FAQs

Find our current application deadline here.

The first step in the application process is to submit a copy of your resume, a recent picture, and a completed application, which can be found here. After we have received your application, the Volunteer office will be in touch with you to set up an interview, which may be conducted in person, through Skype, or over the phone, depending upon your location. The interview typically lasts about an hour and a half.

Following the interview, we will ask you to complete the rest of the application requirements, which include: three reference forms*, a list of those references, a medical form completed by your physician, and a release form. Once you have all these forms completed, you will send them to the Volunteer office. Then our Advisory Board will review the completed application file to decide whether the program will be a good fit for you, and you will be a good fit for the program. If you have more questions about the application process, please contact the Augustinian Volunteers office.

* We ask for a reference from each of the following categories: peer, mentor, and professor or employer. The peer reference should be from a friend, preferably a roommate, who would be able to speak about how you might be as a community member. (This reference cannot be completed by a significant other, sibling, another Augustinian Volunteers applicant or an AV alumni.) The mentor reference should be completed by an adult who knows you well but is not a relative. This reference would hopefully be able to speak more to your spirituality and your overall character. The professor/employer reference should be completed by someone you have either had as a teacher or for whom you have worked. This reference would hopefully be able to speak about your work ethic and how you would be as a leader, team player, and employee.

No; however, if it is possible for you to come to the Villanova area, it would be a great help to us. If it is not possible to set up an interview in person, we will conduct the interview either through Skype or over the phone.

Not all of our Volunteers have been Catholic, or even Christian; however, our program requires that our Volunteers have a faith that they are willing to share with others through community prayer. We also ask that the Volunteers be open to participating in Mass. Personal faith is an extremely important aspect of our program.

While we do ask you where you would like to serve, we cannot guarantee that you will be placed in your preferred city due to limited spaces and the availability of specific service work in which you are interested. Once accepted into the program, you will be given the opportunity to express your service preferences. Based upon your preferences and experience, we will place you in a position that will utilize your skills and talents. We work with you to determine how to fill the needs of the various sites with your own interests.

Augustinian Volunteers is part of a 501(c)3, which should enable domestic and international Volunteers to put their federal loans in either forbearance or deferment status while they are volunteering. Most often, federal loans are deferred due to economic hardship. Private loans are dealt with on an individual basis and may be much more difficult and sometimes not possible to defer. While the Volunteer office will work with the Volunteers to make sure their loans are properly deferred, the Volunteer himself/herself must be the one to complete the paperwork and correspond directly with his/her loan company.

The Augustinian Volunteers requires that you get to orientation (usually held in the Philadelphia area) at your own expense. From that point until the conclusion of your service commitment, the Volunteer program will pay for your travel costs.

For domestic Volunteers, this includes transportation to and from your Volunteer site at the beginning and end of the year, as well as at Christmas. It also includes travel to and from your job.

For international Volunteers, this includes transportation home after orientation in August, to the Philadelphia area in January prior to leaving for your service site, travel to/from your international service site and then back home at the end of your term of service. The program does not pay for the international Volunteers to come home during their year of service for various reasons and strongly discourages international Volunteers from coming back to the States unless it is due to an emergency.

Yes; both domestic and international Volunteers will receive comprehensive health insurance, however, dental and vision insurance are not included.

If you are serving domestically, you will receive a small personal stipend in addition to having all of your necessities covered for you (room & board, utilities, transportation, insurance etc.).

If you are serving internationally, you will not receive a stipend. Money is budgeted differently for our international Volunteers and they receive a community fund budget to replace a personal stipend.

We require our Volunteers serve between 40-50 hours a week.

No. We provide cars and money for public transportation for our Volunteers. As a result we do not allow Volunteers to bring their cars with them.

Yes, you will have contact with the Augustinian Volunteers staff throughout the year through emails and phone calls. In addition, the domestic Volunteer communities receive at least 6 visits from office staff, throughout the year. You will also see the staff at Mid-Year Retreat and End of the Year Retreat.

