April 22, 2019 |
Haitian Youth and Community Center, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Lauded for Service to Community Students, Faculty and Staff Members, and Community Partners Make Variety of Presentations at Symposium Former Service-Learning Fellow Publishes Essay on Linguistic, Cultural Pluralism Students Join in Urging Legislators to Enact Policies that Promote Well-being of Women of Color Sale of Local Small-Farmers’ Produce Continues on Campus This Thursday Afternoon Staff, Faculty, and Students Urged to Support Box Tops for Education Drive
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Haitian Youth and Community Center, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Lauded for Service to Community
Community Partnership Award Presented at Campus Event
Imagine being a parent with extremely limited resources and unlimited responsibilities – a parent who worries about your child’s future. Will my child have adequate educational access, emotional support, and opportunities for growth and development?
Now imagine a place of refuge for yourself and your children – a safe haven offering educational and recreational activities, and providing your child with social, cognitive, and emotional support. That is precisely what the Haitian Youth and Community Center of Florida (HYCCF) has been, and has done, since 2002.
The not-for-profit organization seeks to provide a better quality of life for the Haitian-American community in South Florida. Individuals and families benefit from the programs and services offered – summer programs, youth services, advocacy, referrals to legal services, and more.
HYCCF is one of two community partners honored recently at Barry University’s Community Engagement Awards. Also lauded for service to the community was the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
HYCCF’s partnership with Barry’s Department of Psychology is now in its 10th year, said Dr. Karen Callaghan, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She noted that it is the most sustained partnership for HYCCF, reflecting strong collaboration between the executive director and a psychology faculty member, Dr. Pamela Hall.
Under this partnership, Callaghan explained, psychology students enrolled in designated service-learning courses, together with faculty, have supported HYCCF’s Head Start Program. Over the years, they have provided early-learning and socio-emotional support to more than 500 children, their parents, and teachers.
Callaghan presented a Community Partnership Award plaque to HYCCF Executive Director Nadie Mondestin at Barry’s sixth annual Community Engagement Awards.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has led the way in developing a strategy to address the high incidence of human trafficking. The strategy called for the creation of a victim-centered, trauma-informed, multidisciplinary task force.
Established in January 2017, the Task Force is composed of several core partners, including Barry University.
The Task Force has worked to identify, rescue, and restore victims; investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes; and build awareness about trafficking in and around the community.
“Through the unparalleled dedication of Task Force members, thousands of community stakeholders have been trained to recognize indicators of human trafficking,” Callaghan pointed out as she presented a Community Partnership Award plaque to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “Furthermore, cases have been opened, arrests have been made, and victims have been identified and offered much-needed services.”
The Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force has provided an opportunity for faculty in Barry’s School of Social Work to serve as program evaluators. In addition, the collaboration has provided a training ground for students.
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Students, Faculty and Staff Members, and Community Partners Make Variety of Presentations at Symposium
The Community Engagement Symposium last month included a variety of concurrent presentations by students, faculty and staff members, and community partners during two sessions.
Among the presentations were “The Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation” by Florence French (Bread for the World) and students Tony Augustin and Tony Fajardo; “Student Managed Investment Fund: Enhancing Financial Literacy” by students Martina Muñoz and Mike Fidel; and “Fair Trade Learning in Port-de-Paix, Haiti,” by Dr. Sean Buckreis (School of Education) and Courtney Berrien (CCSI).
Here is a list of the other concurrent presentations:
· “Environmental Leadership Experience: Integrating Student Learning with Barry's Mission to Care for the Earth” by Kamilah Van, Kassandra Guerrero, Pa Sheikh Ngom, and Matthew Mohammed.
· “Nursing Students’ Experience with a Needle Exchange Program: Challenging Stereotypes and Bringing to Life Harm Reduction Strategies” by Daryl Hawkins (Nursing).
· “Addressing Digital Divide Issues in Our Local Community through Service-Learning and Internships” by Dr. Ricardo Jimenez (Department of Math and Computer Science).
· “Strategies to Enhance the Effects of Service-Learning Experiences on Student Learning of Advocacy and Social Justice” by Dr. Raul Machuca (School of Education).
· “Community Resilience through Green Infrastructure within the Spring Hill Community” by Margaret R. Stewart (Barry University School of Law’s Center for Earth Jurisprudence).
· “Bringing Suicide Prevention, Wellness, and Resilience to Life through Service-Learning” by Davrielle Valley and Samantha Campagna.
· “Interdisciplinary Learning at the BUG: Nursing and Communication Collaboration” by Dr. Mia Sanati (Department of Communication) and Dr. Ann Lamet (School of Social Work).
· “A Community-Based Approach to Qualitative Research: Church World Service in Miami” by Orlando Cardozo, Annette Cardoza, Aleksandar Chonevski, Kenneth Fuentes (Church World Service in Miami), Verona Nisbeth-Hart, Lola Suarez-Novak, and Dr. Ruth Ban (School of Education).
· “Of the People, by the People, for the People: Students = the People” by Dr. Jalane Meloun (School of Professional and Career Education), Dr. Sean Foreman (Department of History and Political Science), Antonio Rodriguez, and Stephanie Torres.
The sixth annual Community Engagement Symposium took place on March 27. “Bringing Learning to Life through Community Engagement” was its theme.
The annual symposium supports the implementation of the Barry’s Quality Enhancement Plan titled “Fostering Personal and Social Responsibility through Experiential Learning.”
