IVC National Capital Area

IVC National Capital Area The Ignatian Volunteer Corps matches seasoned professionals with charities and nonprofits seeking sk

A Message From the Senior Area DirectorThe 2025-26 service year drew to a close on Tuesday, June 30. It is both a time ...
07/05/2026

A Message From the Senior Area Director

The 2025-26 service year drew to a close on Tuesday, June 30. It is both a time to evaluate the year that has been and to begin planning in earnest for the year ahead. I am so grateful that Dr. Mary Beth Corrigan and Ms. Julie Hawkins Ennis were able to lead our spring retreat, which took place the week of June 15 and was attended by almost 80 of our members at Loyola on the Potomac Retreat House in Southern Maryland.

During the week of September 21 upcoming, spiritual reflector Terresa Ford will lead back-to-back retreats for the members of IVC Baltimore and IVC National Capital Area at Loyola. Baltimore will lead things off Monday through Wednesday. National Capital Area members will join them for a shared lunch on Wednesday, September 23 and then our retreat will commence until Friday afternoon, September 25. Early indicators are that the vast majority of our current service corps members will be returning for the 2026-27 service year, and we continue to interview newcomers to join their ranks thanks to the diligent work in recruitment being done by program managers Anna Marie Mason and Desiree Heyliger.

Over the summer, everyone on our mailing list will be receiving news about our plans for the Evening of Gratitude, which will be taking place on Sunday, October 11, 4-7 p.m. at Georgetown Visitation in Washington, D.C. Please save the date and make plans to join us first for an afternoon concert by liturgical musician Dan Schutte of St. Louis Jesuits fame and then a dinner to honor Sr. Mary Berchmans Hannan with the Kathleen Curtin Spirituality in Mission Award along with a celebration of Mary McGinnity’s 20+ years of leadership of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps. Falling on a long holiday weekend, we hope that this year’s Evening of Gratitude will be our best and brightest. All IVC board and staff members from around the country will be joining us for the celebration. Hope that you can be there, too!

With gratitude,

Mike Goggin, M.A.
Senior Area Director

Steve Worth: Bringing Strategic Value to St. Ann’s Center!IVC-NCA member Steve Worth is grateful to be serving at partn...
07/05/2026

Steve Worth: Bringing Strategic Value to St. Ann’s Center!

IVC-NCA member Steve Worth is grateful to be serving at partner agency St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families, where he brings a career in government relations, marketing and public affairs to assist the center with strategic planning and communications. Steve joined IVC in 2025, after fellow IVC member Joe Kenny and his wife Sharon recommended it to him as a way to help organizations in need.
A graduate of Georgetown University, Steve served as a managing director with Hill+Knowlton Strategies and, later, at two other international firms before forming his own management consulting practice. St. Ann’s warmly welcomes his talents!
Established in 1860 by the Daughters of Charity as Washington, D.C.’s first home for orphaned, abused and neglected children, today St. Ann’s Center helps mothers and their young children overcome crisis and achieve lasting independence and stability. It’s a model that works!
Last year, the center provided over 17,600 total days of housing for 80 women and children. Their expert staff facilitated comprehensive social work case management services and related classes in life and parenting skills. Teen mothers benefitted from therapeutic group sessions, infants in need received physical therapy, and the center’s onsite child care program served over 100 children.
“The opportunity with St. Ann’s attracted me because of its original mandate,” Steve says. “It’s personal to us because my wife and I adopted our two children.” His many years as a board member with a nonprofit focused on poverty alleviation also played a role. “Poverty is really a defining thing for so many people, and women and children suffer the most,” he points out. “Clients turn to St. Ann’s to get the hope and job skills they need to have. I love the people and the mission.”
Since starting at St. Ann’s last January, Steve has helped with strategic planning and its implementation, along with reviewing goals and implementing tasks for the center’s new business plan. He’s also helped with broader communications, especially for the recent Hope Blossoms reception and awards ceremony. “We are also focused on November, to raise awareness about homelessness.”
“Steve has been a true gift to St. Ann’s Center - generously sharing his time and expertise across everything from board development to communications strategy,” says Chief Executive Officer Sister Nancy Downing, CND. “His thoughtful guidance and willingness to step in wherever needed have strengthened our work in a meaningful and lasting way.”
When considering his role at St. Ann’s, Steve refers back to St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Principle Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises: Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.
He sees that foundation in the work going on at the center. “Everyone brings something unique, in terms of experience and reasons to be there, that form a mosaic of perspectives, talents, and passions that is full of energy and creativity. Virtually all have had an experience in their own lives that helps them to realize just how needed and special St. Ann's is. Is the Holy Spirit moving behind the scenes there? I have no doubt about it.”

Photo: Steve Worth (right) with St. Ann's Manager of Marketing and Communications Michael McCormick

Save the Date – Evening of GratitudeSunday, October 11 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm!Join us on Sunday, October 11 for our Evenin...
07/05/2026

Save the Date – Evening of Gratitude

Sunday, October 11 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm!

Join us on Sunday, October 11 for our Evening of Gratitude at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School! The event will begin with an afternoon concert by Dan Schutte, composer of contemporary Catholic Christian liturgical music. Dan is best known for composing the hymn “Here I Am, Lord” and approximately 175 other hymns and Mass settings, one of which – “Homeland,” written for the U.S. semiquincentennial, we used at our spring retreat.

IVC-NCA will honor Sr. Mary Berchmans Hannan, VHM, President Emerita, Georgetown Visitation, with the Kathleen Curtin Spirituality in Mission Award.

And we’ll celebrate IVC President and Chief Executive Officer Mary McGinnity’s twenty-plus years of leadership!

