| ECSU Focus Group working in conjunction with Norwich Human Services |
| Professor Eunice Matthews-Armstead, Ph.D., LCSW is the instructor of a course titled, Generalist Practice with Communities and Organizations at Eastern Connecticut State University. This course is taken in conjunction with an internship. The internship is an opportunity for students to put into practice the knowledge that they gain in class with the goal of developing skills in macro practice. Students are given a community change project and are assigned to a community placement site from which to operate under the supervision of an agency representative capable of guiding them through the process. Last years group consisted of 4 Social Work majors in their junior year, who are now in their senior year. Their members included Erica Castillo, Charlene Wilcox, Peter Visciano, and Shane Murphy. This year this task was taken over by 5 Social Work majors who are trying to spread the awareness of homelessness, they include; Jessica Sagan, Heather Kwasnick, Amy Roselle-Cahill, Stacey Corbin and Gregory Page. Our mission: Under the supervision of Lee-Ann Gomes we plan to coordinate an event with intent to raise awareness about the growing problem of homelessness in our community, and to promote supportive housing as the most humane and cost-effective approach to potential resolution. Norwich Human Services has provided over 65 years of service to residents in need of emergency food and shelter, medical assistance, work, and social work services. As our group immersed itself in the issues of homelessness, it became clear that supportive housing was the only viable solution to ending the problem. Research indicates that supportive housing both strengthens and benefits communities economically. We then explored the possibility of constructing a web site to help facilitate our goal to increase awareness on this topic and mobilize the community. We are developing an anti-stigma campaign focused on educating the community about potential risk factors, causes, and residual effects of homelessness. Please join us in this campaign to strengthen our communities! Thank you for your support! |