Following the murder of a College Now student last fall, community leaders in New Bedford gathered to discuss how they might coordinate their efforts to significantly impact the violence in the city. The group chose two programs. The first, a public relations safety campaign, focuses on media relations and providing art and other projects for city teens. The second "pilot" project is based on a similar effort in Harlem: It focuses on a specific area of the city and brings the resources of the community in a concentrated way to the children, families, and wage earners in that area.
On March 23, 2005 at 12 noon, a panel of community members came to UMass Dartmouth to discuss how our faculty, staff, and students can join in these efforts. The panel was hosted by Denise Porche of Catholic Social Services, and Deirdre Healy, UMass Community Services. Participants included The Honorable Bettina Borders, Juvenile Justice of the New Bedford Court, Sherrif Tom Hodgson, community activists and representatives from Boys and Girls Club, Treatment on Demand, Community Connections, Community Building Mini Grant program, the NStar Learning Center, the city of New Bedford and the Southcoast Hospital Group.
The panel presented ideas as to how faculty and students can integrate internships, research projects, and service learning projects into these larger initiatives. We are already working with professors and students from Nursing, English, CVPA, Business and other disciplines and are hopeful that many more community members will join us.
In order to maximize the benefits of the panel discussion, the Community Service Center and CATLS are held a meeting on Thursday, March 10, 2005 at noon to discuss the ideas and projects of faculty and staff.