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Former Service-Learning Fellow Publishes Essay on Linguistic, Cultural Pluralism
Dr. Ligia Mihut, an assistant professor of English, has published an essay, “Linguistic Pluralism: A Statement and a Call to Advocacy,” in a scholarly journal.
According to the abstract, the essay “presents the trajectory of a syllabus statement on linguistic and cultural pluralism and its role in the articulation and revision of a pedagogical approach that foregrounds students’ linguistic diversity and partnerships with local communities.”
In the essay, Mihut, a former service-learning faculty fellow, contends that the field of composition studies should adopt “an activist agenda’” by “actively engaging and dismantling oppressive discourses and normative practices.”
She suggests that, by establishing explicit values and ideologies, the linguistic and cultural pluralism statement has the potential to promote and foster a culture of cross-cultural and global perspectives in the classroom through students’ ties to local communities.
“Linguistic Pluralism: A Statement and a Call to Advocacy” was published in Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric (Vol. 18, No. 2). |
Students Join in Urging Legislators to Enact Policies that Promote Well-being of Women of Color
She listened to their stories, and she saw their battle scars. Now, Joulinsa Jean-Charles understands the need to fight – and how to fight – for something she believes in.
Jean-Charles is one of two Barry undergraduates who went to the Tallahassee the other day to take part in Black Girls Day at the Capitol, a rally and press conference aimed at urging elected officials to enact policies that promote the well-being of girls and women of color.
“I reflect, I empathize, and then I express my gratitude for the women showing me their battle scars,” she said. “Stories of the mistreatment some women had to endure due to the color of their skin … anger you. It is a huge wakeup call; it puts things into perspective, but it angers you. It is the type of anger that makes you want to be productive, eventually build your way up, and make some sort of contribution to something bigger than you are.”
Jean-Charles was attentive as women shared their experiences. Reflecting on what that meant to her, she declared, “I learned how to fight for something I believe in.”
Alexis Toussaint is the other Barry student who took the trip to Tallahassee.
The students came to understand more about how women of color are disproportionally affected by social and economic issues. They also learned about how laws are made, how legislation affects communities, and how to lobby elected officials.
“Going to Tallahassee helped me become more knowledgeable about the need for the Dignity for Incarcerated Women bill to become law,” she said.
“The diversity of women who were present was staggering. [The] elderly, youth, young mothers, politicians, black, white, Hispanic women, and others were supporting the bill and [bringing attention to] other issues that are affecting us women today.”
As fellows in the Barry Service Corps (BSC), Jean-Charles and Toussaint have been focusing their advocacy efforts on promoting equity within marginalized communities. They went to Tallahassee mainly to lend their support to those advocating HB 49 / SB 332, the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act.
Filed on January 14, HB 49 / SB 332 proposes free access to healthcare products and appropriate privacy for women in all correctional facilities throughout the state. The proposed law requires that male prison guards not conduct cavity searches and other procedures that are considered invasive or harmful.
New Florida Majority, one of the community organizations behind the event, invited Barry’s Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) to participate. The CCSI sponsored the students.
As BSC fellows, Jean-Charles and Toussaint had previously completed a project related to the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act. Toussaint worked closely with New Florida Majority and several youth-serving organizations to promote the bill.
For her part, Jean-Charles raised awareness about women living in crisis and the importance of self-care. She completed her project in partnership with Lotus House, a Miami-based organization dedicated to improving the lives of homeless women, youth, and children. She collected sanitary supplies and other toiletries as a donation to women living in the Lotus House shelter.
With support from other organizations, the Miami Workers Center (MWC) and a group named Black Girls Matter MIA coordinated the event at the State Capitol.
MWC is a strategy and action center whose purpose is “to build the power and self-determination of south Florida’s most oppressed communities, and help to build a progressive voice and platform that can nurture the growth of movements for social change in Florida and in the United States.” In 2016, MWC initiated the Femme Agenda, an ambitious vision to end the feminization of poverty by organizing to empower low-income black and brown women, girls and femmes.
Barry alumna Asha Starks attended Black Girls Day at the Capitol with representatives of the Southern Birth Justice Network.
Year after year, according to Starks, among the laws that are filed and passed are some that have detrimental effects on the healthcare, criminal justice, and immigration systems as well as on people’s ability to love freely and to make reproductive choices.
Approximately 50 black women and girls from South Florida joined others from across the state in raising their voices at the Capitol. The group met with legislators to press for more attention to the needs of black women and girls. |
Sale of Local Small-Farmers’ Produce Continues on Campus This Thursday Afternoon
The sale of produce cultivated and harvested by local-area small farmers who practice sustainable agriculture will continue on Barry’s main campus this Thursday.
The Farmers Stand provides produce, including fruits and vegetables, for sale. Purchases provide income and livelihood for the farmers.
Barry FairShare is part of the Barry Urban Garden (BUG), a community agriculture initiative designed to support Miami’s low-income neighborhoods.
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Staff, Faculty, and Students Urged to Support Box Tops for Education Drive
The organizers of the Box Tops for Education Drive are urging staff and faculty and members, as well as students, to continue supporting the project.
Proceeds of the project benefit two South Florida elementary schools – North Miami in Miami-Dade County and Sheridan Hills in Broward. The schools earn 10 cents for each Box Tops clip.
Box Tops clips from household products may be dropped in the labeled boxes found in the CCSI office (Adrian 208), the Monsignor William Barry Memorial Library, and Thompson Hall. Alternatively, donations may be sent to Dr. Stephanie Bingham in the Department of Biology, Siena 309.
Cereals, household-cleaning supplies, paper products, and school supplies are on the list of eligible products found at the following site: <http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/participating-products>.
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