Social Work Club
Our Purpose
- To enhance the awareness of social issues on the Ashland University campus.
- To contribute positively to the improvement of the community.
- To provide those interested in helping others with programs and experiences which will enhance their education.
What we do to help:
Our Social Work Club connects with the needs of the surrounding community by hosting two annual events. Fall Semester is time for us to organize Skip-a-Meal Today for United Way. During this event if you give us your name and student ID #, you'll be donating the cost of one meal to feed the hungry.
In Spring Semester we get moving with the Social Work Club's 5K Run/Walk. Our students work to find people willing to participate in this race. On race day you'll find us at the registration tables (we'll be cheering for you, too). Proceeds from the 5K will go to the Ashland County Oral Health Services, to help those in need receive dental care.
What else?
Recently our member students helped with Ashland County's Point-In-Time count, which gets a count of the homeless in the area. With this number, Ashland County is able to get funding to help finance homeless assistance. During the event, the Social Work Club also handed out locally-donated restaurant coupons to the homeless.
We're always helping. In other times of the year, we do various smaller projects, such as a food drive and an Easter basket donation, to help Ashland's Associated Charities.
Don't wait. Join us and get involved!
Phi Alpha Social Work Honorary
Epsilon Tau chapter of the Phi Alpha National Social Work Honorary honors senior social work majors who have attained excellence of scholarship and distinction of achievement as students of social work. Requirements include an Institutional GPA of 3.25 with a 3.4 GPA in social work courses.
Cleveland Urban Plunge
The Cleveland Urban Plunge is part of the senior-level community practice class. The students and professor go to one of the oldest parts of Cleveland, which is now a changing urban neighborhood where the process of gentrification has brought Victorian homes and streetscapes to new life.
It is a fantastic “field laboratory” for being in contact with diverse groups and for learning about community change. As young urban professionals improve the housing stock with major renovations, businesses that cater to them move into the area. At the same time, low-income and ethnically diverse families, homeless people, and social service agencies and churches that serve them are still part of the community.
Students take a walking tour of the neighborhood, visit local businesses and services, talk with residents of the area, eat at local soup kitchens, and worship if they wish at a local church. We are housed by St. Patrick’s Parish and are hosted by the Catholic Worker, which provides transitional housing for persons leaving mental health and substance abuse programs. Students also visit the Catholic Worker drop-in center for people who lack permanent housing.
All students say the weekend challenges their comfortable assumptions and some students say this weekend is life-changing.
