- 303 Haggar College Center
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 284-4579 - Director of Media Relations
Gwen O'Brien
gobrien@saintmarys.edu
Social Work Department Receives Grant for Project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Social Work Department Receives Grant that "Fuels" Project
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Ind.
(574) 284-4579
October 23, 2009 (Notre Dame, Ind.)– It costs money to get from here to there when you’re working towards making a county more accessible to an aging population. A $500 grant to Saint Mary's College from the Tipton County Foundation literally moves the project forward. The foundation’s grant money will provide gas money for social work students to travel to the county over the next three years to conduct focus groups with community stakeholders. Tipton County is more than 100 miles (two hours) from the College.
“Our communities were built for a young population,” said Dr. JoAnn Burke, chair of the department of social work. “Now more people are living longer than ever before. Housing, transportation, education, and recreation need to be modernized to make our communities more livable for people of all ages.”
Burke is leading the Developing Lifespan Communities in Rural and Urban Indiana Project with third-year students in her Social Work Practice with Groups class. While the students in this spring semester course change every year, collectively they will help one rural county (Tipton) and one urban county (St. Joseph) move toward change. In three years, Burke will take the data students will have collected and complete a written study.
Indiana counties are using as blueprints for change data from the AdvantAge survey, funded in 2008 by the state’s Family and Social Service Administration. The survey assessed things like housing, transportation, zoning, health services, cultural opportunities, and public safety in the state’s 92 counties to see what challenges exist for older citizens. The students will monitor how Tipton and St. Joseph counties are progressing in their efforts to make their communities more accessible to all generations.
“Student learning is enhanced when they can apply knowledge and skills that they learn in a classroom to an actual situation in the community,” Burke said. “Population aging is not limited to Tipton and St. Joseph Counties. It is a global phenomenon, and this experience will enable our students to be prepared to help communities meet this major challenge.”
Students are so immersed in the project, that student Kate Doornbos ’10 wrote the grant proposal to the Tipton County Community Foundation asking for the money to help pay students’ travel expenses.
Dr. Burke is happy to talk to the media more about her on-going project. Please contact Gwen O’Brien, director of media relations, to arrange.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. The College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the nation's top liberal arts colleges in U.S. News & World Report's 2009 annual survey. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