The international Volunteer communities receive at least 4 visits from the office staff throughout the year, and one visit includes a Mid-Year Retreat. Additionally, the entire staff will be present for Orientation and the End of the Year/Re-Entry Retreat.

Also, there is an Augustinian friar in each city (both domestically and internationally) that will act as your Augustinian supervisor and will provide you with guidance and support throughout the year.

In the spirit of St. Augustine, hospitality is one of the primary charisms of the Augustinians. Thus, we encourage Volunteers to have their families and friends come to visit. However, visitors should not stay longer than a weekend, and there is a limit to how many visitors a community can have during the year. Too many visitors take away from one’s commitment to community life. The Volunteer will be given more detailed information about the policy for visitors in Blueprints for Success, which is our policies and procedures booklet.

Yes. All domestic Volunteers will have Thanksgiving weekend off, however, they are required to stay with their communities. They also have about two weeks off at Christmas. During the first week, they will be sent home to spend the holidays with their families. During the second week, they will come together for a Mid-Year Retreat. In addition, depending on each service site, Volunteers may have some time off at Easter. If they chose to go home for part of their vacation they can do so at their own expense.

All international Volunteers will also have time off during their term of service, however, all vacation periods are to be cleared through the Volunteer Office. International Volunteers do not travel home during their term of service. Each year in September, someone from the Volunteer staff will take each international site on a trip for a long weekend. This is included as part of the international Volunteers vacation time.

Click here for information regarding living arrangements.

Most people who have lived in community will probably tell you that community living can be a challenge, but it can also be an amazing gift. How an individual does with community life often depends upon what the individual is willing to put into the community, and how he/she learns to compromise and communicate with the other people in the house. Community life can be a lot of fun but it can also be hard work. Living in community for a year often provides Volunteers with an experience of great growth and self-awareness. It helps prepare you for your future.

Safety is one of our primary concerns for our Volunteers. Although some of the Volunteer communities are in poorer urban neighborhoods, none of them are in unsafe areas. We ask our Volunteers to take precautions, just as anyone living or serving in a new place should do.

Our domestic Volunteer year starts in late August, usually around August 20th, with an eight-day orientation experience in the Philadelphia area. Following orientation, the Volunteers go to their sites and begin their service.

Our international Volunteer year also begins with orientation in late August. However, following orientation, the international Volunteers have limited responsibilities to the program and are free to go home and to work until early January. In early January, the international Volunteers return to the Philadelphia area where they have another short orientation and then leave for their international sites.

Unfortunately, at this time we are unable to consider foreign applicants. We hope that in the future we will be able to accommodate international applicants. For more information regarding this, please contact the AV office.

After their year of service Volunteers head in many different directions; some enter the working world in various fields such as education, business, social services, etc. Many Volunteers continue with their education after their year of service, entering graduate school, medical school, or law school. Occasionally, some Volunteers choose to do another year of service.

The Augustinian Volunteers is different from other service programs for a number of reasons. First, our primary focus is on community – community comes first, then service and spirituality, then everything else. We ask our Volunteers to make a constant effort at living in community in hopes that it will be a year of growth and help them to discover who they are. This effort requires the Volunteer to make decisions based upon the good of the whole community and not just what is best for oneself. That can be one of the biggest challenges of living in community, but can also reap the greatest benefits.

Second, we work closely with our Volunteers to determine how their interests can be matched with the needs of the various educational and social service sites. While we have many established service opportunities, if a Volunteer expresses interest in an area outside of what we currently offer, we are always willing to explore new service possibilities. We do our best to make sure our Volunteers are content with their service placements.

Finally, because our program is small, we are able to provide opportunities for all of the Augustinian Volunteers to get to know one another, the staff, and the Augustinians. Our hope is that each Augustinian Volunteer will feel deeply connected to the Augustinian family, not only during his/her year of service, but once he/she has left the program as well.