Family Program News

2009-08-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Family Programs at Villa Maria Education & Spirituality Center
Contact: Matt Abramowski
mabramowski@humilityofmary.org
724-964-8886

The Villa offers lots of family programs to meet the educational and spiritual needs of your family. Browse the offerings in the box to the left, and then contact us if you would like us to custom design a program for your family or group!

Our Mission: Villa Maria Education & Spirituality Center provides and promotes educational and spiritual experiences in a unique setting for people of all ages, faiths, and economic status.

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Practicing Christian Marriage: Part 1

2009-08-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Practicing Christian Marriage, Part 1

Practicing Christian Marriage is a half-day workshop offered by Christian marriage and family expert, Jim Merhaut. Jim has published widely on family issues. He is also a national speaker. Most important, Jim has been married to Debbie for over twenty years, and they have five children.

Gather a group of four or more married couples, and contact us at dstiger@humilityofmary.org or call 724-964-8886 to schedule your Practicing Christian Marriage session.

Cost is $75.00 per couple and includes a gourmet dinner with tables for two at the end of the program.

Marriage Preparation Weekend

2009-08-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

Commuter Price: $160.00 per couple (All meals included)

Vacation with a Purpose

2009-07-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

Bring your family to the Villa for a vacation experience you'll never forget. Time off from work or school does not mean that your faith commitment, your community responsibilities and your need to learn go out the window. Build character in your family with a vacation that makes a positive contribution to the world. Our staff can custom design a vacation of any length for your family that can include any or all of the following:

Overnight accommodations
Meals prepared by our professional staff

Heated indoor swimming pool

A peaceful rural setting with 726 beautiful acres
Trips to local sites including amusement parks, golf courses, professional sporting events, animal parks/zoos, museums and more

That's the vacation part. We will add appropriate doses of any of the following, and we'll prepare them to be meaningful for the ages of your children and adults:

Prayer services

Service projects on our farm or at a local site like Habitat for Humanity, a Homeless Shelter, a Soup Kitchen or some other opportunity

Family enrichment experiences such as family-building games, discussions, activities, etc.

You'll be amazed at how much fun you'll have and how good you'll feel about life when you leave! We can do this for your family alone, or you can recruit other families to join you. Contact us today to schedule your Vacation with a Purpose!

724-964-8886 or mabramowski@humilityofmary.org

Family Service Trips

2009-07-01T07:39:00.000-07:00

Family Service Trips are mission trips for people of all ages. Your church can plan to bring as few or as many families and individuals as you would like to the Villa. We will plan your service projects, offer meaningful service reflection activities for all ages, plan prayer services, provide your meals, give you a clean and comfortable place to sleep and leave plenty of time to explore the sites of our beautiful and historic area.

Project Opportunities Include:

St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen: Prepare and serve meals daily in this urban kitchen that has been a mainstay of hunger relief in Youngstown for decades.

Habitat for Humanity: Participate in a home construction project. Utilize and/or develop your skills as you work to provide affordable housing to a family with limited economic means.

Dorothy Day House of Hospitality: Learn first-hand the principles and practices of the Catholic Worker Movement and participate in offering hospitality to people in Youngstown who have great need and deep appreciation for this ministry.

Rescue Mission Homeless Shelter: Take a tour of the shelter and their distribution facility, and participate in much need services for people who are homeless.

Villa Maria Organic Farm: Put in a few hours of hard but meaningful labor on a working organic farm that distributes much of its produce to local poverty relief agencies, and learn about the benefits of organic gardening from professional farmers.

Your group will close each day with a meaningful and engaging reflection activity prepared by our staff, a staff with outstanding intergenerational and family ministry training and experience. We are happy to adjust the program to fit your group's needs.

Contact Matt Abramowski at mabramowski@humilityofmary.org or 724-964-8886 for more information.