New Orleans Service Immersion Trip

Lucy Rados '25

This past Winter Experience, twelve Nardin students and two faculty members had the opportunity to travel down south to New Orleans, Louisiana. This unique experience was not about sightseeing nor learning about New Orleans’ history; rather, it was a chance for Nardin students to give back to the community through a service trip.

We worked at the New Orleans Mission, an incredible organization that feeds, clothes and houses the homeless, and provides many services to the homeless community of New Orleans, such as weekly doctor visits, assistance with court appearances, and month-long and year-long stay programs to provide job training and a way to find a renewed calling in life.

Throughout the trip, we heard empowering stories about how people’s lives had changed, from addiction and poverty, to new jobs and new faith in God. A favorite experience of everyone on the trip was our “Brown Bag Outreaches,” in which we packaged lunch and care packages for the community, and went out to give food to the homeless. The second time we did this, we went to the historic French Quarter, where we had gone the first day as tourists, and it was very eye-opening to go later in the week, having conversations with and helping people we might have previously overlooked.

Other trip highlights included seeing where the men stay in the year-long program, and helping at their food pantry to hand out groceries to locals, and visiting the women’s facilities, the residents of which run a banquet and events facility. We also served meals at the New Orleans Mission, and partook in many cleaning and organizing projects.

Overall, this trip was an exceptional way to put into perspective everything we have as Nardin students, and give back to those who most need it. It truly embodied the Nardin value of service,  as we learned more about and connected with each other and all those we met.