Outreach Outtakes

Started over 30 years ago by All Saints’ Chapel, the tradition of sending students, faculty, and staff out beyond Sewanee’s gates continues today with partnerships in communities near and far.

To support and uphold the University’s purpose to enable students to live with grace, integrity, and a reverent concern for the world, the outreach program takes students outside of their comfort zones and into new and enriching communities, where together, they make a difference in each other’s lives. Through short-term immersive service projects, our outreach trip participants work collaboratively with communities to make a difference and live into the visions and missions of our community partners.

During the 2023-2024 academic year, seven different outreach trip experiences allowed students, faculty, and staff to engage with people from all over the world and from all walks of life, working together to serve a variety of community-identified needs and projects.  Over the winter break in January 2024, a team traveled to Puerto Rico to work on community redevelopment projects in partnership with Community Collaborations, International (CCI).  They helped restore a neighborhood garden that supplies food to the local community as well as worked with the National Forest Service in the El Yunque National Forest to repair trails damaged by the storms.

During spring break, teams traveled to six different communities to work in partnership with local community organizations.  In New York City, they partnered with God’s Love We Deliver, where participants prepped, packaged, and delivered meals to people living with chronic, debilitating, and terminal illnesses.  In Grundy County, Tennessee, the outreach team worked with Mountain T.O.P. to serve our local Cumberland Plateau community and help provide safer housing.  In Selma, Alabama, our newest outreach program site, the team worked with several local nonprofits to continue to build the important Sewanee-Selma relationship.  They spent time listening and learning from Foot Soldiers from the Voting Rights Movement in Selma. They also worked with the Selma Area Food Bank and the Local Farm Co-op to learn more about the intersection between food scarcity and racial injustice.   In New Orleans, the team partnered with lowernine.org, where they served alongside local community members to restore the neighborhood and parish after Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ida, and other storms.  In Quito, Ecuador, the outreach team worked with Education Equals Hope, where they were paired with a local community organization that provides microscholarship funding for kids to attend school.  For our outreach trip to Costa Rica, we once again partnered with CCI and worked with sustainable agriculture and food systems, partnering with local farmers.  

For the first time, we piloted one of our outreach trips for course credit.  The Costa Rica trip was connected to a two-credit course, Field Studies in Global Community Engagement: Food Systems in Costa Rica.  In addition to  group members immersing themselves in and with the local community for short-term service projects, they also spent time before, during, and after the trip learning about food systems, sustainability, organic farming, and environmental justice.  

Outreach trips are transformational experiences that empower all participants to learn more about themselves and their role as global citizens.  They are experiences where everyone steps out of their comfort zones and discovers how small the world really is and how interconnected we all are.  And they are experiences where friendships are formed and relationships are strengthened.  One of our students who went to Costa Rica had this inspiring and thoughtful message to share about their experience, and it perfectly sums up our “why” in what makes these outreach experiences so important in the fabric of our university.

"During this journey, I learned about my resilience, adaptability, and the deep sense of fulfillment that comes from serving others.  I discovered strengths I didn’t know I had and areas where I can grow.  Regarding others, I learned that empathy, kindness, and cooperation are universal values that transcend cultural and linguistic barriers.  I saw firsthand the power of community and the collective effort in facing challenges.  About the community that welcomed me, I learned about the richness of its culture, the depth of its wisdom, and the strength of its spirit.  Despite the hurdles, their unwavering commitment to improving their lives and those around them was inspiring.  This experience taught me about the interconnectedness of our world and the impact of collective action towards a common goal."