Embracing a Life of Service

Since opening its doors in 1988, Homeboy Industries has helped to rehabilitate more than 7,000 gang members in the Los Angeles community through intervention and rehabilitation services. After graduation, Saint Joseph's University senior Grace Donohue, BS ’25, will join their mission as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

“I knew that I didn’t want to go straight into grad school or the workforce, and I wanted to do something with meaning that would help me discern what I wanted my future to be,” she says. 

Each year, the Jesuit Volunteer Corps sends hundreds of volunteers to serve vulnerable populations in cities across the country. Donohue will relocate to Los Angeles, California, where she will work as an Education Services Associate with Homeboy Industries. The initiative, founded by Father Gregory Boyle, has become the largest gang intervention, rehab and re-entry program in the world.

As an education services associate, Donohue will help with the college application process, tutoring needs and classroom assistance.

“Homeboy Industries stresses the importance of meeting students where they're at and providing classes rooted in academics, life skills and support groups,” Donohue says. “Providing equitable educational opportunities is an area that I am passionate about, and I am excited to see work in action.”

Both service and teaching have been integral parts of Donohue’s Saint Joseph’s education. She credits a service-learning course taught by Lisa A. Baglione, PhD, with changing the trajectory of her college experience and inspiring her to volunteer with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Literacy Center. 

“Grace was a stand out in my class of interested and dedicated students,” says the political science professor. “She had such enthusiasm for the material we were learning, as well as her service experiences. I am confident that Grace is going to have an incredibly rewarding experience as a Jesuit Volunteer and that she will be excellent at her post. She has already internalized the ideas of solidarity and being a person with and for others.”

At IHM, the political science and Spanish double major taught English as a second language (ESL) to Philadelphia’s adult immigrant population and became even more passionate about educational equity.

“Volunteering at local schools and at IHM really opened my eyes to how much a difference in education can really set you up for an entirely different life,” Donohue says. “In bridging that gap, you help restore their dignity, helping them achieve what they always could but didn’t have the necessary tools for.” 

Additionally, Donohue taught ESL courses to children in Spain while studying abroad, and eventually became a placement liaison through the Faith-Justice Institute, coordinating efforts between IHM and St. Joe’s student volunteers. 

“Being a placement liaison is definitely my favorite thing I do on campus,” Donohue says. “The Faith-Justice Institute just had its yearly celebration, and IHM won the award for Community Partner Organization of the year. That’s where I went during my first service-learning class and they’re the CPO I worked with the most, so this felt like a really nice full-circle moment.” 

Donohue, who hopes to eventually pursue a graduate degree in international social policy, is excited to continue working with the Jesuits after being inspired by the order’s values while at St. Joe’s. 

“Throughout my time here, the idea of cura personalis has made such a difference to me,” she says. “There’s been so much emphasis on not just learning about a community, but working in the community to understand the specific struggles they’re facing and why they’re facing them.”