A volunteer organization that is sometimes called the (U.S.) "domestic Peace Corps". Based out of a Lutheran church in Washington, D.C., Luther Place Memorial Church, LVC volunteers live together in houses of 4-6 in the cities of:

• Seattle and Tacoma, Washington
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Chicago, Illinois
• Wilmington, Delaware
• Baltimore, Maryland
• and, of course, D.C. itself.

The volunteers, while not all Lutheran, strive to remain committed to three tenets during their one (or two) years of service: Living Simply, Living in Community, and Working for Social Justice. They have a web site if you want some more info: http://www.lvchome.org/.

(P.S. - if there are any LVCers out there, I'd love to hear from you!!!)