Community Engagement News

October 30, 2017

In This Issue:

Barry and St. Thomas Join Forces for Hurricane Recovery in Florida Keys

Students Deliver Hurricane-Relief Supplies to Farming Community

CCSI Calls for Proposals for Presentations at 2018 Symposium  

Nominations Open for 2018 Community Engagement Awards

Panelists Selected for Forum on Homelessness Prevention

Students Support South Florida Event to Combat Diabetes

Organizers Set New Target for Box Tops for Education Drive

Barry and St. Thomas Join Forces for Hurricane Recovery in Florida Keys

The Florida Keys took a direct hit from Hurricane Irma, and a group of volunteers from Barry and St. Thomas universities traveled more than 100 miles to lend a hand with the restoration efforts earlier this month.

Each of the 52 volunteers was assigned to one of three sites: San Pedro Catholic Church in Tavernier, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, and CranePoint HammockMuseum and Nature Trail in Marathon.

The day of service was a cooperative effort of Barry’s Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) and St. Thomas’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE).

CCSI Associate Director Courtney Berrien said it was an opportunity for students and staff from both institutions to contribute collaboratively to disaster relief efforts while also building relationships with one another.

CCE Coordinator Anthony Vinciguerra noted that, although the damage in the Keys “pales in comparison to what happened in Puerto Rico and other areas of the Caribbean,” parts of the Keys were “still suffering, and we wanted to be able to respond.”

The parking area of San Pedro Church was still partly covered with fallen branches when the university volunteers arrived. They teamed up with parishioners to clear the parking lot and to right an aquaponics structure for cultivating tomatoes, which Irma had toppled. A tomato-growing project is a source of funds for the church.

The Rev. Franky Jean, pastor of the church, connected the Barry and St. Thomas team to parishioners who needed help on their properties. Working in small groups, the volunteers helped to remove large trees and washed-up rubble from the homes of people with special needs and others who do not have family in the area.

One woman who received help described the volunteers as “angels walking on the earth.” The storm took the roof and walls of the small house she had purchased with her life savings.

Several students reported being emotionally stirred by the stories of what the parishioners had experienced during and after the storm. Some were moved to tears.

Paris Razor, who serves as a fellow in the Barry Service Corps, said this experience stood out to her because she was able to respond to a tragedy.

“It was clearly a tragedy for some families,” Razor said. “We were responding to an urgent need, and the importance of doing service was apparent as we supported people in the rebuilding process.”

The hurricane also damaged two of the area’s nature attractions. A trail at PennekampState Park was covered by three feet of storm surge. The intercollegiate service group spread gravel to rebuild the trailhead that had been washed away. Although the park had recently reopened to the public, most of its trails remained impassable.

At Crane Point in the heart of Marathon, volunteers found hardwood tree limbs and palm fronds littering the ground. They cut branches from felled trees, cleaned up Mahogany Hammock and the adjacent Hammock Loop trail, and carted the litter to a nearby trash pickup site.

“I was praying for help, and you are the answer to my prayers,” said Charlotte Quinn, director of the 63-acre nature preserve.

CCSI Executive Director Dr. Glenn Bowen, a volunteer at Crane Point, thanked the students and staff of both universities who turned out for the day of service in the Florida Keys.

Students Deliver Hurricane-Relief Supplies to Farming Community

Barry student leaders delivered hurricane-relief supplies to the farming community of Immokalee recently. The supplies were a donation from Church World Service (CWS).

Located in Collier County, Fla., Immokalee is the center of the region’s agriculture industry and home to many immigrant and migrant families who work the vast fields that produce a large amount of the United States’ fresh produce.

The student leaders are fellows in the Barry Service Corps who serve on the global citizenship team. Much of their service is tied to the work of CWS Miami, the local office of a faith-based organization that provides support primarily to refugees and immigrants.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers accepted the donation on behalf of the community.

CCSI Calls for Proposals for Presentations at 2018 Symposium

The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) has issued a call for proposals for concurrent-session presentations at Barry’s fifth annual Community Engagement Symposium.

Scheduled for March 28, the 2018 symposium will highlight social responsibility dimensions and outcomes of experiential learning in the context of Barry’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).

Barry’s QEP is titled “Fostering Personal and Social Responsibility through Experiential Learning.”

