Community Partners

Community partners are not-for-profit organizations, government agencies and social service groups that join with Iona University to meet the needs of the community while providing an experiential learning experience for our students within the context of an academic course.

Community partners are an essential component of service-learning and serve as co-educators for the service-based experiential learning experience. Service-learning as a teaching style has the unique opportunity to transform both students and communities alike! In so many ways, it is a win-win scenario because students are able to apply the newly honed skills they learned in class to a community identified need, making our communities stronger, healthier, and more just places.

Become a Community Partner

We are always looking for more community partners to match up with a service-learning course. If you believe your organization has a project that can accommodate a large group of students (20-30) for a one-semester project that has the potential to be embedded into a course, we would love to hear from you!

Contact Kevin M. Griffith, CFC, '83 at kgriffith@iona.edu to discuss your ideas.

Please note that we might not be able to accommodate all service projects due to our academic schedule, liability concerns or other issues.

Community Partnerships

Past partnerships between Iona students and community organizations have included:

• AFYA Foundation- AFYA rescues surplus medical supplies and delivers them to under-served health systems around the world. Our students help AFYA expand its impact in the Westchester community by creating surveys, measuring impact and proposing marketing and outreach strategies.
• Midnight Run– Midnight run is a volunteer organization that coordinates the delivery of food, clothing and blanket to poor and homeless people in New York City. The Iona University Chapter is very active in carrying out this mission.
• Boys & Girls Club New Rochelle- The Boys & Girls Club (BGC) and New Rochelle works to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Our students created a strategic plan for BGC to prioritize programs and expand impactful services.
• HOPE Community Services– HOPE Community Services provides clothing, food and meals for those in need. It also offers emotional support, language skills and immigration services for new immigrants in New Rochelle. Our students assist in providing these services.
• Meals on Wheels– Meals on Wheels is a program that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. Iona University students have been instrumental in assisting this program.
• Composting & Food Recovery– On campus composting has become a favorite environmental service for Iona students interested in improving the environment. Likewise, the Iona Chapter of the nationally recognized Food Recovery Network helps to fight hunger by recovering perishable food that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to organizations that feed people experiencing hunger.
• The Catholic Worker– Through The Catholic Worker in New York City, Iona students are able to help feed, clothe, and befriend the poor and homeless in our midst. Founded in 1933 by Dorothy Day, a guiding principle of The Catholic Worker is hospitality towards those on the margins of society.