The Blum Initiative for Global and Regional Poverty Studies is pleased to announce the call for the Blum Initiative Service-Learning Fellowship (BISLF) for currently enrolled UC Riverside undergraduate and graduate students. The BISLF is a funding opportunity for students who would like to pursue a domestic or international immersive volunteer or internship position. BISLF recipients will identify and partner with a non-profit or government agency, receive a stipend to subsidize their travel expenses, and a fellowship stipend of up to $3,200.00 to subsidize the cost of living during the fellowship.

BISLF affords students the unique opportunity to engage in service learning. The Blum Initiative expects recipients to learn about poverty while serving a community or population in need. More generally, recipients will engage in service-learning that complements the mission of the Blum Initiative. Specifically, the Blum Initiative aims to encourage the study of poverty throughout the world (including developing countries and/or rich democracies), across the U.S., and especially within the Inland Empire and Southern California. By poverty, the Blum Initiative is interested in relative and material deprivation, economic insecurity, and a host of related inequalities and disparities.

• Organizations
  • There is no pre-approved list of groups with which the student can volunteer, but those organizations that provide assistance, health, water and sanitation, housing, and/or educational services to underserved and impoverished communities are plausible examples. The organization’s activities should be consistent with the mission of the Blum Initiative.
• Funding & Use of Funds
  • Each BISLF will include a stipend of up to $3,200.00 for living expenses and a stipend to subsidize travel to/from the non-profit, commensurate with market rates1. The exact number of BISLF’s awarded will be contingent on the quantity and quality of the applications, but it is anticipated at least three fellowships will be awarded.
• Eligibility and Requirements
  • Applications are invited from all UC Riverside undergraduate or graduate students, who have
    a) completed at least one quarter of coursework at UCR prior to the application deadline,
    b) are currently enrolled in a degree-seeking program, and
    c) are in good academic standing. UC Riverside undergraduate or graduate students, who: a) have completed at least one quarter of coursework at UCR prior to the application deadline, b) are in good academic standing are eligible for the BISLF.