News Archive
Giving
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Los Angeles has more veterans experiencing homelessness than any other city in the United States. Nearly 3,500 individuals were identified as having served in a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces in the 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count report, approximately 10% of the total national population of veterans.
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GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past seven years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate and celebrate generosity.
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When Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) students descended upon campus for their On Campus Intensive (OCI) this December, they used an elbow model for the first time, thanks to a generous gift from USC alumnus Jacque J. Sokolov, M.D.
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Social workers dedicate their lives to serving others, improving the wellbeing of individuals and communities across the globe on a daily basis. Committing this level of emotional commitment and energy to others is no easy task, and as such, social work has one of the highest rates of burnout, marked by physical, emotional and mental exhaustion.1
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As a young girl, Brunilda Chavez, MSW ’80, never thought she would have the chance to pursue a graduate degree. She was from a traditional Mexican-American family, and girls were expected to work and turn over their paychecks to the family. There was no money for college.
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On June 6, 1963, Bill Wennerholm, MSW ’66, sat in the sixth row of his undergraduate commencement ceremony in San Diego, California. The keynote speaker urged the graduating class to take the hard-earned gift they were receiving that day and use it for the good of their fellow man. The speaker was President John F. Kennedy, and Wennerholm felt the president was talking directly to him.
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On May 11, 2018, Jacqueline Ruddy will be awarded her Master of Social Work (MSW). She said every minute of her journey to this point has been worth it: All the barriers, all the sacrifices, all the hardships have made her a better person. Now she is ready and equipped with a graduate degree to give back to her community and be a voice for the people who need her.
Ruddy’s path toward becoming a social worker started when she was a girl. “I was a latchkey kid,” she said. A child of divorce, she was raised by her mother, who worked in a factory. Her father was not in the picture.
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Wendy Smith, who has worked at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work for 23 years, most recently as associate dean for curriculum planning and assessment and a clinical associate professor, before announcing her retirement earlier this year, has given $110,000 for staff awards – $100,000 to establish the Wendy Smith Endowed Staff Recognition Fund and an additional $10,000 to fund the first two years of the awards, which begin in 2018.
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Katie Jay, MSW ‘16, experienced homelessness as a child. She now helps the homeless find permanent housing and access to mental health services.
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China’s rapidly changing economy and demographics have resulted in an urgent need for social services. The China Program provides insight into the evolution of social work in the country, and the role that the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work will play in charting its future.