Alumni, family and friends of the USC School of Social Work focused their efforts on helping the homeless during the 2016 USC Alumni Day of SCervice. The event gave thousands of Trojans the opportunity to participate in local service volunteer projects organized by USC alumni club chapters and other affiliated groups. There were more than 110 projects worldwide this year.

The USC Social Work Alumni Association hosted three SCervice projects in Southern California, all aimed at tackling the issue of homelessness. The project sites included the Dream Center in Los Angeles, the Thomas House Family Shelter in Orange County and Father Joe’s Villages in San Diego. The School of Social Work’s spotlight on homelessness was a deliberate choice, given the university’s new emphasis on “wicked problems” as defined by the Office of the Provost, as well as the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare’s Grand Challenges initiative.

“Social workers, as professionals, are advocates and leaders in social justice movements,” said Harmony Frederick, director of alumni relations for the School of Social Work, who helped coordinate the activities. “Day of SCervice is an opportunity to partner with alumni and friends from other schools at USC as we bring to light the challenge of ending homelessness and the social workers who are providing solutions in their communities.”

A call to action

In January, the AASWSW launched the Grand Challenges, a call to action on the 12 most urgent problems facing society. From homelessness and mass incarceration to climate change and rising economic inequality, the Grand Challenges define a science-based social agenda to promote innovation, collaboration and expansion of proven, evidence-based programs to create measurable progress on solving the problems within a decade.

Similarly, USC’s Office of the Provost recently made a big push for the Trojan community to collaboratively address the greatest and most complex global problems of the day. According to Provost Michael Quick’s “A Vision for USC” website, “A great private research university should take on the most intractable, difficult, multifaceted problems of our time. These are often called ‘wicked problems.’ … It is our opportunity, and moral obligation, to apply our efforts to great, intractable global problems.” The school has been charged with leading the effort against homelessness on behalf of the university.

As part of that effort, for the Day of SCervice the School of Social Work once again concentrated its efforts on aiding the homeless. During the course of a year, nearly 1.5 million Americans will experience homelessness for at least one night. These periods of homelessness often have serious and lasting effects on personal development, health and well-being.

In the five-year history of the Day of SCervice, the School of Social Work has boasted a strong tradition of aiding in homelessness initiatives: the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in 2012; the Downtown Women’s Center in 2013; the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Mercy House in Santa Ana 2014; and the Dream Center, Orange County Rescue Mission and Interfaith Community Service in San Diego in 2015.

All in a day’s work

This year, School of Social Work alumni and friends had the opportunity to collaborate with three different organizations across Southern California. The Dream Center in Los Angeles finds and fills the needs of more than 80,000 individuals and families each month, providing services such as mobile hunger relief and transitional housing for homeless families. For SCervice day, volunteers worked with the Dream Center’s Adopt-a-Block program, preparing and distributing food and groceries to members of the community as well as toiletries and basic necessities to the homeless population. Participants also cleaned homes and played games and sports with children.

The Thomas House Family Shelter in Orange County, California, exclusively serves homeless families with children, offering comprehensive services designed to help them attain permanent housing and self-sufficiency. The organization provides each homeless family with their own apartment unit. Natalie Julien, MSW ’04, executive director of the organization, connected USC to the volunteer opportunity. SCervice day members teamed up to help paint apartments and wooden storage units. The more artistically inclined volunteers aided in creating a design for a mural on wooden storage spaces.

The last volunteer site was Father Joe’s Villages, the largest homeless services provider in San Diego. In addition to supplying food, clothing, education and job training, the organization provides more than 3,000 meals and a continuum of care for nearly 1,500 individuals every day. This includes services to more than 200 military veterans. Kristen Kavanaugh, MSW ’12, a board member of the USC Alumni Veterans Network, facilitated the partnership, and Clinical Associate Professor Pamella Franzwa helped organize the day. Volunteers participated in various activities, including preparing and serving food to people in need.

“It was a humbling event, and the USC [volunteers] benefitted as much as those we served,” Franzwa said.