Once your preliminary application is received, you will receive the formal application. This application includes reference letters to hand out to people who know you, a medical form for you to fill out, a medical form for a doctor to complete, and essay questions for you to answer.

Once your application is processed and approved, the program director will contact you to arrange for an interview and possible site visits to local places of ministry that interest you.

Upon acceptance into the program, you will meet with the director to discuss the terms of your service year, location and housing arrangements. The length of the volunteer program is one- or two-years renewable, however, exceptions are negotiable for those seeking a shorter volunteer service experience. The Americorps education award is available for those who qualify.

Before you begin your new ministry, you will take part in a week-long orientation where you will meet other Change a Heart Volunteers, learn about the values of the program, and be officially welcomed into the program during a ceremony celebrated in the Sisters of St. Francis Motherhouse chapel. During orientation week, you will have opportunities to ask questions, spend quiet moments to reflect on the core values of the MFVP: simplicity, community, spirituality and service, and hear dynamic speakers on topics such as Franciscan Spirituality, Catholic Social Teaching and the poor in Pittsburgh.

As a volunteer, you will receive many benefits, including room, board, health insurance, transportation to work and a personal stipend of $85 per month. Collective monies from your place of ministry will be used to cover your basic necessities. Volunteers live in a modestly furnished apartment.

Depending on the number of volunteers serving with MFVP, you will live together in community with them and/or other religious and lay people. All volunteers are required to attend weekly house meetings, which provide opportunities to discuss how the program’s values are being lived out or to work on any conflicts that may arise, and weekly community nights. Volunteers may also spend time together, in prayer or socially to nurture and strengthen their service.

Throughout your service year, you will be able to participate in retreats with MFVP volunteers as well as volunteers from other programs. These retreats are intended to provide support and camaraderie as you live out your year of service. Retreats offer a time to reflect and share your transitions and experiences with others who follow the Franciscan charism.

Change a Heart: Millvale Franciscan volunteers are part of a group of 9,000 individuals who serve in the 234 volunteer programs that comprise the national organization: Catholic Network of Volunteer Services (CNVS). As a member of CNVS, the Change a Heart: Millvale Franciscan Volunteer Program is part of a network of volunteers who serve with the poor in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 115 countries around the world.