Ignatian Volunteers offer ‘second career’ in service for retirees looking to give back
Bill Hill receives a hug from a woman as he hands out coffee with the St. Aloysius street ministry team in downtown Detroit on March 10. Hill is a member of the Ignatian Volunteers at Manresa, which offers retirees a chance to give their time in service to local nonprofits.Dan Meloy | The Michigan Catholic
Bloomfield Hills — Careers end, but one’s duty to serve others doesn’t.
Throughout Metro Detroit, dozens of retirees have spent their post-career lives volunteering through the Ignatian Volunteers at Manresa, based out of the Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills.
The volunteers, under the direction of regional coordinator Nick Sharkey, spend their time with a variety of nonprofits, including the University of Detroit Mercy Institute for Leadership and Service, the Pope Francis Center, Loyola High School and the All Saints Neighborhood Center, according to the group’s website.
Ignatian volunteer Bill Hill serves at the Pope Francis Center and the St. Aloysius Parish street ministry team in downtown Detroit. Hill joined the Ignatian Volunteers because he felt a call from God to serve others at the then-called SS. Peter and Paul Warming Center.
“Somebody mentioned to me the Ignatian Volunteers down there, and when I talked to Nick, I decided to join the corps,” said Hill, a member of St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Rochester Hills. “The main thing that drew me there was sharing experiences and understanding what other people do and why. One thing that came to me in my prayer was asking God what I was called to do, and the answer was to put more of my heart and soul into volunteering.”
Hill started volunteering in 2015, and said it’s had a big impact on his life and how he views others.
“When I started serving at SS. Peter and Paul, I had a homeless guy come up to me and ask, Bill, why do you do this?” Hill said. “I said I like to help out and had the free time. Then he said, ‘No, why do you do this?’ After the third time, I said, ‘You know, I see God in each person that I serve, and that’s why I keep coming back.’”
For many of the volunteers, serving offers a chance to work in a field they didn’t have the opportunity to explore in their professional lives. After spending years in Catholic publishing working for Loyola Press, Jim Manney started volunteering with the Washtenaw County Jail and the Washtenaw Literacy Program, which is run jointly with Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor.
“I spent my whole career as a writer and editor, and I decided I wanted to do something different,” Manney said.
Manney, a member of St. Mary Student Parish in Ann Arbor, began tutoring at the jail with literacy skills and English as a second language, subjects in which he had years of publishing experience to draw back on. Then he discovered inmates needed help with mathematics, and he had to re-learn algebra all over again.
“I haven’t thought about algebra in 50 years, so I’ve been re-learning that,” Manney said. “It’s been a very rewarding challenge to tutor people, but it’s amazing to help them get their GEDs. I’ve think I’m very honored to work with these people. These people by and large are poor people, with complicated lives, and they’re trying something to better their lives and the lives of their families.”
Manney said teaching has forced him to use parts of his brain he hasn’t used in a while, which in turn has opened him up spiritually.
“For most of my career, I’ve been an expert,” Manney said. “Now, I’m not an expert. I’m not really well prepared, some days I feel I’m not equipped. I’ve never done any kind of teaching, so spiritually, I’m in a place where I’m relying more on grace.”
Growing in spirituality while serving the poor and underprivileged is a hallmark of the Ignatian Volunteers at Manresa.
David Hooper, who attends St. Mary of the Hills and St. Andrew Parish in Rochester, has been an Ignatian Volunteer for five years, four of which he’s spent working with the Stephen Ministry, in which volunteers actively listen to those who are going through challenging times.
“Stephen Ministry had a good program with people actively listening to folks that are old, dying or going through a divorce, something where they need someone there for them,” Hooper said. “It’s not a matter of solving their problems, but helping them to empower themselves through life’s struggles.
“There are two gentlemen I’ve been assigned. One just received a diagnosis of cancer and had months to live. So I prayed with him weekly. The next care receiver I had was a man going through a difficult divorce he didn’t want, so I met with him, listened to him.”
The Ignatian Volunteers provide an outlet for older people to explore service opportunities that were not available when they were busy with full-time jobs — a “second career” in serving others.
“When folks retire, they’re looking for worthwhile ways to fill their time,” Hooper said. “Service to others does that for many people. So when you have a program that combines service, specifically to the poor, connected with spiritual growth, it really is an amazing thing.
“It combines your own growth with the Lord and the Church with your own spiritual benefit of helping others. That combination of spiritual growth and community support is a unique combination that Ignatian Volunteers offer.”
Ignatian Volunteers
To volunteer with the Ignatian Volunteers at Manresa, contact Nick Sharkey at (248) 735-8148 or visit www.ivcusa.org.