Experiential learning includes service-learning, community-based research, fieldwork, clinical rotations, study abroad, capstones, and internships. The social responsibility outcomes are linked primarily to the “community engagement and collaboration” category of the QEP.

Successful proposals will indicate aspects or features of experiential learning that engage students and community partners, as well as faculty and staff, in community-focused activities at the local, regional, state, national, and/or global levels.

Proposals for hour-long concurrent-session presentations should be submitted by January 26.

Students planning to participate in the two-hour poster session of the symposium may submit proposals for review.

Concurrent-session presentations are scheduled for 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. and the poster session for 1:45–2:45 p.m.

For additional information on the symposium, contact the CCSI at service@barry.edu. Further information on the poster session is available from QEP Project Assistant Daniqua Williams at qep@barry.edu.

Nominations Open for 2018 Community Engagement Awards

Nominations for the 2018 Community Engagement Awards are now being accepted.

There are seven award categories: Community Impact, Community Partnership, Community-Based Research, Engaged Scholarship, Community Engagement Educator, Service-Learning Faculty, and Engaged Department.

The fifth annual Community Engagement Awards will be held on March 28, beginning at 5 p.m.

Nominations for awards will be accepted through January 26.

Panelists Selected for Forum on Homelessness Prevention

An administrator of a drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center and a nurse practitioner from a local agency that assists homeless people will be among the panelists at a forum on the prevention of homelessness next month.

Michael J. Calderin, the chief operating officer of the SusanB. AnthonyRecovery Center, and Rose Anderson, a nurse practitioner at Camillus House, will contribute to the discussion of responses to homelessness.

Other panelists will include Dr. Cassandra L. Scott, a visiting assistant professor and academic advisor in Barry’s School of Social Work; and Daniqua Williams, a graduate student at Barry.

As part of her recent doctoral studies, Scott explored characteristics of mentally ill, homeless people who gained housing stability.

Williams, who is pursuing a master’s in counseling, was a substance abuse counselor at DACCO. A Tampa-based behavioral health organization, DACCO treats substance use disorders and related mental health issues.

Dr. Mitch Rosenwald, a licensed clinical social worker, will be the moderator. Rosenwald is a professor of social work at Barry and a former president of the Florida chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Part of the Deliberative Dialogue Series, the forum is scheduled for November 9, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., in Room 112 of the AndreasBuilding.

The Deliberative Dialogue Series, which is organized by the CCSI, brings together campus and community stakeholders to seek solutions to social issues of current concern.

Students Support South Florida Event to Combat Diabetes

Seventeen Barry students and three faculty members assisted with an American Diabetes Association event on October 21 in Fort Lauderdale.

South Florida’s Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes raised awareness and funds to fight the disease.

Participants gathered at Huizenga Park and took a 5K walk along a route that included the Las Olas Riverwalk and the scenic Rio Vista community. The participants were reminded that they were raising awareness about diabetes in the community, supporting life-saving research, and helping people who face discrimination because they are diabetic.

The Barry volunteers were tasked with giving the participants information on diabetes and cheering them on during the walk.

The mission of the American Diabetes Association is “To prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.”

Philip Calaj, president of the Podopediatrics Club at Barry, called the Step Out Walk an “amazing” experience. He praised supporters from the community for donating money and time toward the cause.

Organizers Set New Target for Box Tops for Education Drive

The organizers of Barry’s Box Tops for Education Drive aim to collect 1500 Box Tops “clips” (or cuttings with the Box Tops logo) this academic year. They are urging increased support from staff, faculty, and students.

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.

The Minority Association of Pre-health Students (MAPS) organizes the Barry’s Box Tops for Education Drive with support from the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI).

“Your support over the past three-and-a-half years has been extraordinary, allowing us to collect, on average, 1000 Box Tops each academic year,” Dr. Stephanie Bingham, the MAPS advisor, said in a statement to the campus. “Our goal for the current academic year is to collect 1500 Box Tops. With your help, we can reach this target.”

Bingham has reminded potential contributors that participation is easy: “Simply identify the Box Tops logo on household products you already purchase, including many grocery items, and cut the logo from the packaging. You may submit your Box Tops in the donation boxes on campus.”

Box Tops clips may be dropped in the labeled boxes found in the CCSI office (Adrian 208), the library, and Thompson Hall. Alternatively, donations may be sent directly to 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 this site: <http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/participating-products>.