Our 2019-2020 Corps
92 young adults were deployed for community service through Episcopal Service Corps in 2019-2020. This Corps represented our most diverse cross-section of young adults, representing 36 states and 90 different colleges and universities.
Serving the Community
Corps members served more than 120,000 hours in local and community-based nonprofits and churches during the 2019-2020 Service Year.
Mission areas included:
- Rural ministries, farm worker support
- Homelessness support ministries
- Healthcare ministries
- Youth ministry
- Immigration and refugee resettlement
- Campus ministry
- Housing justice
- Racial equity
- Seafarer welfare
- Services for at-risk children, youth, & families
- Social service nonprofits
- Food insecurity and justice
- Education for at-risk children and youth
- Congregation-based ministries
Vocational Discernment: What Comes Next
An important part of an ESC Service Year is vocational discernment. Every Corps member spends time considering next steps and how they are called to live the values of ESC through their employment. Following their Service Year, Corps members went onto:
- Religious orders
- Seminary
- Graduate school
- Nonprofit employment
- 2nd year with ESC
- Teaching
- Other missionary work
- Lay ministry within the church
- AmeriCorps
- Hired by site partner
- Other local employment
ESC in the Community
The impact of Episcopal Service Corps is felt far beyond the individual young adults serving during the year.
ESC is a community of dioceses, congregations, volunteers, site partners, alumni, and communities who gather to work and pray, and amplify the work of every Corps member.
During the 2019-2020 service year, our community included:
- More than 130 dioceses and congregations that supported ESC programs by providing funding, housing, financial support, and volunteer hours. In addition, Corps members were welcomed into nearby Episcopal churches and invited to participate in local ministries and outreach.
- More than 351 individual volunteers who gave their time and expertise to provide spiritual direction, prayer, Bible study, and community meals. Volunteers also served as advisory board members, and supported the Corps financially and through resource donations.
- More than 1,200 ESC alumni who participated in online events, helped recruit the 2019-2020 Corps, connected with and prayed for Corps members, participated in local Corps/alumni events, and helped to financially support our network of programs.
ESC During the Pandemic
The health and safety of every Corps member is central to the ESC mission. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Episcopal Service Corps programs worked with local public health officials, community leaders, and across the network to develop a COVID Action Plan. Each local plan included program-specific provisions for online formation and vocation, regular check-ins with program staff, and procedures that Corps members were required to follow in the house and if they left the house or were potentially exposed to the virus.
As a result of the quick action of ESC’s program staff, most Corps members were able to remain in ESC housing and complete their Service Year through remote work.
2019-2020 ESC Local Programs
During the 2019-2020 Service Year, the ESC network was comprised of the following local programs:
- Beloved in the Desert | Tucson, AZ
- Blue Ridge Service Corps | Asheville, NC
- Circle of the Beloved | Minneapolis, MN
- Colorado ESC | Denver, CO
- Deaconess Anne House | St. Louis, MO
- ESC Maryland | Baltimore, MD
- Johnson Service Corps | Durham & Chapel Hill, NC
- Jubilee Year | Los Angeles, CA
- Lawrence House Service Corps | South Hadley, MA
- LEVN: Lutheran Episcopal Volunteer Network | Davis, CA
- Life Together | Boston, MA
- New York Service + Justice Collaborative | New York, NY
- Seattle Service Corps | Seattle, WA
- Servant Year | Philadelphia, PA
- St. Hilda’s House | New Haven, CT
- Sycamore House | Harrisburg, PA