A few photos from the Spring Retreat at Loyola on the Potomac, courtesy of Anna Marie Fierro!
07/05/2026

A few photos from the Spring Retreat at Loyola on the Potomac, courtesy of Anna Marie Fierro!

On Wednesday, March 4, IVC-NCA and IVC Baltimore members gathered at the Bishop Claggett Retreat Center in Adamstown, M...
04/10/2026

On Wednesday, March 4, IVC-NCA and IVC Baltimore members gathered at the Bishop Claggett Retreat Center in Adamstown, MD for their Lenten Retreat. Fr. Rob McChesney, S.J. facilitated the event, focusing on the theme of “Experiencing Christ As Hero and Casualty” . Special thanks to IVC Baltimore Regional Director Raven Wilkins and IVC-NCA Program Manager Desiree Heyliger for their expert photography!

From the Senior Area Director“We are proud of you for the life that you lived.” I heard those words recently while atten...
03/28/2026

From the Senior Area Director

“We are proud of you for the life that you lived.” I heard those words recently while attending the funeral Mass of IVC National Capital Area service corps member Mike Bates. The words were shared by his son David as a eulogy for his father, remembering his dad’s abiding kindness as a parent and grandparent. What a beautiful tribute, simple yet profound, for a man who could also be remembered for his military service in Vietnam, his legal career in service to the federal government and his IVC work with OAR of Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church.

In fact, the Ignatian Volunteer Corps is likewise proud of the lives that everyone reading this occasional newsletter has made in the various roles and commitments that characterize the IVC commitment. Eighty-five of you serve one or two days weekly helping to improve the lives of men and women coping with the cruelty of poverty. Thirty more of you meet monthly one on one with our service corps members to help them reflect on how they see God’s presence in the work that they do. Twenty of you advise me quarterly as members of our Regional Advisory Council. Two of you work with me weekly as program staff. Hundreds more generously give one or more times per year to provide the resources that allow our region to grow and thrive. It is so important to acknowledge these gifts of time, talent and treasure.

Read on in this issue to learn more about an IVC National Capital Area couple that is making service a family affair – father working with son in distinct roles with the Father McKenna Center on the campus of Gonzaga College High School. IVC also stepped up recently to secure some overnight lodging for a large college group from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia traveling to an alternative spring break trip to Appalachia – recruiting for the long run, helping people still a half century away from considering membership in IVC.

Wishing you all a blessed Holy Week and a Happy Easter season ahead!

With gratitude,

Mike Goggin, M.A.
Senior Area Director

The Starkenburg Family – Putting Faith into Action!IVC of the National Capital Area is delighted to have Nancy Shea-Star...
03/28/2026

The Starkenburg Family – Putting Faith into Action!

IVC of the National Capital Area is delighted to have Nancy Shea-Starkenburg and her husband Bruce as members – with the added bonus that their son, Robert, is on staff at IVC partner agency Father McKenna Center – where Bruce serves!

Nancy, a retired elementary school teacher and reading interventionist, is currently in her fourth year serving at IVC partner agency St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville. “I feel blessed to be able to use my teaching skills in my service placement,” she says of working one-on-one or with small groups of students in need of reading support. “It’s a very powerful tool for teaching kids to read, because you can tailor the lesson for exactly what they need.”

Nancy serves two days per week at St. Joseph’s, and feels rewarded by seeing progress in her students’ reading abilities. “I’m still seeing the effects of the pandemic on some who lost ground with their reading skills. If you don’t learn to be a fluent reader by third grade, it’s difficult to catch up after that.” The school also has a significant Hispanic population, and Nancy tutors some native Spanish speakers over the course of a few years as they learn English.

A native of Long Island and an alumna of St. John’s University, Nancy learned of IVC after reading about the organization and thought “this is what I want to do in retirement.” She loves getting to know IVC members because “to a person they have all had very impressive careers and they are choosing to give back in some way. They are full of gratitude for blessings given in their life, and are such humble people, and interested in sharing their faith with others – and giving their time to help the marginalized.”

Bruce, who retired last year following a career in IT with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has been with the Father McKenna Center since joining IVC early in 2026. As a family, the Starkenburgs previously volunteered together there a few times, even once on Christmas morning. These experiences served as an incentive for his placement.

Every Friday, he performs a variety of assignments – including washing dishes, serving meals to guests and sorting food in the pantry. “I really enjoy the people here, both the staff and the guests, and it’s a chance to give back a little bit to people who need a ‘leg-up,’” he said. He joins fellow IVC members Mary Cahill, Don Kisicki, Abbe Nuccio and Joe Kenny in service there.

Bruce, a Florida native, received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Catholic University of America. He learned more about IVC through Nancy’s experiences, and also about others and the great work they do, so it was a natural fit for his post-retirement career. “It’s wonderful to see the generosity of heart that IVC members show in their ministries. Everybody serves in different ways, and we all celebrate one another’s successes.”

Their son, Robert, has been on staff at the Father McKenna Center since 2024, where he serves as both the intake and hypothermia program coordinator. His responsibilities include managing the front desk area, the day program and keeping track of food donations to the pantry. From November to March, he oversees the hypothermia program for about ten men, ensuring overnight accommodations at the center. A graduate of Gonzaga College High School and the University of Maryland, Robert also served with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Scranton for one year. “I learned at Gonzaga to be a man for others and it’s something that I strive to do in my work here.”

03/28/2026

IVC member Nancy Shea-Starkenburg speaks about her role serving at St. Joseph's Regional School.

03/28/2026

IVC member Bruce Starkenburg and his son Robert speak about their roles at the Father McKenna Center.

03/28/2026

Father McKenna Center Executive Director Dennis Dee speaks about the value that IVC members bring in serving there.

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