Santa Clara University partners with community mothers to bring hope to neighborhood

In 2015, Santa Clara University partnered with a group of San Jose immigrant mothers and formed The Madres Emprendedoras: Mosaicos de la Communidad- Spanish for Entrepreneurial Mothers: Mosaics of the Community. On September 21, 2018 a mural symbolizing two years of tireless work was unveiled at Washington Elementary School. The “Madres” initiative aimed at solving, what the community identified as their three largest social issues- public safety, housing insecurity, and special needs education. The program was supported by SCU sociology professor Laura Nichols and ethnic studies assistant professor Jesica Fernandez, who headed a group of students in researching and investigating solutions to the problems identified by the mothers.

One section of the mural that depicts the mothers’ “10 themes of hope for the future.”

Through this program the mothers and students and faculty at SCU were able to work together to compile useful resources for tackling issues in the community. SCU students also helped connect members of the community to school administrators and officials who could provide additional support in responding to the needs of the community. One recent graduate from the Jesuit university, Alma Orozco, who worked on the “Madres” initiative, stated that the program validated the importance of empowering community members to be “the leaders of their own change.” The recently unveiled mural is filled with vibrant colors and imagery that depicts the mothers’ vision of hope for the future.

You can read more about Santa Clara University’s work in the San Jose community here.

University of San Diego Hosts 10th Annual Relay for Life

University of San Diego recently fought back against cancer by hosting their 10^th Annual Relay for Life. The event ran from 3 pm until midnight and attracted hundreds of students, faculty, and staff that formed a variety of teams. Considering this is the 10^th anniversary of the relay, USD took a look back at how the relay began on campus. 10 years ago a USD graduate student participated in a relay in Hawaii and wanted to bring it to the campus. Since 2008, thousands of people have participated in the relay and raised thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society.

According to the American Cancer sSociety, “one out of every 100 Americans participates in a Relay of Life event and there are events in more than 600 communities that span 19 countries outside the United States.” University of San Diego is honored and happy to be one community that participates in the work for the greater good of supporting those struggling with cancer.

To read more about this event, visit University of San Diego news.

Loyola Marymount Professor Uses Graphic Design to Promote Social Justice

A professor at Loyola Marymount University is using art to promote social justice throughout her classes. Saeri Cho Dobson, associate professor of graphic design, teaches her students that graphic design is a medium that has the opportunity to persuade its viewers. When Cho came to LMU she was inspired by their Jesuit mission of promoting social justice so she began to partner with the Center for Service and Action which connected her with nonprofits in Los Angeles.

Cho centered her design entrepreneurship class on a final student project that incorporated social justice work. She explained how a group of her students “worked with the Lamp Community in downtown Los Angeles, which has art and music programs for homeless people. The students developed a project to design a portable, solar-paneled cell-phone charger for homeless people, who aren’t always welcome in cafes or restaurants as a place to charge their phone.” Cho hopes that her students learn they can foster community and a commitment to social justice through their designs.

To read more about Cho’s class, visit LMU news.

Marian University Volunteer with Saints in the Streets

Students and staff from Marian University recently showed their dedication and support for their local community. Marian University volunteered for Saints in the Streets neighborhood clean-up sponsored by St. Anthony and St. Barnabas churches. The service work they did including pulling weeds, picking up trash, and raking leaves; tasks that may at times feel mundane but are very necessary. Saints in the Street attracts a large following of people that want to create a more pleasant community, including Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett.

Students noted that it “was awesome to see the community, including Mayor Joe Hogsett, come together to make our city a better place. Our goal was to clean the streets and make them look beautiful.” Local residents of the neighborhood also helped and showed their appreciation to volunteers.

To read more about Saints in the Streets, visit Marian news.

Merrimack College Helps Pack 15K Lunches for Local Food Bank

Merrimack College recently partnered with the Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations and Outreach Inc. to pack 15,000 meals for the Merrimack Valley Food Bank. This is the fourth year that volunteers gathered together to pack meals in assembly lines which gave them the opportunity to “meet people of other faith traditions while engaging in dialogue and reflection-making the day even more meaningful.”

Fr. Raymond Dlugos, vice president for missions and ministry at the university, noted that the event “allows the wider community to appreciate the culture of care, concern, and respect for the dignity of others that is a hallmark of our campus. And it demonstrates that this culture not only exists in a few individuals who go out and serve, but it is actually a part of the air we breathe here on this campus.”

To read more about this food drive, visit Merrimack news.

