Seven Honors College students in the School of Social Work's Bachelor of Social Work program recently completed a community service project as part of their Introduction to Social Work class. They developed a community resource guide for Monongalia County, to help low-income individuals and families easily identify and access local social services and resources.
The guide, which covers 26 service areas from AIDS/HIV services to veterans’ services, was wholly researched and designed by the students, under the instruction of Carol Amendola, the course instructor who also serves as their academic advisor and the School of Social Work's BSW program coordinator.
"I wanted to give these students experience doing social work, beyond writing a research paper. There's a definite need for a comprehensive guide like this because all of these resources exist locally, but aren't listed in one place," Amendola said.
Through the project, students learned about many barriers that low-income people face. For example, due to federal safety standards, used cribs and infant car seats are not sold at resale stores such as Goodwill. This makes finding affordable baby supplies a major issue, and the students were able to identify local agencies that assist with these necessary supplies.
The resource guide will be printed and distributed free of charge to social service agencies throughout Mon County starting this month. A photo of the students and instructor will appear inside.
For more information on the BSW program, please contact Carol Amendola at Carol.Amendola@mail.wvu.edu.