Our Story
Our story begins in 1998 when, Ed Shurna, the Director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, was attempting to create an experience to help build community, hope and transformation among those experiencing homelessness.
At nearly the same time, Bill Creed, SJ, a renowned and experienced spiritual director, was invited by his provincial to begin making the Spiritual Exercises available to those who were marginalized.
Eventually, in the confluence of these two great hopes the Ignatian Spirituality Project was born.
By listening to those who are homeless, Bill and Ed found that often their spiritual life was a source of hope amid deep discouragement. Thus, those original companions developed a retreat that drew upon the 500 year old tradition of Ignatian Spirituality in the contemporary language of recovery. The retreat was designed for persons who were both homeless and in recovery to find meaning and purpose as they reclaimed their lives.
They were and continue to be deeply profound experiences.
Word of the retreats eventually spread, and eventually retreats and teams were being offered in a half dozen cities across the county.
In 2005, Bill was invited to apply for an exceptionally generous grant which allowed the emerging organization to become a national network. Subsequently, we were able to become incorporated as a 501(c)3, and in 2008 hire our first full time staff.
Our network has grown and we now stretch with a dozen teams from Boston to San Francisco and are excited to continue offering these retreats to as many persons as we might be able.
Our Vision and Mission
We began by offering weekend retreats away, and have recently developed days of reflection, one-on-one spiritual companionship to continue the community and spirit of transformation forged on retreats. These programs invite both a deepening connection to one’s true self and a greater sense of intimacy with God and with the larger community.
Thus, the Board of Directors of the Ignatian Spirituality Project has adopted the following as our Five-Fold Approach:
- We offer retreats inspired by Ignatian Spirituality to those who are homeless and seeking recovery.
- We form teams with men and women who are homeless, in order to conduct Ignatian retreats, offer witness, and provide spiritual companionship.
- We reach out to new cities to build and from retreat teams to offer our programs.
- We seek to further our established national network of dedicated volunteers to respond to the spiritual needs of those who are homeless.
- We collaborate with communities and agencies working to end the injustice of homelessness.
We are eager to hear of your own hopes and dreams. Please Contact Us.
