Works with a variety of broader programs, including: Bread for the World, Catholic Relief Services, the Ignatian Solidarity Network, the Jesuit Refugee Service, and NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby.

Located on the near south side of Milwaukee, this former convent is available for day and overnight retreats for parish and school staff. An accessible and affordable meeting place in the midst of the city’s urban scene, the facility puts retreatants in touch with the vibrant spiritual life of the neighborhood’s Latino community. This self-supporting renewal center and retreat house is the realized dream of Father Dave Shields, SJ and thus has decidedly Ignatian underpinnings. 

The social ministries are active year-round and open to all parishioners to join in making the social mission of the church the essential and central mission of the parish.  Examples of ministries include: parish twinning with St Jude's parish in Haiti, ongoing social justice eduation programs, and fair trade coffee sales.

Gesu Social Concerns Committee oversees a number of programs to the homeless including a regular Saturday meal program, Sunday breakfast bags. Gesu parishioners also partner with downtown congregations offering shelter and day programs to the homeless individuals and families and Gesu parishioners were instrumental in the establishment of a Milwaukee Housing Trust Fund

Marquette Common Ground is a  community organizing group affiliated with Common Ground of SE Wisconsin, an IAF affiliate. Common Ground exists to build and support an organization to address Greater
Milwaukee’s critical social issues in an effective, non-partisan way. The organization prioritizes health care, education, jobs and economic development, crime, mental health, youth activities, immigration and housing. It also conducts Leadership Institutes to teach volunteers the basics of organizing.

In step with the University’s mission, “care for the person,” Marquette University Law School (MULS) offers the Restorative Justice Initiative. The Initiative has fostered exceptional community connections in Wisconsin and continues to strive for excellence in the field of public service. Under the leadership of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske, Distinguished Professor of Law, the Initiative has brought community focus to the law school by providing the students with substantial leadership training in addition to their considerable technical legal education. The Initiative has become a resource for other restorative justice organizations in the state, formed partnerships with local community groups that work with criminal justice issues, and has been providing victim/offender dialogues for crimes of severe violence through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), Office of Victim Services and Programs.

MICAH organizes/advocates around issues such as neighborhood drug trafficking, urban schools, drug punishment and rehabilitation, affordable housing, and urban sprawl. This church-based organization is grounded in the principles of empowerment through the Gospel, education, advocacy and action. The Gesu MICAH Core Team leads parish actions in this interfaith, multi-racial organization to empower people to achieve structural change for justice and peace in the innercity.