Service Immersions
Center for Community Engagement and Service
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.
Dominican Republic
Jan. 12-19, 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 application (application deadline: Sept. 27)
- Participant handbook
- Cost: $2,000
- Capacity: 20 participants
- Faculty companion: TBD
- Mercy critical concern: Nonviolence, women
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. The Winter Keeper’s program is part of the islands 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 summer 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 be working in labor intensive indoor & outdoor spaces and staying overnight on Rose Island. All food, housing and transportation will be provided.
- Participant application: (application deadline: January 31)
- 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.
- Participant application: (application deadline: January 31)
- 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 application: (application deadline: January 31)
- 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 application: (application deadline: January 31)
- Participant handbook
- Cost: $2,000
- Capacity: 10 participants
- Faculty Companion: To be determined
- Mercy critical concern: Women
Service Plunge
Aug. 27-30, 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.