LVC Alumni: Serve for a Year, Commit for a Lifetime

Alumni couple Katie and Jeremy Schroeder probably did not expect their LVC year of service to end in marriage and children, with both of them continuing to serve LVC years later.

But here they are!

Katie (Chicago ’03-04) was corralled in 2020 into serving on the LVC Board of Directors, and shortly thereafter was asked to serve as vice chair. She also chairs the external relations committee; leads orientation for new Placements; organizes recruitment of new LVC Volunteers at Gustavus Adolphus College where she has a full-time job as director of the Gustavus Fund; and joins other engagement events, like the fireside chats. She also champions LVC as a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran church, the support congregation for the Wellstone House in Minneapolis.

Jeremy’s (Baltimore ’00-01) life is one defined by just as much leisure as Katie’s… Jeremy is a member of the Minneapolis City Council, representing Ward 11 in south Minneapolis.  Jeremy is a co-author on the Transforming Public Safety Charter Amendment to update the Minneapolis city charter to broaden their public safety system and eliminate barriers to oversight and accountability.  He is also one of the authors of Minneapolis’s declaration of a climate emergency and numerous laws to holistically fight climate change.  Throughout his career, Jeremy has led efforts to support good government, workers’ rights, human rights, and equity. Prior to his service on the City Council, Jeremy worked for almost 20 years as a community advocate. He was a critical part of passing legislation to increase affordable housing in Minnesota and to abolish the Illinois death penalty.

His attention to LVC’s needs has not wavered. When alerted of a shooting near one of LVC’s houses in Twin Cities, he made prompt plans to connect with the neighborhood inspector to gather what intelligence he could to keep Volunteers in the house informed, and offered to speak with them about their experience. Supporting the national effort, he served as panelist for the Program Day focused on the environment, engaging his personal gifts with bike commuting, worm composting, chicken keeping, and backyard permaculture.

Together, their LVC service never ended. Though they have moved from being Volunteers in Chicago and Baltimore to working tirelessly on the important issues of today, they remain committed to each other and LVC. Both Katie and Jeremy have served as community mentors and Placements. They give regularly and joyfully as donors. Their service to LVC has evolved as their life has. Katie and Jeremy credit their experience in LVC for helping them explore and solidify their values and vocation. And they feel deep gratitude for the friendships they developed and the community they continue to experience through their involvement with LVC.

Katie and Jeremy are a hard act to follow. But then no one need follow. Each person leads in each person’s own way, and that is greatly appreciated by LVC.