HISTORY

MEET OUR STAFF

MEET OUR CURRENT MEMBERS

MEET SOME OF OUR ALUMNI

WHO ARE THE SISTERS
OF ST. FRANCIS

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

WHAT BEING A MEMBER OF CHANGE A HEART MEANS TO OUR VOLUNTEERS

 

ABOUT

For more than 20 years Change A Heart has been helping young people like you grow personally, professionally and spiritually. Established by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, Change A Heart is only one of three faith-based, year-long volunteer programs in southwestern Pennsylvania where 100% of our members serve directly with those in need. With Change A Heart, you decide where you want to serve — your ministry, as we call it. From feeding the hungry, shadowing health care providers as they care for the homeless, provide resources to immigrants or nurturing young children. You can select from a variety of programs in the Pittsburgh region including:

Education • Health Care • Social Services • Children & Youth

WHO WE ARE

Mission

Change A Heart Franciscan Volunteer Program calls young adults to live and serve in the spirit of St. Francis, working with Pittsburgh nonprofits to help the most vulnerable among us.

Vision

To inspire a sense of reverence, justice, and compassion by assisting those in need, and to instill a lifelong awareness of living out Gospel values by serving basic human needs based on fundamental dignity and respect for the individual.

VALUES

Service

Working full-time with organizations that align with their interests, our members directly serve individuals on the margins of society—across all ages, backgrounds, and areas of need—at service sites throughout our region.

Simplicity

By living together in community—on a small stipend, in a low-income urban neighborhood—our members develop awareness of their own lifestyles, discerning the difference between need vs. want; examining how their choices impact others; and embodying the Franciscan spirit: to live simply, so that others may simply live.

Community

Just as St. Francis desired to live in harmony with others according to the Gospel, our members live together in a Franciscan spirit of compassion through intentional community; of welcoming “the other.” They share meals, prayer, and weekly activities in an uplifting manner intended to nurture open, honest relationships and lifelong communication skills.

Spirituality

Most High, glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart
and give me
true faith,
certain hope,
and perfect charity,
sense and knowledge,
Lord,
that I might carry out
your holy and true command.
St. Francis' prayer before the Crucifix

Change A Heart is a faith-based program with Christian origins, a Catholic foundation, and a Franciscan identity, yet members need only a sense of reverence and compassion to serve. A sponsored ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, we draw upon the life of St. Francis of Assisi to help members contemplate their own lives of faith and to deepen their relationships with others—and their God—through personal reflection, weekend retreats, group sharing and prayer, and by making time for spiritual discussion, socializing, and mentoring with Sisters of the Neumann Community.