If you are intrigued about this year’s US Servas national conference, or you have already decided to attend, the conference web pages are online and ready to use. Simply visit the US Servas website and click on the NEWS & EVENTS menu at the top of any page, then choose 2026 CONFERENCE. This will land you on the conference VENUE page that provides information about the conference location (Univ. of Minnesota in Minneapolis – Twin Cities), and how to get there.

There are four pages dedicated to the conference. They are easily accessed by using the blue navigation buttons located on each page below the Minneapolis skyline graphic. Since the 2026 conference link above takes you to the Venue page we will describe that first.

VENUE - This page shows the exact location of the conference and how to get there, whether driving or using public transit. It also has short descriptions of conference meeting space, lodging, and dining space in Pioneer Hall (the specific building).

PROGRAM – The program is listed by day showing each session or activity scheduled for that day. We will update this page as more details become available, so plan to visit it again before and/or during the conference.

FUN – The Fun page lists information about social events that will occur as part of the conference, i.e., paddleboat dinner cruise, and peace walk. It also includes information about the Minneapolis area places you might want to visit including: the world class Science Museum, “Free” Thursday nights at the History Center, and the 81st Nagasaki-Hiroshima Commemoration scheduled for Thursday evening.

REGISTER – This link takes you to the event registration form. We recommend that you look at the other three pages before registering as this will help you answer questions included on the form, especially lodging and the optional paddleboat dinner cruise.

by Fouzia Bhat & Rick Wolfe

There is no reason to miss the US Servas National Conference being held the weekend of August  7 - 9 at the University of Minnesota. Attendance is cheap ($80 for two days), and Minneapolis is easy to get to by bus, car, or air, and has an excellent  public transit system. Subsidized lodging is cheap too ($25/nite double occupancy, $35 single).

So, join us for a gathering rooted in peacebuilding, cultural exchange, and learning from Minnesota's rich traditions of community care, civic engagement, and social action. This conference is an opportunity to reconnect with old friends, meet fellow Servas members from across the country, and build meaningful, lifelong connections. 

Accommodations and Arrival 

Accommodations at the University of Minnesota will be available beginning Thursday, August 6. The conference officially begins on Friday, August 7, with an optional paddleboat dinner cruise on the Mississippi River. Advance registration for the cruise is required (Adults $51, Kids under thirteen $30). Participants should gather at Pioneer Hall at 6:00 p.m. to carpool or take public transportation to the departure location. 

Conference Theme 

This year's conference will explore how communities come together to strengthen democratic values, foster civic participation, and respond to social challenges through cooperation, dialogue, and collective action. 

Program Highlights 

Current program highlights include: 

• A panel discussion on immigration, community response, and civic engagement 
• The Servas Peace Award presentation 
• A possible Monarca/Unidos training focused on democracy, legal rights, constitutional observation, and community response initiatives 
• A presentation on the Boundary Waters and environmental concerns related to mining 
• Servas workshops and practical "how-to" sessions 
• Morning grounding and mindfulness activities 
• An easy walk along the East River Park Trail to Bridal Veil Falls 
• An optional visit to the Science Museum 
• We are also intentionally leaving space in the schedule for informal conversation, storytelling, and connection—an essential part of the Servas experience. 

Sunday - Departure, Optional Stay-over

The conference concludes at noon on Sunday, August 9.  There will be boxed lunches which can either be eaten in the conference hall, or be taken with you if you need to leave.

University accommodations will remain available Sunday night. Unfortunately, extended stays before or after the conference cannot be accommodated through Servas. Attendees who are interested in staying longer can reach out to the University directly through their website. 

The University does offer summer housing to non-University guests based on dorm availability. If space is available, they may be assigned the same room in Pioneer Hall (as they will have for the conference), but it would be at the University’s standard summer housing rate, paid directly to the University. 

