Engaged Community Service

Nursing major Ileen Yeng ’21 (York, PA) has consistently loved helping others in her community, but she always felt that something was lacking from traditional activism. “It felt impersonal,” she says. That all changed for her after she joined the Eisenhart Scholars program. The program “focuses on community service and engagement, but I think it is different from what most people think of as community service,” says Yeng. “We actively go out and talk to the people we want to help to understand the issue better.”

During her time with the Eisenhart Scholars, Yeng was most proud of a program called Generations of Hope. For 12 weeks in the summer of 2018, she worked with seven York Opportunity Scholars to develop a mentoring program for York City’s youth that was piloted in the fall of 2018 at McKinley Elementary School, thanks to funding from the Women’s Giving Circle. Fortunately, the program will continue as the grant has been renewed. “Our goal is to expose the youth to opportunities and expand their knowledge outside of school.”