Grace Year—A Time to Do Good

Jessica Davis is interviewed about her experience of taking a “gap year” after graduating from SUNY New Paltz. She is living with other young persons who are working to help others in a program called “Grace Year.” Grace Year allows recent college graduates to spend a year of intentional living from a base in Grace Episcopal Church in Millbrook, NY, focusing on spirituality, religion, and justice It is a year-long opportunity to live in a small community of young adults as they prepare for lifelong journeys of sustained leadership for the common good. During the year, the fellows live together along with the program leader, Abby Nathanson, in the Grace Church vicarage while they volunteer to work with local

nonprofits. These include a preschool; youth programs for teens; EPIC (Engaging People in Change), a bilingual leadership program for high-school students; programs for immigrants; local farms; Hudson River Housing; and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Ms. Davis is helping senior citizens by working with the Church Alliance senior residence and Millbrook at Home, which helps senior citizens who are aging in place. When her Grace Year has passed, Ms. Davis plans to attend graduate school with the intention of becoming a guidance counselor.

Learn More

Grace Year: http://www.graceyear.org/

Grace Year Program (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/graceyearprogram/

EPIC (Engaging People in Change): https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/e04b940c57a74a4da68d634d44982d1e-engaging-people-in-change-epic-millbrook

Church Alliance of Millbrook Gardens: https://www.nyconnects.ny.gov/services/the-church-alliance-of-millbrook-gardens-bartel-place-housing-sofa45301

Millbrook at Home: http://www.millbrookathome.org/

Grace Episcopal Church in Millbrook: https://www.gracemillbrook.org/