Iona College’s Partnership shows they are still #StrongerThantheStorm

Students from Iona College in New Rochelle, New York participated in the St. Bernard Project “Friends of Rockaway.” Friends of Rockaway seeks to aid victims whose lives were shattered from Hurricane Sandy, which occured nearly five years ago. The St. Bernard Project also helps “recovery of several disaster-impacted communities in the area. Its main roles are home repair and clean up, both of which Iona College students got to take part in.”

Although the Hurricane Sandy happened five years ago, there are still significantly numbers of families that are struggling to get back on their feet and return to where they were financially prior to the storm. Iona College has participated with the St. Bernard Project for a number of years now, with students noting that “the kind-hearted staff of St. Bernard’s was a great community to work with.” Most recently students helped rebuild a family’s home from the ground up. Students also said that the “on-going need for continued assistance in picking up the pieces for those lives have been affected by Hurricane Sandy” needs to be reiterated because there is still so much to be done.

To read more about Iona’s partnership with the St. Bernard Project, visit Iona news.

Saint Anselm Nursing Students Take their Services and Learning Worldwide

Saint Anselm College nursing students recently further developed their skills while completing clinical work in Cost Rica through the course, Community and Public Health Nursing. Through this immersion experience, students have the opportunity to “assess families in the community to provide health education, and then refer sick patients to receive health care in the clinic that the group sets up and works at.” This winter trip is a core component of the course which aims to discuss the role and impact of nurses in health promotion and disease prevention on a worldwide scale. The goal is for students to discuss what they learned in Cost Rica in a classroom context to further understand the concepts of communicable disease, environmental health, and disaster relief.

Students note that the course takes on a holistic approach, by stating “it has a focus on not just assessment but on the resources available to vulnerable populations, and learning how to treat the whole person.” This fits perfectly in line with the Saint Ambrose’s mission of fostering a “lifelong pursuit of truth and fostering intellectual, moral and spiritual growth to sustain and enrich its graduates’ personal lives, work, and engagement within local, national, and global communities.”

To read more about Saint Anselm nursing student’s experience, visit Saint Anselm news.

Rockhurst University Honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

2018 marks fifty years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Catholic colleges and universities across the nation came together on Monday, January 15^th to honor the life and legacy of one of the greatest leaders of contemporary society. One of these schools includes Rockhurst University. Rockhurst students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered for an interfaith prayer service that “was structured to get individuals listening instead of speaking.”

The event featured prayers from different faith traditions, songs from the St. Monica Church Choir, and recordings of King’s own voice. The ceremony proved “the power that mutual understanding can have in building unity across race, religion, and other boundaries.” Following the service, participants left to participate in various afternoon service projects around the community. Projects ranged from cleaning local parks to brining attention to the toll gun violence has taken on families in the Kansas City area.

To hear more about Rockhurt’s event, visit Rockhurst news.

St. Thomas Aquinas College Students put Learning into Action

St. Thomas Aquinas College has been partnering with Rockland County’s largest food pantry, People to People during the fall 2017 academic semester. Communication arts students from the university have be providing public relations and social media marketing for the Rockland food pantry. Public relations students will be creating a PR plan and have been implementing this plan over the semester and social media marketing students have been “designing engaging content plans for an interactive social strategy for the non-profit.”

Executive director of People to People, Diane Serratore, stated “People to People is known for giving back to our community and we are so thankful to do exactly that in more ways than one. I am so honored to be able to provide key experiences for students in the local community and look forward to hearing all of their ideas.” This mutually beneficial partnership reflects both the St. Thomas Aquinas College and People to People’s commitment to serving those that have the least in the local Rockland community.

To read more about this partnership, please visit St. Thomas Aquinas College news.

University of Portland Student Awarded for Her Work against Injustices

Emma Martinez, from the University of Portland, was recently recognized by the Association for Community Organization and Social Administration with the prestigious 2017 Outstanding Student Award. This award is given to students who are majoring in social work and are making a difference in their community. Martinez’s contributions have been mainly focused on issues of immigrant rights, racial injustice, and equity concerns in the Portland area and campus community.

Currently her senior year practicum is with Enlace, “a multiple alliance that strives for racial and economic justice.” She also serves as the liaison to the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, a volunteer-led organization which is creating an urgent responders’ network in support of undocumented immigrants and their families.” Martinez’s is work is reflective of the University of Portland’s commitment to service and an education outside of the classroom.

To read more about Martinez’s work at the University of Portland, click here.