When Patrease Hawkins left her home in Laurel, Md., to attend UConn’s School of Social Work, the move was anything but easy. She was homesick, missed her family and friends, and struggled to focus academically.

That Hawkins was able not only to persevere but thrive at UConn (she now carries a 3.9 GPA) is a testament to her resolve and to the welcoming community she found in Hartford. And now, the Hartford area and the city’s elderly population stand to benefit from that. Especially the area’s grandparents.

Hawkins, who graduates in May with a Master of Social Work degree, plans to stay and work in Hartford.

“I love grandparent caregivers,” Hawkins says. “They’re so special for doing it all over again, raising their children’s children. I always wanted to work with seniors. There’s still a lot more that can be done for them, especially for grandparents.”

During her first semester at UConn, Hawkins served an internship that mostly involved working with grandparent caregivers. She later organized the first annual grandparents’ day for John C. Clark Elementary School and, based on her service there, was asked to be the lead volunteer for the City of Hartford’s Grandparents Raising Grandchildren’s 9th Annual Grandparents’ Fair.

Hawkins earned her bachelor’s degree at Bowie State University in Maryland, a historically black college. She was already interested in pursuing graduate studies in social work when UConn representatives attended a graduate school fair there. UConn, she said, was the only school discussing community organization.

“Their presentation was very attractive, but I knew I could never afford to go to an out-of-state school,” Hawkins says.

That’s when her perseverance kicked in again. Scrambling to find a way, Hawkins ultimately applied for and received a Human Rights and Opportunity grant, which covered her tuition and even a small part of her living expenses. Before she knew it, Hawkins was a UConn student and an East Hartford resident.

“I wouldn’t have been able to come here without it,” she says. “And I’m so glad I did. There’s such a rich culture here. Everybody is trying to make sure you get to a place where you can be the best you can be, to pull out your potential.”

And, she says, she really likes Hartford and wants to work there.

“I love the area, I love the field, I love the work,” she says. “I’m really looking forward to getting into the work force.”

That work, she says, could involve being a policy analyst, a community organizer, working on urban policies, or writing grants.

“My goal is to continue working with the 50-plus population in the areas of advocacy and community organization, but I’m open to working toward social change for just about any vulnerable population,” she says. “I truly have a heart and passion for urban communities and the pursuit of building sustainable communities.”

And that’s good news for Hartford.

Article By: Richard Veilleux of UConn Today

Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra MSW ’82, JD ’85 spoke to a full classroom of students, faculty and staff on Wednesday, April 11th. Adjunct faculty member, Charlotte Kinlock MSW ‘81, invited Mayor Segarra to speak about political advocacy in the municipal arena.

<img src="http://socialwork.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/municipal-government.jpg" alt="Photo of Charlotte Kinlock, Mayor Pedro Segarra, Dean Salome Raheim, Louise Simmons" title="municipal-government" width="275" height="206" class="size-full wp-im

He shared the challenges of being the Mayor of one of the poorest cities in Connecticut and offered suggestions of the kinds of skills and characteristics social workers, particularly community organizers and policy practitioners need in order to be successful advocates in the municipal arena.

With 7,500 veterans expected to return to CT over the next 24 months, there is an increasing need to expand services and training to effectively support this emerging constituency. To that end, students in the School of Social Work have established the Student Veterans and Supporters Alliance, a student-led organization to help fellow MSW students enhance their own cultural competencies and to embrace the knowledge that our fellow classmates and veterans would like to share with them.

<img class="size-full wp-image-10367" title="SVSA" src="http://socialwork.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SVSA.jpg" alt="Photo of MSW student leaders Ron Sturm (left) and Mark Vesco (right) with Dean Salome Raheim and Associate Dean Catherine Havens" w

The mission of the Student Veterans and Supporters Alliance (SVSA) is to serve and support active duty personnel, reservists, national guard, veterans, and civilian Allied communities at the UConn School of Social Work. The SVSA recognizes and celebrates the gendered and minority experience of those who have and are currently serving.

The SVSA mission is to ensure that our school’s environment, classrooms, curricula, policies and events are accessible, safe, open, and affirming to all individuals regardless of military or civilian status, including but not limited to the gendered and minority experiences of our current and prior service constituents. As a social justice organization, we support all efforts to further equality and empowerment for all student veterans. We are committed to educating our fellow social work students to raise awareness of and to educate those interested in learning about veterans’ issues.