guest keepers who steward the lighthouse and property through the winter by managing its systems, performing maintenance and taking on projects that can't otherwise be completed during the busy sum mer season. Being a winter keeper gives participants the opportunity to learn self-reliance through off-grid living and to experience Narragansett Bay in relative solitude, as very few people do. Participants will work in labor intensive indoor and outdoor spaces and stay overnight on Rose Island.All food, housing and transportation will be provided.

• Cost: $300
• Capacity: 8 participants
• Mercy critical concern: Earth

Service Plunge 2.0

April 4-6, 2025

Service Plunge 2.0 provides all students with a challenging and fun opportunity to lead and learn through direct and indirect service. Participants have the option to focus on environmental or hunger issues.

• Cost: $25
• Capacity: 20 participants
• Mercy critical concern: Earth

Give Kids the World Village

May 10-16, 2025

Give Kids the World Village is a 79-acre, nonprofit resort that offers weeklong, cost-free vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. The village provides children and their families with accommodations in fully-furnished villas, transportation, tickets to theme parks, meals, daily entertainment and much more. The village depends on volunteers, known as angels, to fill hundreds of shifts every day. Each year, 27,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. The goal of Give Kids the World Village is to provide everything these families need to make their trip the vacation of a lifetime. Since 1986, more than 150,000 children and families have had their dreams come true at the village.

• Participant handbook
• Cost: Estimated between $800-$950
• Capacity: 12 participants
• Faculty companion: Dr. Michelle McCarthy and Jenna Ribeiro
• Mercy critical concern: Women

Dominican Republic

May 19-23, 2025

The service immersion in the Dominican Republic is run through the Mustard Seed Communities, an organization that works with the local Catholic church to serve the needs of abandoned or orphaned children with mental and physical disabilities. Participants will serve at Hogar Immanuel, which is home to almost 50 children and young adults with disabilities. Mustard Seed's highly developed program for volunteers is based on meaningful interaction with the children, tangible work projects and participation in an inclusive Christian community.

• Participant handbook
• Cost: $2,000
• Capacity: 10 participants
• Faculty companion: Dr. Zuleida Aleman-Herba and Gabriella Kuba
• Mercy critical concern: Women

Mercy Ecospirituality Center, Benson, Vermont 

Aug. 21-25, 2025

Mercy Ecospirituality Center is a sponsored work of the Sisters of Mercy. The center's mission is to inspire reverence for the Earth and to live in harmony with all of creation. The organization is committed to reflection, education and living gently in mutual relationship with the Earth. Participants will embrace seeking solace and find a place to refresh their spirit in the beauty of creation, as well as programs in ecospirituality. The new is always unfolding in our evolutionary universe. We strive to honor that as we welcome all to the sacred land of Mercy Ecospirituality Center.

• Participant application (application deadline: March 31)
• Participant handbook
• Cost: $350
• Capacity: 8 participants
• Faculty companion: Dr. Michelle McCarthy
• Mercy critical concern: Earth

Service Plunge

Aug. 27-29, 2025

Service Plunge provides first-year students with an introduction to service through direct and indirect active experiences. Participants learn the importance of service, social justice and civic engagement. They also meet community needs, identify and build upon community assets, and share their experiences with the campus community. Selected students will move to campus early and meet new friends through this annual Salve Regina experience.

• Participant application (application deadline: June 30)

Dominican Republic

Jan. 10-17, 2026

The service immersion in the Dominican Republic is run through the Mustard Seed Communities, an organization that works with the local Catholic church to serve the needs of abandoned or orphaned children with mental and physical disabilities. Participants will serve at Hogar Immanuel, which is home to almost 50 children and young adults with disabilities. Mustard Seed's highly developed program for volunteers is based on meaningful interaction with the children, tangible work projects and participation in an inclusive Christian community.

• Cost: $2,000
• Capacity: 12 participants
• Faculty companion: To be determined
• Mercy critical concern: Nonviolence, women