Registration

The registration form can be  accessed from the Conference webpage, which also has information you probably want to review before Registering. Or, you can use this link to directly access the Registration page.

Additional Information 

For local attractions, please visit Explore Minnesota's summer travel resources. 

Registration Opens Soon    by Fouzia Bhat, Conference Chair

The Türkiye Peace School is an alternative school held in Ekinci village of Antakya, Hatay, Turkiye since 2009. This school has been held every year in July and invites volunteers from all over the world who dream of a more peaceful world to the village. 

Servas volunteers stay with families in the village and share their culture and experience with the family. Families share their tables and stories with them. 
During most of the day, volunteers come together with the children of the village and do activities whose main theme is peace, love of people, love of animals, love of nature, as well as sharing their skills with the children (foreign languages, arts, handicrafts, cinema, astronomy, science, chess, mathematics... ), and they increase children's horizons and world awareness by providing information about their countries and cultures. 

After the February earthquake that deeply affected Turkey and Syria, this project, which has been carried out only in the summer months for 15 years, has spread throughout the year in order to combat the cultural blood loss, lack of socio-cultural activity and loss of motivation caused by the catastrophe.

 
Peace School's local volunteer team, together with volunteers from dozens of different parts of the world, has been organizing events for children, young people and adults since February, trying to find sustainable solutions to the deficiencies created by the earthquake. 

If you would like to be a volunteer and take part in the recovery process of our beautiful city of Antakya, and its beautiful children/people. For more details and registration visit the Türkiye Peace School 2026 webpage.

By David Schwartz

We have formed a group to help US Servas members who have been displaced from their homes by natural disasters. We are calling our group Emergency Servas. At this time, we’re initiating an informal pilot program in which you may wish to participate.

First a little background:

Three of us live in the Los Angeles area. When the fires struck last January, we wondered if there was anything we might do to help those affected. Deirdre reached out to members to see if they might be able to offer temporary housing, basic household goods or other forms of support. We put together a list of people who could help in our area, and we created a master list of where people affected by the fires could go for assistance. Although no one who responded needed assistance, we received encouragement to continue and expand the project.

We then reached out to the US Servas Board to see if they would approve this initiative. We have the go-ahead for the next exploratory stage.

Now we are entering hurricane season. Before a full-scale disaster strikes, we are trying to put together a list of people willing to assist other Servas members in the event of an emergency. Specifically, we would like to know if you wish to fill either or both roles so we can put together a database. We hope to find volunteers who will:

• serve as point people in your state or portion of your state (for example, Gulf Coast of Florida or South Carolina). The point people will serve as contacts for those needing and offering help and will try to put them in touch with each other.

• offer housing or other forms of assistance to members in need. The details would be worked out between the parties. Normal Servas hosting procedures such as two-night limit for regular Servas travel would not necessarily be followed but it the hosting is still meant to be short-term.

We are also looking for additional ideas as to how Emergency Servas might best serve our members. Please respond to emergency.servas@usservas.org

Virtual Open House: July 27, 2025 4:00 PM, PDT

Are you curious about our wonderful international peace-through-travel and hosting organization known as Servas? Are you a Servas Friend who has yet to become a Host/Traveler? Are you a current or former Servas member with family or friends who are intrigued by the idea of hosting or traveling through Servas? If so, consider attending this virtual open house on Sunday, July 27th. 4:00 PM PDT. It will be monitored by Teresa Crockett and Anne Cordon, both are long-term Servas members and volunteers.

If you don't plan to attend but have friends who might wish to, please forward the confirmation email that you will receive immediately upon registration. It will include the virtual meeting link for them to add to their calendar. Already an active Servas host or traveler? Please feel free to join the meeting to share your experiences.

Experienced Servas members will answer questions about the organization and describe the many ways that we can create meaningful cross-cultural connections through hosting and traveling.

Click this link to Register for the event and follow the simple instructions. You will receive a link to join the meeting in the confirmation email, and also in reminder emails prior to the meeting. Please add this to your personal calendar!

