Good Works, Inc.

Praxis is a Good Works initiative that was launched in February 2017 as an invitation to Ohio University faculty and students to join us in our efforts to care for our neighbors here, in the Athens County community.  We’ve worked hard to structure Praxis experiences in such a way that they fit well into the Service Learning curriculum currently implemented by many Ohio University course instructors, across a wide spectrum of disciplines.

Through Praxis, it is our intention to afford students an opportunity to engage the Athens County community in a meaningful way.  It is our hope that interested course instructors will incorporate a relationship-centered volunteer experience directly into their course curriculum.    Experiences can be customized to fit the needs of a specific course.  However, as a general rule, Praxis experiences are structured in a way that allows students to participate in one or more Good Works contexts in a repetitive manner.  Consequently, Praxis experiences carry the expectation of a regular commitment to participate throughout the semester.

Over many years, Good Works has work with Dr. Julia Paxton’s Economics of Poverty class coordinating multiple opportunities for Ohio University students to participate in Friday Night Life and Neighbors Helping Neighbors. This year, we again welcomed Prof. Christine Zachrich and her team of dietetic internship students into several week-long experiences involving both Friday Night Life and the Good Works Timothy House.  Prof. Zachrich’s students used their dietetic know-how to craft healthy meals for the Friday Night Life community.  In addition, the interns helped the Timothy House to process and save an abundance of donated, fresh produce.  In both contexts, the students were afforded the opportunity to connect with people from many different walks of life.

If you are an Ohio University faculty member, a student participating in a Service Learning course or you’re simply interested in finding a way to connect the Ohio University community with its Athens County neighbors, please contact us at email@good-works.net

Commitments for participating in a Praxis student volunteer experience during the Fall Semester of 2024 are available.