Possible Placements

"The MercyWorks Program was in many ways a life-changing experience for me. During my volunteer year, I worked with young girls in the Seton Home program. I thoroughly enjoyed my work since the girls that I worked with were amazing. For many of them, their lives had been shattered by violence, neglect, poverty, and sadness and yet their experiences seemed to make them stronger. I was surprised at how much they taught me."
~ Colleen Ray

Be a Youth Advocate

A Youth Care Worker in Youth Programs acts as an advocate, educator, coach and role model for the residents of Mercy Home for Boys and Girls. Youth Care Workers are responsible for the following: doing both one-on-one work with youth as well as some group work (i.e. facilitating milieu meetings); crisis stabilization; the implementation of each youth's Individual Therapy Plan; insuring that the youth's therapeutic, educational and employment plans are followed; timely and accurate communication within program, specifically with incident reports, contact with the youth's families, supervision, and all log entries; and providing leadership for the youth in the provision of a healthy living environment.

Speh Home & Noha Home - Boys generally between 11 - 14
Seton Home - Girls generally between 11 - 14
Mahoney Home & Cooke Home - Boys generally between 14 - 16
Walgreen Home - Girls generally between 14 - 16
Campbell Home & Sheil Home - Young men generally between 16 - 18
Couderc Home - Young women generally between 16 - 18
Bosco Home - Boys generally between 11 - 16
Daley Home - Boys generally between 11 - 16

Assess Incoming Youth

The Admissions Case Manager works with other members of the Admissions team to provide case management services during the admissions process and is responsible for assuring families, prospective residents and referral resources of a timely and comprehensive assessment, a thorough explanation of Mercy Home's programs and an intake decision in one to five days.

Empower Youth to Succeed

The Aftercare Care Manager functions to assist, empower and support former residents in need of ongoing case management services. The Care Manager works to prepare current or former residents to function as independent, self-sufficient adults in society and to provide them with the necessary resources, support and guidance so that they continue progressing and adapting pro socially to their home, work and social environments.

Coordinate the Mentors

The Friends First Volunteer Coordinator coordinates the effective execution of the mentoring program including: locating appropriate children to participate in the program, establishing mentoring relationships between those children and adult volunteers provided, overseeing the monitoring and support of the mentoring relationships and providing assistance and referral services to families of children in the program. The Volunteer Coordinator sometimes also spends 4 hours a week serving as a mentor to one of the kids in the Friends First Program.

"I work closely with "my boys" - as I like to call them - serving as a role model, friend, and a listening ear. My job is simply to help them reach their goals. A typical day finds me picking up a youth from school, conversing with another about his day, taking the group to the cafeteria for dinner, helping them with their homework, guiding them through nightly chores, and helping them with anything else before they retreat to their rooms for sleep. Every day brings new challenges, and often I am stretched to keep my cool and think clearly during a heated conversation or a youth's refusal to do his chore. With these challenges, however, I can stay positive and consistent with children who have experienced neither of these virtues in their lives.

Sometimes I see the fruits of my labors. The satisfaction I feel when a youth takes responsibility for a poor decision or confides in me about obstacles in his life is lasting and deep. But many times I do not see the end result of my actions, and yet I continue on with the understanding that each and every experience with a child can make a lasting impression on his or her heart."  ~ Tim Callan