ENC has partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission, providing students with opportunities to help people in need and gain service experience at the Long Island Shelter.
The shelter, located on Long Island in Boston Harbor, is a homeless shelter serving adults over 18 years old for 365 days a year, according to the BPHC website. The website also says they have 400 beds available for people who need a place to sleep.
Corey MacPherson, the vice president of Spiritual Development and Chaplain, thought of and began this new partnership.
“I took a small group of students every Wednesday night in the month of April to help serve dinner to the guests at the Long Island Shelter,” MacPherson said, “Several of us continued serving throughout the summer. As I started to become aware of numerous ways a person can volunteer we immediately began working on the ENC-Long Island partnership.”
Serving dinner is not the only way students can participate at the Long Island Shelter. They can volunteer for programs, such as homeless services or rehab and re-entry programs, to help those who transition out of prison back into society.
In these programs, volunteers can aid people by helping serve dinner, teaching job training skills, coordinating a game, playing music, or helping with arts and crafts.
“There isn’t much for the guests and clients of Long Island to do at night so they appreciate groups coming out to spend time with them. It’s all about building relationships,” MacPherson said.
“Our goal is to give students as many opportunities as possible to serve. Some serve dinner one night a week while others may only be able to commit one or two nights a semester. If you want to serve we will try to find a way to make it happen,” MacPherson continued.
If a student is interested in volunteering or wants more information about Long Island, go to the Spiritual Development Office in Angell or e-mail Corey MacPherson at chaplain@enc.edu.