Feeding the Flock: Comparing a Retreat Program Across U.S. Cities

Government and social private agencies have long focused on the physical needs of homeless adult men and women. However, they have ignored the spiritual needs of homeless persons. We assessed from feedback surveys the perceptions of homeless men and women participating in one of 26 U.S. city weekend spiritual retreat programs. We focused on the retreat’s workshop and healing impact, as well as retreat structure variables, comparing respondents from similar and different urban settings. The Ignatius Spirituality Project (ISP, Inc.) is a non-profit faith based agency located in Chicago, IL, but operates in 26 U.S. urban settings. ISP offers homeless adults a weekend long spiritual retreat, focused on personal healing and reconnecting with others as well as opportunities for worship. The notion is, we feed the homeless with food, but need to feed their spiritual side as well? In this project, we analyzed self-reported retreat feedback information collected in 2015. More specifically, we present the results on survey items on the retreat process and its structure comparing respondents on their present residence setting.https://via.library.depaul.edu/psychologynight/1067/thumbnail.jp