Kassidy Rouse ’25 named the 2024 Bethel Newman Civic Fellow

Kassidy Rouse ‘25, recently named Bethel’s 2024-2025 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, views the fellowship as a transformative opportunity to further pursue her calling. Campus Compact, a coalition promoting the public mission of higher education, selects fellows based on their demonstrated leadership and dedication to community service. Nominated by university presidents and chancellors across the country, fellows like Rouse engage in a yearlong program designed to enhance their skills through mentorship and specialized training. This initiative aims to cultivate a new generation of civic leaders capable of driving significant social impact.

Rouse is grateful for the Newman Civic Fellowship and the opportunity to further her passion for community service and servant leadership. “It will be an amazing opportunity to learn even more, as the fellowship provides training opportunities and a mentorship program,” she says. Through this fellowship, Rouse anticipates refining her skills and deepening her impact on the communities she serves.

Even before Bethel, Rouse always felt a deep connection to her faith and a strong sense of purpose. Growing up in a faith-centered home in northern Illinois, she developed a deep reverence for God and a sense of higher calling. "I have gone to church my whole life. The summer before my senior year of high school, God called me into ministry," she says. That set her on a path that ultimately led to Bethel, a university that aligned with her values and one she wholeheartedly embraced as her second home. “Bethel ended up being the only school that I was excited about after visiting. After that, I knew that it was the school God was calling me to go to.”

Rouse is majoring in missional ministry and biblical and theological studies, exploring the intricacies of scripture and theology. She attributes much of her growth to the biblical and theological studies (BTS) department. “The BTS professors are extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and encouraging. I have been able to learn a lot about ministry, the Bible, and myself over the past three years—and am better prepared for my future career because of the support from faculty.” Rouse has also been active in various campus projects and activities, including Shift, Bethel’s first-year spiritual formation experience which helps incoming students build community, shift into college life, and learn more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

In her freshman year, Rouse wanted to make a tangible difference in her community, which led her to Urban Homeworks, a nonprofit dedicated to providing housing for lower-income families in North Minneapolis. "I got involved with the Bethel Frogtown program, as it was a great opportunity to do something meaningful," she says. Her journey with the organization began three years ago, and she’s served as their marketing development intern ever since. She organizes data and ensures the seamless functioning of vital systems and is often involved in tasks that help free up Urban Homeworks staff members to take care of other critical matters related to public policy reform, community organizing, and affordable housing. These tasks have shaped her understanding of nonprofit management and ethically-minded leadership.

“Housing rights are such an important issue to me, and I have been truly blessed to work with this organization,” she says. She believes that ensuring dignified housing is not just about shelter—it's about empowering individuals to regain stability. “Helping to ensure that people have dignified housing is more than just protecting people from the weather—it also helps to get people back on their feet,” she says.

Her role with the nonprofit has shed light on the issues and nuances of obtaining affordable housing—which Rouse has learned is intertwined with classism, racism, and the enduring impacts of redlining in urban areas. “Many jobs need a permanent address to even apply. This bars out people who are experiencing homelessness and can’t escape it, but Urban Homeworks is helping to end that cycle,” she says. “There are a lot of issues in this world, but I believe that by working together with a mindset of love and respect for everyone, we can help to improve our world and our society little by little.”

Throughout her internship, Rouse has gleaned insights into effective organizational management, caring for communities in need, and working toward change. “I have learned a lot about non-profit organizations and how to properly run and care for one. This has been a valuable experience because in the future I want to be a pastor—and knowing how to care for people and run an organization is centered around exactly that,” she says.

For Rouse, faith serves as the cornerstone of her endeavors, infusing her work with purpose. "Faith is all over this work because we are called to love people and to help them in any way that we can,” she says. To Rouse, every act of service is a testament to her faith, an embodiment of the biblical mandate to love and uplift those in need. “Urban Homeworks is a Christian organization with the mission to ‘lead the fight for housing justice so that all people have a safe, stable, and dignified place to live.’ When we do good works unto others, we are doing them unto Jesus (Matthew 25:40),” she says.

Working with a nonprofit has developed her passion for servant leadership in the communities that need it most. "We should be trying to make the world a little brighter and better by what we are doing and saying," she says. “That could look like working with Urban Homeworks in helping people have a safe place to live, picking something up for someone when they drop something, or even just a smile,” she says. Rouse views service not as a mere obligation but as a privilege and a calling. “That is what we are called to do. I don’t think it is something that makes me stand out so much, because as Christians we are all called to have a servant’s heart,” she says.

Looking ahead, Rouse remains committed to her calling to serve others. "There is no reason not to do what you can to make someone’s life a little better," she says. Rooted in faith and driven by compassion, she continues to inspire those around her.

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