Story Idea: Communication Students Teach Homeless

Communication Studies Students Teach Classes to Homeless

For a third semester, Saint Mary’s College students enrolled in a course called “Public Communication” are teaching communication skills classes to residents at the Center for the Homeless in South Bend. It's a course that started in the fall of 2009. With unemployment still high in northern Indiana, competition in the job market is fierce. Communication studies professor Terri L. Russ says the classes, which complement the programs the Center already offers, are designed to enhance the communication skills the residents need to be successful in life, with family, school, work, and day to day affairs.

“My goal as a teacher is to help my students understand how what we do in the classroom extends to the outside world. With this class, students will have the opportunity to put theory into practice,” Russ said.

The class is divided into sections, including: general public speaking, professional preparation communication, communication with emphasis on gender dynamics for single moms, and public speaking designed for pre-teens/teens.

"It's exciting to know that we are helping them build self-confidence and learn public speaking skills that they can use in job interviews and future employment,” Elizabeth Flees '09 said in the fall of 2009. Flees, who graduated from Saint Mary's in December 2009, worked with the professional preparation communication group.

Please contact me if you are interested in speaking to organizers and participants of this program.

Media: If you are interested in interviewing Russ, contact Gwen O'Brien, director of media relations, at gobrien@saintmarys.edu or (574) 284-4579. To see how Russ performs in a TV interview, click here.

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. Saint Mary’s 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 100 liberal arts colleges in U.S. News & World Report's 2010 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.

About Center for the Homeless: The Center for the Homeless is not a homeless shelter. While we have provided more than 700,000 safe nights and over 1.5 million meals to more than 44,000 men, women and children since our opening in December 1988, our focus is on providing not just life-saving, but life-changing services to each of our guests. Our innovative service model offers homeless families and individuals an on-site structured, step-by-step process to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency. This revolutionary program relies on partnerships with every sector of the community and has been endorsed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).