The Bon Secours Volunteer Ministry (BSVM) offers young adults a transformative year of service grounded in the core values of justice, solidarity, and healing that guide the Sisters of Bon Secours. Our volunteers embrace the sisters’ long-standing mission to offer compassion, liberation, and hope to individuals who are poor, suffering, or marginalized. Through this year of intentional service, volunteers learn to accompany communities with humility and courage while contributing to meaningful, lasting change.

BSVM serves communities in Baltimore, Maryland, and Richmond, Virginia—two cities where volunteers live in the neighborhoods they serve, forming authentic relationships with those experiencing social inequality, poverty, and major public health barriers. By working directly in hospitals, outreach centers, community-based nonprofits, and justice-focused organizations, volunteers help address issues such as health disparities, food insecurity, trauma, and lack of access to essential services. This on-the-ground presence is central to the broader mission of the Sisters of Bon Secours to bring healing and justice to those most in need.

Print and direct mail play a critical role in sustaining the ministry, recruiting new volunteers, and keeping our wide network of supporters and alumni connected to our mission. Our largest print project is The Companion, a professionally designed 12-page quarterly newsletter mailed to supporters, donors, and alumni. This publication shares volunteer stories, ministry updates, community impact, and reflections rooted in our values. It helps supporters feel deeply connected to the young adults serving through our program and to the people whose lives are touched by their work.

In addition to The Companion, BSVM uses postcards to encourage college seniors and recent graduates to apply for a year of service. These postcards are essential to our recruitment strategy, especially for campus events where students benefit from receiving something tangible that can travel back to their dorm rooms or apartments.

We also rely on printed promotional materials for recruitment fairs, campus visits, and nonprofit networking events. Items such as bookmarks, stickers, rack cards, and informational flyers help introduce potential applicants to the values and mission of BSVM while giving them something physical to take with them—an important connection point for young adults discerning a service year.

BSVM additionally sends personalized printed birthday cards to alumni throughout the year. These cards help maintain meaningful relationships with former volunteers, many of whom go on to careers in healthcare, education, ministry, and social justice. The continued connection is deeply valued and strengthens long-term engagement with the ministry.

Receiving the Conquest Graphics 2025 Nonprofit Grant would help us continue and expand these essential print-based efforts. The grant would directly support the printing of The Companion newsletter, the production of recruitment postcards and promotional materials, and the sustainability of our alumni engagement through cards and mailings. This support would ultimately help us reach more young adults, share the impact of our work more broadly, and strengthen the communities we serve in Baltimore and Richmond.

By supporting BSVM, the grant would directly contribute to empowering young adults to live out their faith through service while making a lasting difference in the lives of individuals and families facing hardship.