ABSTRACT
A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define and limit the possibilities of each other's lives. Alternative breaks seek to build relationships within the community in a democratic, mutual, and horizontal way. Community is the center of strong alternative break programs because the aim of such programs is to work with communities to address pressing social justice issues in a way that is mutually beneficial and to do so as part of those communities. Alternative breaks most often use the first definition of the term community. Alternative breaks can build solidarity and alliances between diverse groups of people around common issues and struggles to organize for justice, human rights, and environmental rights.
