The Idealist.org Podcasts

In this episode Amy Potthast speaks with Nikki Roehling, Associate Director of the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service or CNVS.

This week, the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service will gather its program directors in Portland, OR, for a multi-day conference and retreat. CNVS is a national membership association of 200 faith-based domestic and international volunteer programs, some of which are either AmeriCorps-funded, or which offer the Eli Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to its members upon completion of service. It publishes a directory of its programs called The Response Directory in print, and as a searchable directory on its web site, www.cnvs.org.

Nikki and Idealist's Amy Potthast talk about the range of CNVS volunteer and lay mission programs, the Response Directory, international volunteering, self-reflection, and the Eli Segal AmeriCorps Education Award that some of its volunteers are able to earn.



Tune in again next month for the public service careers podcast Faith and Service Pt. 2: Avodah, the Jewish Service Corps.

"The poor will always be among you" is a biblical quote often cited by Christian leaders as a reason to not focus on poverty work. Some Christians, however, believe the quote means the exact opposite and that although 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day, poverty can end.

In this latest Community episode, our summer podcasting intern Alison Killeen explores the beliefs of the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She speaks with co-founder and coordinator Liz Theoharis, along with the formerly homeless scholar-in-residence Willie Baptist, about the work of their organization and the importance of teaching a new generation of Christian leaders to address poverty in a new light.