Please RSVP by clicking the Register link above.

Hosting a National US Servas Conference is a great way to develop Servas connections in your local area. The team effort pulls people together and creates a lasting energy for all attendees, but especially for the hosting region.

Could the 2026 US National Conference be held in your city? You don't have to reinvent the wheel to do so. We have planning documents, budgeting spreadsheets, and most importantly we can assemble an advisory team of previous conference hosts to meet with you and assist in the effort.

The most recent conferences were held in NY (2023), UT (2022), and NC (2021); see map for others. Generally, we like to move the location around so everyone eventually gets a chance to have it near them. If you have a suggestion where we should hold our 2026 conference or if your SERVAS community would like to host our 2026 conference in your state or city, please contact Tim Sullivan at  tim.sullivan@usservas.org

by Anne Cordon 

Several Servas members in the San Diego area and visiting Servas travelers from Tucson, AZ came together on Saturday, Sept. 14^th to enjoy a late-afternoon potluck and conversation in the home of Jorge and Anne Cordon. It was a beautiful, sunny and mild afternoon and the talk around the table focused on memorable Servas traveler and host experiences, the border, migration and the situation in Cuba.  It was pre-election, so members were feeling hopeful. This was the first Servas San Diego area get-together since Covid-19 so it was, in a sense, a restart of regional connections.. Plans are to gather again after the new year. 

Photo L to R: Carol Trible and Mike Byer, (from AZ) Miguel (a friend from Cuba), Susan Rothman, Jorge and Anne Cordon (holding their dog Winston) and Richard Weaver (current Servas president). 

by Vicky Wason, Volunteer Interviewer

This summer, I traveled to Colorado for a cohousing conference with one of my children who recently joined Servas as an adult. We stayed with Servas people in the Denver area. We stayed with two different hosts. Susan Ludwig (who also happens to live in cohousing) hosted my daughter Grae and me and drove us back and forth to the cohousing conference. We had many things in common and enjoyed our stay. And our second hosts, Kathy and Lorenz, hosted us after the conference and drove us to Denver's annual Servas picnic. The picnic was hosted by Lani Vigil.

We were also pleased when we learned that three of those in attendance were from Mountain View, California (also attending the cohousing conference). Lani Vigil hosted Ann Marie Teegardin, Elisabeth Seaman and Geoff Ainscow..

Another surprise was that all the people from out of state came to Denver by train!  That gave me an idea. I would like to suggest we plan a PEACE TRAIN on the Amtrak Zephyr in 2025. Contact me Vicky Wason if you are interested in planning a Servas train trip for next summer. vickywason@gmail.com

Attendees at front table counterclockwise from left: Vicky Wason(UT) in Servas purple, Kathy Dolan (CO) in light plaid shirt, a man from CA, Lani, our host (Denver). Other members are from California.

Oops, bad link! Click HERE to see Joanne Ferguson Cavanaugh's  August OD article about the Africa assembly.

by Susan Ovington

As travelers we get to stay with people in places we visit and as hosts we accept visitors from all over the world.  Sometimes we forget that there's a third way of participating in Servas:  making friends with other Servas members who live near us and collaborating with them.  

At regular gatherings of Servas members, we have the opportunity to meet other nearby people who have similar interests especially those who have traveled a great deal, and who are generally willing to share information and recommendations. Moreover, sometimes it is helpful to know other hosts who might be available to visit with your Servas guest if you don't have much time to spend with visitors.

SETTING UP A SERVAS GATHERING  

BETWEEN THE GATHERINGS

Encourage those who attended to help plan for future gatherings. If you are in an area where members are spread out, try to find a meeting place accessible to most of the members. In areas where Servas members live far apart, a host may consider also becoming an active Servas traveler in order to stay overnight with one of the hosts at the time of a gathering. This can all be a lot of fun, and well worth the effort.