4Boston is a program of the University Chaplaincy of
Boston College which places undergraduate and graduate students
in a supervised social service or social change agency 4 hours/week
for the entire academic year. The aim of 4Boston is twofold: 1
) to provide students with a significant extended urban service
experience which is enriched by regular opportunities for reflection
on and analysis of the work in which they are engaging; and 2)
to provide reliable, consistent assistance from the Boston College
community to Boston agencies which work with and on behalf of
the city's poor and marginalized. Placements are available for
students interested in working on issues of hunger and homelessness,
health care and elder services, youth and tutoring work, and correctional
services.
During both these semester and spring breaks, 25 students
(a different group each week) and a B.C. chaplain will live at
Arrupe House, a Jesuit residence, in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood
of Boston. Each day, we work on a variety of projects which may
include service in a foodbank, visitation with guests in one of
Boston's shelters, and outreach to local elderly. During
evening seminars, we study a variety of urban issues such as racism,
homelessness, and
theological perspectives on urban life. To ground our community
in the love and justice
of God, we end each day in a communal multi-faith prayer service.
As a center of educational, cultural and economic opportunities,
and as one of the area's largest
institutional employers Boston College can be a great asset to
the thousands of people who live
and work in the surrounding community. We established the Boston
College Neighborhood
Center in 1994 to maximize that potential for promoting service.
The Center utilizes the best of
Boston College to help promote the health and well-being of the
Allston-Brighton community,
and opens new avenues of communication between the campus and
the neighborhood.
