A dozen Mercy McAuley students will return to school this fall with a better understanding of what life is like for the poor of their own hometown. Led by Director of Ministry Dave Nissen through the St. Vincent de Paul’s Ozanam Center, the girls made a three-day mission to the West End and Price Hill, which have both their fair share of poverty and many non-profit organizations seeking to alleviate poverty’s effects.

For years, volunteer-minded, incoming senior Elizabeth Ernst saved money from altar serving at funerals to pay for her eventual high school service trip. Initially thinking she’d travel far away, she ultimately chose a local option.

“I have always wanted to go and just do service,” Ernst said. “I have a lot of service hours, not just for college reasons, but just to go and do service.”

In addition to Mass and regular prayer times, the girls assisted St. Vincent de Paul at their warehouse and food pantry, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati in Price Hill and Santa Maria Community Services.

Nissen said Mercy McAuley doesn’t mandate a specific number of service hours from students, but service is expected.

“It’s not a requirement of the school, it’s a requirement of our faith,” he said. “It’s not just service. There’s also an educational element. They talk about the idea of poverty and how people experiencing homelessness find themselves in that situation and look at possible ways of alleviating that. We look at the root causes too, not just giving people food and moving on.”

Nissen said he also loves the idea of long-distance mission trips—next year he’s taking a group to Mexico City—but he enjoyed being able to show students the need in their own community.

“I really like that we show them you don’t have to leave town. You don’t have to go to Hazard, Kentucky to serve.

You can do it in your own neighborhood.”

His favorite part of the trip was watching students interact with clients of St. Vincent de Paul’s food pantry. Along with stocking and organizing, the girls helped clients shop, interacting with them one-on-one.

“They were working with them and talking to them. Some of the girls were using the Spanish skills they learned in school, which I thought was really cool,” Nissan said. He also mentioned their interaction with an older man who was a long-term volunteer at the warehouse. “He volunteers every Monday. That’s the kind of person I want our student body exposed to.”

Ernst said she will remember a great deal from the trip, but noted the experience was illuminating on the issue of poverty.

“I didn’t really understand the situations as to why a lot of [people] are there. I’ve obviously seen people experiencing homelessness … but it opens your eyes when you see … they’re trying their best to get their feet on the ground or get enough money for a meal. There shouldn’t be this huge stigma around these people because you never know what kind of life they’ve had.”

What really stuck with Ernst was the joy of the children and volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club despite the difficulties some of the youth face at home.

“I really liked interacting with all these people,” Ernst said. “It really opened my eyes to new things. They’re just so positive at the Boys and Girls Club.”

The experience won’t be a one-off for the Mercy McAuley students. Ernst and her classmates so enjoyed serving at the Boys and Girls Club that she is working with organizers to create more service opportunities.

“She saw a need and thought, ‘Some of my classmates might really enjoy this,’” Nissen said. “That’s kind of the point. If you go out of town, they can’t follow up, but this is somewhere they know and they can plug themselves in again.”

This article appeared in the August 2023 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.