Service in the City

Detroit Mercy is distinguished by our students and graduates who put their faith into action to create a more loving, just and inclusive world. Whether it's for one afternoon, one week, or all semester, University Ministry's Service in the City provides students an opportunity to engage with our local community through service, solidarity, reflection and advocacy. Our goal is to provide students with an opportunity to grow in solidarity with our city, to serve in our local community, to learn about the intersectionality of systemic injustice and reflect on their personal experience of immersing in one of our local service sites. Service in the City is a great opportunity to engage in learning outside of the classroom. Plus, you'll have fun with other students while you're at it!

Students have the option to serve on a weekly basis with our Service in the City Tutoring Program, or to join a Service Immersion Day, which occurs once a month throughout the academic year. University Ministry provides meals and coordinates transportation for Service Immersion Days to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate in the experience. Service Immersion Days are offered at no cost to students. Our Service in the City program is open to all current UDM students and you can sign up to participate by visiting the University Ministry office, located in the lower level of the Student Union (across from the Bookstore), by finding us on Detroit Mercy Live, or emailing us at ministry@udmercy.edu. All new tutors must complete a Service in the City orientation with University Ministry prior to starting at your service site.

As a Catholic, Jesuit and Mercy institution, our mission calls us not just to serve in the community, but to live in solidarity with one another. This experience of service and solidarity invites us into the deeper questions of why people are hungry, excluded, economically poor, or suffering into the work of social justice (to understand systemic injustice and to advocate for more loving and equitable world). Service is about giving of oneself to another, but our mission invites us beyond service into a deeper sense of solidarity or interconnectedness with one another. We want our students to grow in a sense of solidarity with our city!

In the links below, you will lean more about our Jesuit and Mercy traditions, especially in the ways in which they invite us to be, "Men and women, persons, with and for others."

Sisters of Mercy: Five Critical Concerns

Jesuits: Universal Apostolic Preferences

Service in the City Tutoring Program

The tutoring program connects Detroit Mercy students with La Casa Guadalupana and Loyola High School. Detroit Mercy students tutor, in person, on a weekly basis at one of these two educational organizations. Detroit Mercy students are asked to make a semester-long commitment to tutoring once a week for approximately one hour and to attend at least one of the three theological reflection meetings. Theological reflection meetings are offered monthly to engage students in the process of unpacking their experience of tutoring and immersing in one of the two local Detroit communities, listening and learning from each other's insights, challenges and joys as well as engaging in dialogue around key systemic and social justice issues encountered during their time at La Casa Guadalupana and at Loyola High School. Students are also invited from time to time to attend various athletic events or social activities at either location or participate in activities or social programs in which students from Loyola of La Casa Guadalupana might come to Detroit Mercy's McNichols Campus. These activities are optional but provide an important opportunity to grow in our mutual sense of community with one another.

Service Days

Each month during the semester, students have the opportunity to participate in a Service Day or Service Immersion Day with the University Ministry Office. These projects are formed with the Jesuit and Mercy values of the University. Students engage in service, immerse in the city of Detroit, learn from local community leaders, make new friends with other UDM students and reflect on their experiences. If you're not able to participate in one of our scheduled service days, University Ministry is always happy to help get you connected with organizations throughout Detroit, or even work with you to create another service day opportunity.

Service day opportunities vary each semester but often include working with local sites such as the Pope Francis Center, Habitat for Humanity, Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Keep Growing Detroit, Live6 Alliance and other local organizations. Typically, a Service Immersion day differs from a Service Day in its length and the scope of learning and reflecting included in the schedule of the day. University Ministry provides transportation for all service days/service immersion days. If you are interested in joining us, please go to Detroit Mercy Live, University Ministry's Instagram account (@udm_ministry), stop by the University Ministry Office (located in the lower level of the Student Union), or email us at ministry@udmercy.edu.

One of our staple Service Immersion Day programs is our Food Justice Immersion Day. For our Food Justice Immersion Days, we partner with the Titan Equity Nourishment Network (TENN). Together we work alongside local community partners to provide students with the chance to grow, learn, build community and reflect together in areas regarding food, social justice, solidarity and sustainability. Typically, we will also enjoy a yummy lunch together and transportation is provided, at no cost!

For information, contact University Ministry at ministry@udmercy.edu or 313-993-1560.