The Caminos Immersion Program is designed for students to enter into the ‘shoes’ of St. Ignatius of Loyola. St. Ignatius walked all over Spain, between Spain and Paris several times over. Our immersion programs offer students an opportunity to travel to parts of Los Angeles, the state, country and the world. Immersions provide students with opportunities to expand their learning and personal development beyond the classroom, which are centered around five pillars—Education, Service, Spirituality, Community and Social Justice. The goals of the immersion programs are modeled on the tenants of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps program. Participants are called to:

• Engage in direct service for and with the people of the community we are visiting.
• Live simply, while in community with fellow students and people of the local community.
• Reflect on social justice and Catholic social teaching issues pertinent to the community we are visiting.
• Reflect through prayer at the end of each day as a means of noticing where and how God was acting throughout the day, but also how God invites us to respond.

This immersion program is designed to introduce students to the realities of the unhoused in Los Angeles, specifically in Skid Row. Students will spend the weekend at the Los Angeles Mission and assist throughout the different spaces across Skid Row. Participants will perform various service duties, such as preparing meals and sharing meals, and engaging in conversations with many of the unhoused at any one of the selected service sites. The service sites include: The Los Angeles Mission, Midnight Mission, Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles Catholic Worker, St. Francis Center and The Center (Hollywood).

During this service opportunity, 12 father/guardian and Cub teams will be building a home for a family living in impoverished conditions in the Colonia de San Bernardo in Southern Tijuana. Construction tasks include framing, siding, wiring, roofing, painting and applying drywall with all construction materials provided through the Baja Christian Ministries.

In just one weekend, our teams provide a needed 16×20, three-room weatherproof home, with a loft for a family. The houses are durable, efficiently designed and serve families for many years. The Baja Build immersions occur usually during winter break and summer break.

Every year, students and members of Loyola faculty travel to the border region of Nogales, Sonora-Mexico and Nogales, Arizona to participate in this annual Thanksgiving Immersion with the Kino Border Initiative. This immersion provides Cubs the opportunity to listen, engage and encounter with migrants with the desired outcome of transforming people and communities towards solidarity. The team also works towards developing holistic accompaniment of migrants, through policy advocacy in the United States.

The Family Days of Accompaniment (formerly known as Days of Service), supports Loyola’s core values of service, leadership and formation of the whole person through a collaboration among students, parents, faculty and staff. This is to help serve our most vulnerable communities, engage in a meaningful experience and reflect on our call to be agents of change for justice. The ‘Family Day of Accompaniment’ occurs in December every year. The ‘Mother/Guardian & Cub Day of Accompaniment’ occurs in May every year.