- JVC- Jesuit Volunteer Corps. This is the organization that I'll be working with for the next 1-2 years.
- JV- Jesuit Volunteer. That's what I am, and that's what everyone else working with JVC is called.
- NOLA- New Orleans, LA. That's where I'll be living for the next 1-2 years while I'm working with JVC. I will be living in a house with like 5 other JVs, and rumor has it that the house I'm staying in in NOLA is a duplex used by JVC, so I'll actually be living with like 11 other JVs. I'm taking a slow transition from being an RA.
- OPD- Orleans Public Defenders. That's the office I'll be working at in NOLA.
So, here's the basic deal: way back in January I applied to join JVC, which is a national volunteer placement agency affiliated with the Society of Jesus (read: Jesuits). Once I got accepted into the domestic program, I started looking at possible placement organizations that are partners with JVC. After sending JVC my preferences, they gave me interviews with some of the organizations, and that process continued until we found a placement that the JVC, the host organization, and I all thought would be a good match. For me, that happened in mid-May and it happened to be in the Orleans Public Defenders office in NOLA. I will now spend the next year working there and living with other JVs in a house in NOLA, and if I like it I can apply to do it again.
My first day of official work is August 18th. By August 10th, however, I have to be in Houston to do orientation for JVC. Even though I'm working at OPD, I'm still a JV and I still do a lot of retreats, orientation, and training with JVC. It's more than just a year working at an office- the year is an experience designed to focus on social justice, community, simple living, and spirituality. Which is cool, because right now I think that those are all things that I value, and I expect that increased exposure to them will only increase my ability to appreciate them.
So, I'm basically free until August 10th to do pretty much whatever I want. My only responsibilities to the organization until then are to figure out what I'm going to bring (simple living, remember, so probably not all that much) and do some fundraising before I get there. I have to raise at least $500 to help cover the costs of recruitment, screening, etc. before orientation begins. So, if anyone has a cool idea of something that might make a good fundraiser that doesn't rhyme with "shma-bake sale," I'd love tips. Right now my fundraising page with JVC is https://atl.etapestry.com/fundraiser/JesuitVolunteerCorps/CelebrateLA/individual.do?participationRef=2315.0.120310468, so if you could donate (or know other people who might be interested), any help would be greatly appreciated.
I haven't yet decided if I'll have my cell phone or my laptop while I'm doing JVC, which doesn't really affect you except that if I don't, I won't be able to text or Facebook chat or anything to keep up with you. My house will have a phone, so if you need to get a hold of me that option will still be available. I'll have internet access at work if nothing else, so you can email me at nathan.fennell@gmail.com and be sure to get a response within at least a few days. But the best way to keep up with what I'm doing and what JVC is doing in NOLA is probably going to be this blog. So check it out from time to time. And if I'm not updating it, send me an email and guilt me into keeping it up better. This will -not- be a vanity blog about my personal daily exploits, so don't worry about having to read pages of pointless musings and internal debates about what tie I should wear. This will just be about calm living, unconditional loving, and Cajun food. You know...the Bayou State of Mind.
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