QVS Summer Lab: Philadelphia

What is the Summer Lab:

Since the pandemic began, cultural shifts and a changing social justice landscape has led Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) to explore ways to better meet the needs of a new generation. We often hear from young adults that they are looking for shorter service, leadership, or internship opportunities that help them feel more grounded. With an ever changing political, economic and social environment it is consistently clear to us that young adults are seeking to live into their own power in a changing world.

Since the initiation of the Philadelphia program in 2013, QVS has led dozens of Philadelphia Fellows to deepen into Quakerism or explore the Religious Society of Friends for the first time. QVS has played a major role in supporting the spiritual lives of young adults ages 21-30, and we are now excited to expand our programming to connect with younger adults.

We recognize that young adults who participate in QVS do so as part of a larger life trajectory. The more we understand about that arc, the better we can support young adults in preparing for the lives they are called to lead.

With that in mind, our purpose in running a Summer Lab is three-fold.

It will broaden the scope of our impact by reaching adults at a younger age;
It will help us learn more about young adult needs as they seek social justice pathways;
It will allow us to strengthen our collaboration with local organizations that have differing needs than our 9½-month program.

Summer Lab has five key elements:

Volunteer at local organizations
Connect with activists in the community
Explore Spirituality with local Friends
Deepen into Community with one another
Experience deep learning from QVS Staff through workshops

We are excited to offer Summer Lab as a shorter opportunity to young adults ages 18-20. This five-week program will build on the history of Quaker service, incorporating programming that supports spiritual exploration, community-building, and service opportunities. We want to begin by engaging residents virtually prior to the start date to invite them into a process of co-creating events and activities. Our intention is to build a program that is by young adults and for young adults, supporting their agency in their own experience.

We are excited to offer an opportunity to young adults who see QVS as a meaningful pathway for living with integrity, joy, and kindness.

About Rai Carter (they/them)

Rai (they/them) grew up in Philadelphia. They came into interfaith work in their years in undergrad. Since then, Rai has spent time researching ecotheology in the Black community and learning to understand its connections to other faith and spiritual practices. They have also spent time working in Racial Equity and systems change work over the past several years.

Rai is passionate about plants and the natural world, cooking as a healing practice and understanding various community and social systems. They are interested in further exploring the intersection of religion, food, and employment and are hoping to continue this exploration with further study. They also enjoy biking, taking care of their many plants and their cat and listening to podcasts in their time off.

In 2018-2019, Rai moved to Atlanta to participate in QVS. QVS was their first introduction to Quaker practice. Rai joined staff as the QVS Atlanta Coordinator and is now the Philadelphia Coordinator.

Connect with them via Rai@quakervoluntaryservice.org.

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