Alternative Spring Break Work Retreats

The Alternative Spring Break (ASB) movement giving students the opportunity to serve in communities around the country is one Good Works embraces. We welcome students to come serve with us for a week. In addition to serving with us as we seek to help people in southeast Ohio who are struggling with poverty, we also hope that this will be a growing experience for your group members.

Good Works is a faith-based organization and we function as a community with a Christian Worldview. You can read more about our philosophy of ministry in the document called A Vision of Hope (A Christian Worldview). While some members of an ASB group may share this perspective, we recognize that not all the group members will. It is very important to us that we do not create barriers for groups to come serve with us. If your group would value learning about our Christian perspective, please let us know. We are happy to share this with them. However, if your group would prefer to keep this Work Retreat accessible to as many people as possible, we are very willing to adjust our language for the sake of the group. This is not a problem for us and we welcome the opportunity to serve with groups who come to us from different perspectives. Please let us know what your preferences are.

You will be involved with Neighbors Helping Neighbors. We provide volunteers to people in our community who struggle with poverty, age, physical limitations and disabilities. We seek to help people with a wide range of projects based on the skill levels of our volunteers that will enable people in the neighborhood to continue to live safely and securely in their homes.

Your group will provide us with help that is very much needed in the care of our properties as you come and serve with us. You may be involved with yard work, painting, agriculture, construction, wood splitting and other projects associated with the upkeep of the facilities and grounds managed by Good Works. You may also help with some of the projects that we do to develop these properties.

An ASB Weeklong Work Retreat is usually Monday through Saturday. If necessary, we can accommodate a group coming on Saturday or Sunday, but we do not plan for times of service on Sunday. Staff or interns will be available to assist you as needed on Sundays, but you will basically be on your own to plan activities for the group. You can consider Visiting Group Activities for things to do in our area.

If you are available for service on Monday, this is the day that we coordinate with other agencies in the community for you to serve with them. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to gain a broader understanding of the Athens community. It also helps Good Works to deepen our relationship with these organizations.

For your ASB Work Retreat we would like to suggest that you sponsor Friday Night Life as part of your time of service with us. This community meal for 125-150 people seeks to bring together people across economic and social boundaries. A sponsoring group will provide and prepare the food for the meal. This will give you a great opportunity to intersect with many of our friends struggling with poverty.

The Site Coordinator for your school’s ASB program can contact Paul Richard at 740-594-3336 to get some particular information for your group and to set the date. You may also contact us by email.

The links below will provide you with the information you need to consider an ASB Work Retreat with Good Works. The forms that you need are also below.

After the Work Retreat is set up and the leaders for this site have been selected, it will be necessary for the assigned leaders to have a phone conversation with Paul Richard to begin communication and to make sure they have the information they will need to lead their group.

Preparing for your Work Retreat

The following documents address some of the issues associated with living at Hannah House for the week:

Forms you will need for your Work Retreat

Team Member Welcome