Abby's House is a shelter for homeless, battered, and low income women and their children in the Worcester community. We open the shelter in the evenings, interact with the guests, and return to campus the following morning. Abby's House provides a safe, supportive environment for women in the community and Holy Cross volunteers to learn from one another. Evenings spent at the shelter are a great time to offer an ear to the stories and struggles of these women's lives.

Each year, College of the Holy Cross's Bishop Healy Multicultural Society hosts a week of events dedicated to educating the community on the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to building compassion for victims and their loved ones. This is the sixth consecutive year of AIDS Compassion and Awareness Week, the largest and most important event the Society sponsors. The week's events culminate in a charity banquet which serves as an educational event and fundraiser open to the Holy Cross and Worcester communities. All proceeds will be donated to AIDS Project Worcester and the Pendulum Project. The evening includes student performances, a slide show, speakers from AIDS Project Worcester and The Pendulum Project, and a raffle.

The mission of the Allston/Brighton-Boston College Community Fund is to support programs and services that are available to the people of Allston and Brighton. The Fund Committee seeks applications from organizations, associations, programs, or purposes based in Allston and Brighton. The Committee gives special consideration to the benefit of the potential award on the youth, senior citizens, and the needy in the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods. Beautification projects are also encouraged.

The Fund was established by the Honorable Thomas M. Menino and Rev. J. Donald Monan, former President of and current Chancellor of Boston College. The President of the College, Reverend William P. Leahy and Mayor Menino continue to support this cooperative effort between Boston College and representatives of Allston and Brighton.

The purpose of the awards is to supplement existing budgets of established organizations and agencies in order to promote a program or service for which financial support is not otherwise available. Consultants will not be funded. The Fund Committee also considers and makes awards to independent groups who present a worthy proposal or sponsor a worthwhile event

Our purpose is to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. We investigate and expose abuses, educate and mobilize the public, and help transform societies to create a safer, more just world. Our vision is of a world in which every person - regardless of race, religion, gender, or ethnicity - enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Founded in 1961, our organization has campaigned successfully in recent years for the International Criminal Court and a UN Torture Treaty. Through our research and action, governments have been persuaded to stop human rights violations and change their laws and practices. Death sentences have been commuted. Torturers have been brought to justice. And prisoners of conscience have been released. We ask you to join us - to take action and stop human rights abuses wherever they occur.

Appalacia Service Project
Each year during Spring Break, Holy Cross students travel to Appalachia and the Gulf Coast to encounter the warmth and vitality of the people in these regions, particularly those who are economically poor or marginalized. While there, students offer their time in service to the local community in a variety of ways, such as:

• painting and home repairs
• elderly assistance
• environmental clean-up
• service in soup kitchens
• tutoring school children
• new housing construction (Katrina relief)

While students work by day, evenings are dedicated to prayerful reflection and discussion as well as attending local events in the community.

A Holy Cross tradition since 1984, the Spring Break Immersion Program began with a small group of students traveling to Kentucky. Since then, the program has grown to include sites in Virginia and West Virginia. In response to Hurricane Katrina, the program expanded again in 2006 to include New Orleans and other Gulf Coast sites. In 2009, a total of 265 students took part in the program.

Currently in its 22nd year, the Arrupe Immersion Program is a faith based program responding to the call to work for peace and justice in the world. This call is central to the Christian Scriptures and to the Jesuit mission of the College of the Holy Cross. 

• The Mexico Program is currently in its 19th year. The program seeks to provide students with and experience of the reality of life in Latin America through the eyes of the poor and in light of the Gospel.

The Jamaica Program seeks to offer Holy Cross students the opportunity to encounter the poor and marginalized of Jamaica through interpersonal dialogue and service, to learn about aspects of Jamaican culture through a series of speakers and to nurture and challenge their faith.

• The Kenya Program is our semester break program. Visit the Chaplains' Office to learn about their experiences and explore possibilities of being part of the next trip.

The Pro-Life Society of Boston College Law School is committed to the principle that the right to life is inherent and inalienable in every human person from the moment of conception.The society works to save lives threatened by induced abortion, euthanasia and destruction of human embryos for research. In furtherance of these goals, members seek to promote a Culture of Life at Boston College Law School and in the surrounding community, to educate on life issues, to help those in need so that life is a promising choice and to work with others who share common goals.

Best Buddies Colleges pairs people with intellectual disabilities in one-to-one friendships with college students. Without friends and family, we are alone. In the past, individuals with intellectual disabilities have not had the opportunity to have friends outside of their own environment. By becoming a College Buddy, volunteers offer a Buddy the chance to explore a new way of life.

Best Buddies Colleges is the premise upon which the international organization of Best Buddies began. The mission of Best Buddies Colleges is to provide an opportunity for college students to be matched in a one-to-one friendship with individuals who have intellectual disabilities. Social experiences and relationships are a part of life; unfortunately, individuals with intellectual disabilities have historically been excluded from many of the social opportunities that most people enjoy. By becoming a college buddy, you will not only befriend someone with a developmental disability, but you will also learn about yourself in the process.

The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture sponsors and supports programming that explores basic human questions of meaning, morality, and mutual obligation. Following the principle that faith and learning are partners in liberal education, the Center’s programs foster dialogue that respects differences, and provides a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious as well as interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope. Most events are free and open to the public.

Founded in 1990, the Boston College Center for Work & Family is committed to enhancing the quality of life of today's workforce by providing leadership for the integration of work and life, an essential for individual, organizational, and community success. Our vision is that companies and communities will work together to ensure their mutual prosperity and the well being of employees and their families.

The Center works with leading employers committed to creating workplace cultures that support the “dual agenda” of individual and organizational success. Our corporate partners are human resource directors, many of whom specialize in areas such as Work/Life, Diversity, Human Resource Development, Organization Development, and Employee Health and Well-being. All share a common interest in implementing approaches that help employees find greater balance, increase productivity, and develop both professionally and personally.

Current Projects:

As part of the overall mission of Boston College High School, students engage in the Community Service Program. This is vital expression of the Jesuit ideal: "to educate men and women for others." Community service is an integral element in the formation of the character that is at the core of all our educational endeavors. As such, it is viewed as essential to the overall educational and formational curriculum of Boston College High School and is a requirement for graduation. Students volunteer at hospitals, nursing homes, day-care centers and 95 schools.

The Domestic Violence Outreach Project is a part of Boston College's Gender Violence Awareness Coalition's larger mission to facilitate access for students to local domestic violence and rape centers, legal services providers, and shelters. An important component or complement to a legal education is serving the public through legal and non-legal volunteering, clinics, and legal services summer employment.

 The Environmental Studies Program at Holy Cross is a multidisciplinary, student-designed major and concentration run by the Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies. The aim of Environmental Studies is to allow students to assemble a series of courses that bridges three or more disciplines and that provides a comprehensive understanding of environmental issues. Students are expected to study the causes, mechanisms and effects of environmental problems by investigating the relevant natural processes and the interplay between the environment and social, political and economic institutions.

 Economics, culture, policy, society and science all play key roles in the impact modern society has on the Earth's natural systems. This program is designed to provide students with a fundamental knowledge of the structure and function of these systems, and develop awareness of paths toward global sustainability.

Every year students enrolled in the Carroll School of Management Honors Program come to campus a week prior to the start of classes to volunteer in and around the city of Boston.  The focus of the event is to "first serve" the community before pursuing our own academic goals.  First Serve jumpstarts a commitment to serving our community while also emphasizing freshman integration through team-building activities.