Alternative Breaks

Alternative Breaks offers service-learning trips during academic breaks for UC Berkeley students to explore a social justice issue through education, reflection, and immersion into an impacted community. Since its founding in 2001, Alternative Breaks has offered students opportunities to connect with the greater community through meaningful service, education, and reflection during their academic breaks. Many participants return from their experiences with greater insight on a particular social justice issue and a deeper understanding of what it means to get involved in the community. This year, Alternative Breaks offers seven trips to different locations during the spring break, covering issues such as environmental justice, health care, immigration, and housing insecurity. These student-led trips travel to different locations in California and Puerto Rico to further their understanding of the community and to bring knowledge gained on-site back to the Berkeley community. Students not only participate in a week-long service trip, but also a spring DeCal course to explore various topics revolving around each social justice issue and engage in reflection both pre- and post-trip. Our Spring 2024 experiences include: Central Valley - The Unsung Heroes Harvesting Your Tomorrow: Exploitation, Migration and Resilience San Francisco - Economic Justice | No Place Like Home: Housing Inequity East Bay - Environmental & Food Justice: Heal Your Planet Heal Yourself (HYPHY): Building Sustainable Legacies Rooted in the Town Los Angeles - Striving for Health Equity in Los Angeles Puerto Rico -Bombiando con Puerto Rico San Diego - Immigration Isn’t a Crime: The Fight for Human Rights at the Southern Border Apply now! Link to Spring 2024 Participant Application! Priority deadline: Oct 23 at 11:59pm Final deadline: Oct 26th at 11:59pm