Teens Learning in the Community (TLC) - St. Louis

The Mercy Teens Learning in the Community (TLC) summer volunteer program offers a unique opportunity to combine service and education for volunteers, 16 years and older, interested in pursuing a career in a medical field.  The TLC program fosters a commitment to volunteering, offers valuable insight into a variety of healthcare professions, provides the opportunity to experience multiple areas of the hospital and work as a team to complete a group project designed to improve the care of Mercy patients.  Additionally, this experience cultivates a sense of leadership, team building, and confidence in the participants.

The TLC volunteers will be given the opportunity to interact with medical professionals like doctors, nurses, and therapists to see, first hand, the inner-workings of Mercy Hospital St. Louis.  The teens will also explore non-clinical positions, like Administration and Marketing to see what it takes for a hospital to successfully serve its’ patients.  Each day the teens will be invited to a “Lunch and Learn” lecture where various guest speakers from around the hospital will share information about their specific jobs at Mercy, their experience in the medical field, and offer advice on how to purse a medical career.  During Lunch and Learn, tours of different hospital facilities, like an Operating Room, will be given, allowing the teens to see how medical technology and equipment helps save lives.

The TLC Volunteers will spend part of each day assisting Mercy staff through voluntary positions.  These positions will rotate, providing each teen ample time to experience the many different patient care areas at Mercy Hospital.  The different volunteer roles could include working in Pediatrics and Child Life with our young patients, assisting on the Medical Surgical floors by passing lunch trays to bed bound patients, directing patients’ families throughout the hospital, or simply providing a listening ear during a stressful time in a patients’ life.  Each day the teens will have a different job, different responsibilities, and a different experience.

TLC will run for 5 weeks, twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for a total of 10 sessions, from 8am – 3pm each day.  We understand that the summer can be a busy time for many teens, so we ask that all volunteers attend a minimum of 8 sessions. 

To apply for TLC, please click here to access the TLC Application and TLC Questionnaire.  A letter of recommendation from an educational professional is required to apply for the TLC program.  Once completed, submit the application, questionnaire and letter of recommendation to:

Mercy Hospital
Volunteer Services
615 South New Ballas
Creve Coeur, MO 63141

Applications can also be faxed to (314) 251-7493 or emailed to Lauren [dot] Leemercy [dot] net

For more information about the Mercy TLC program, please call (314) 251-6180.

All application must be received by April 1^st, 2012 to be considered for the TLC Program