For over 30 years, the Stephen D. London Center for Community Engagement and Social Justice has provided opportunities for student involvement within the greater Boston community. Now, the London Center has started a new experimental initiative, Simmons Serves, to provide accessible opportunities for community involvement.
Courtney Kramer, Assistant Director of the London Center, is serving as the leader of the Simmons Serves Initiative. She explained that “we created something to really reach the full Simmons community so that anybody who wants to volunteer has that window in order to do so.” Simmons Serves differs from other community outreach programs, such as the Bonner Program, allowing all members of the Simmons community to have access to a flexible way to get involved.
Simmons Serves connects students directly with the London Center’s partners. These partnerships include Rosie’s Place Women’s Shelter, Cambridge-Somerville Elder Services, Girls Inc. Simmons Chapter, and more. The program offers opportunities with a variety of social justice groups, providing a niche for anyone in the Simmons community.
“There’s also a training and reflection component, so it goes beyond just the direct service… It’s also eligible for Federal Work study for service learning, as well as just regular interest, so it’s really accessible to a variety of students,” says Aislinn Doherty, the Programs and Partnerships Graduate Assistant at the London Center and a student in the 3+1 Library Science program.
Doherty has been an advocate for volunteer work at Simmons. Volunteering as a part of the Bonner program for the last three years at Simmons, she emphasizes that “[it] has not only opened my worldview but it has built me professionally and as a leader.” Opening up more opportunities for any Simmons student is a priority with this program.
Asynchronous training is available through this program to make opportunities adaptable for busy students looking to get involved. The team is also working to open this program to graduate students and push it forward to more students in the future.
Gabriela Kenaan, a sophomore at Simmons, reflects that previously she did not know where to start looking for volunteer opportunities. After learning about the Simmons Serves initiative, she said, “It sounds like something I would be interested in and look into joining.”
Although the application deadline for this semester has passed, next semester applications will be open for new students to join. Throughout this semester, there will be individual volunteer opportunities through the London Center available for signups on Campus Connect. Additionally, the London Center is hosting an orientation and introductory event open to all students on October 8.
