Things will be unconventional this year for our SSW graduates, but we still want to shower them with love and welcome them as UConn SSW Alumni. We’re soliciting well wishes from the SSW community for our graduating class of 2020. If you’d like to submit content, please keep videos to under 1 minute and 30 seconds and text to under 250 characters. Content will be posted on the School of Social Work website, although we may not be able to use all the content submitted. You can use you phones to create the video and send pictures along with the text. Please send your well wishes to Abigail Jackson at ajackson@foundation.uconn.edu by Friday, May 8^th. If you have any questions, please reach out to Abigail directly.

Kelly Ha is a first year UConn Masters of Social Work student in the Individuals, Groups, and Family Practice concentration as well as a student in the Certificate in Foundations of Public Health program. She is the first one to attend college in her family, her advocacy work and want to address inter-generational trauma are an homage to her immigrant Vietnamese family sacrifices for her to have a better life. As an aspiring Medical Social Worker, Kelly will be doing her 2nd year placement at Connecticut Children’s. Kelly is incredibly involved as she chairs two positions in the Graduate Student Organization as the Social Media Specialist and PEERS Co-Chair. She is also involved with UConn Health’s Urban Service Track where she is able to work in an interdisciplinary team to serve under served communities.

As the Campaign Manager for #IAmNotAVirus, Kelly has helped branch the campaign worldwide to countries such as Brazil, Canada, and Vietnam. She leads the social media team and works to bring mental health into the mission. The campaign serves to bring awareness to the anti-Asian violence that has been rising due to COVID-19. As a healthcare worker, Kelly has already been working in the front lines to battle this virus. Now she is dedicating this battle to dispel racism and advocating for community. The mission of the campaign is for a world where compassion, kindness, and allyship prevails.

Dear SSW alumni colleagues,

I write to you from my home office where I am continuing to carry on the critical missions of the school. Like many of you, the SSW, our faculty, staff, and students are adjusting to a new normal in the wake of the COVID-19 public health crisis. I am happy to report that the migration of our courses to a fully online format, has gone reasonably well, with the support of many of the departments at UConn. We made the difficult decision to withdraw our students from field education settings, due to our concern for their safety. Fortunately, we require a higher number of field education hours than our accrediting body, which means all students will be able to graduate on time. I am enormously grateful to our faculty, staff, and students who have made this transition with grace and hard work, supporting each other as a virtual community. We are planning a virtual commemoration for graduating students and will look forward to welcoming the class of 2020 back to campus in the fall, as alumni, for a celebratory event.

That said, I am aware of the economic and health challenges for our community, all of you, and importantly, the communities and people you serve. Many of you are on the front lines of this epidemic and I reach out to you in appreciation of all you are doing, while trying to stem the tide of the primary and secondary effects of this disease. As you are all painfully aware, the health disparities for many of our communities are staggering. While we were all aware these exist, this current crisis has put these in bold relief. This presents a moment for social work – a call to action – as we continue to identify, study and advocate for sweeping structural changes. In the meantime, we must reach out to others with kindness, help and professional expertise.

I wish each of you and your loved ones, good health, resiliency and sustaining social supports. Social workers have a vital role to play in this national emergency and its aftermath. We need you. So, please take good care of yourselves and each other. We look forward to engaging with you as we emerge from this crisis.

Best wishes,

Nina

Tessa recently accepted the position of the Dean’s Administrative Assistant. Tessa has been with the School of Social Work since March 2018 as a Program Assistant in the Dean’s office, working with the MSW and BSW Program Directors. In her new role, Tessa will work closely with the Deans to assist in managing the administrative functions in the Dean’s office. Before her time at the SSW, Tessa worked on the Storrs campus in the Department of Communication. Having grown up in Connecticut, she comes from a family of Husky fans, and is appreciative to be a part of the UConn community.

Trisha is our new Coordinator for the SSW Office of Student Academic Services. Trisha is a 2018 graduate of the UConn School of Social Work’s Community Organization sequence. She completed her field placements at the University Office for Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of Community Outreach in the Division of Student Athletics. In the final year of her master’s program, she received the Outstanding Senior Woman Academic Achievement Award. This award, co-sponsored by the Provost’s Office, UConn Alumni, and the Women’s Center, is presented annually to women students who have excelled academically and demonstrated high achievement in research and service to the University community. Trisha’s effective leadership in her work with UConn students, her administrative experience and her MSW background all position her well to assume leadership in this critical position.

Lindsey joined the Office of Research and Scholarship/Finance Office staff in November. Lindsay is providing support for all aspects of ORS, including event planning logistics and support, communication, grant development and budget support. Lindsay serves as a liaison between the school and SPS, which will be an especially important role as we strive to increase our research grant writing/funding activities in the coming months and years. Lindsay is familiar with Hartford and with local community agencies.  She previously worked at Riverfront Recapture and at the Community Renewal Team.

Abigail recently joined the School of Social Work staff as the Alumni Relations Director. She’s a first-generation Haitian American and a first-generation college graduate. She earned her B.A. in Communications: Public Relations from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Afterwards, she served as an AmeriCorps VISTA twice; first in Austin, TX then in Baltimore, MD. Originally from Atlanta, GA, she relocated to the Hartford area Summer 2018. Please email her at ajackson@foundation.uconn.edu if you’d like to connect.

Sarah Howroyd was born and raised in Manchester, CT. She attended Wheelock College in Boston, MA for her Undergraduate studies.  She received a Bachelor of Social Work degree with Honors while studying there.  Sarah resided in Boston, MA for almost a decade before relocating back to Connecticut in the late 2000’s.  Presently, she lives in West Hartford, CT and loves all things related to health and fitness. Sarah received a Master of Social Work in Administration degree from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work.  Her Focus Area was Mental Health/Substance Use and she was appointed a member of the Golden Key International Honors Society while studying there.  In November 2017, Sarah was presented with the Connecticut National Association of Social Workers (NASW) MSW Student of the Year Award.  This honor is awarded to a student with an above average academic record in addition to having made noteworthy contributions to the professional community beyond the expectations of the field experience. Sarah co-found, designed, and implemented the Manchester, CT HOPE (Heroin/Opioid Prevention and Education) Initiative with Manchester, CT Police Chief Marc Montminy.  The HOPE Initiative is a law-enforcement facilitated community diversion program for people living with Opioid Use Disorder.  The program aims to humanely treat, combat, and diminish the Opioid epidemic by helping those most affected to enter treatment, instead of the criminal justice system.  In June 2017, Sarah was named a Hartford Courant Hometown Hero for her extensive work and commitment to the initiative.  Additionally, she was awarded the first Congressional Connecticut Public Safety Award in the state by Senator Steve Cassano and Connecticut Senate for her, “diligent work in combating Connecticut’s Opioid crisis,” in September 2017. Recently, she was included in Connecticut Magazine’s 40 under 40: The Class of 2020.