Urban Plunge Testimonials

My Urban Plunge (Boston, 2006) changed the way I look at the things in my
daily life, and gave me a new perspective. I was incredibly touched by the kind
nature of everyone at my site, and I consider those 48 hours some of the
most challenging and rewarding I have had as a student at Notre Dame.

- Katie Helm

-Romance Languages and Literatures

- Class of 2008

At one of the charter schools in an impoverished area in San Diego, the teachers
made sure that the students looked at people in the eye and gave firm handshakes
when introducing themselves so that they would build confidence and maturity.
Now, I can take that advice and look at poverty in eye and affirm that I am
going to tackle the issue confidently and persistently!
-Jane Lee
-Spanish and Sociology
-Class of 2009

The Urban Plunge was a powerful experience that opened my eyes to the lack of
resources and the heartache of so many in the city I have called home all my
life. This opportunity facilitated my understanding of the causes and effects
of poverty and what I can do to help change the situation.
-Clare Duncan
-Sociology
-Class of 2007

We spent the night at a long-term residence for women who needed a place to stay
while reorganizing their lives and I had the opportunity to speak to a woman who
had been ostracized by her family and fired from her job, leaving her homeless
and without income. Because she suffered from mental illness, I was not certain
whether to believe anything she had said, but I believe that I may have done a
service just to listen to her.
-Maggie Tanzy
-Chemistry
-Class of 2007

The Plunge will show you that YOU are needed to change the world. By the end of
the 48 hours, you will begin to see how you are called to use your unique
talents and personality to serve others.
-Dan Scholz
-Class of 2007

Being immersed in the urban center of a town I lived in for 20 years, the issue
of poverty truly hit home. I'll always be stirred by my conversation with a teenage
girl living in a homeless shelter trying to find a way to go to her high school
prom, a high school 10 minutes from mine.
-Alysson Pishko
-Biology
-Class of 2008

I was deeply touched by a homeless man at the soup kitchen’s clothes closet who upon

finding a pair of shoes that fit him said “I don’t have much, well really I don’t have anything

but God blessed me with a pair of shoes today”. What he said, for me, really put life in perspective.

-Katelyn Wood
-Vocal Performance, English Literature Minor
-Class or 2007 (SMC)

Driving down to Mexico: Good times,... Authentic Mexican tacos:
Unforgettable,... Being the reason for the smiles on the face of the kids at
the orphanage: Priceless... Bienvenidos to the Urban Plunge.
-Cindy Chiang
-SCPP and Chinese
-Class of 2007

The Urban Plunge provides an eye-opening and heart wrenching hands-on experience
to the realities that many people face within U.S. cities today. It also includes interaction and

exposure to the encouraging generosity and ambition of many community leaders trying to change this reality.
-Becky Rambo
-Philosophy and Peace Studies
-Class of 2008