无家可归的这家网站
Event leverages experiential education to address community need
For college students, Friday nights are often reserved for 社会izing. 但在5月5日晚上, dozens of University of Denver students spent their Friday trying to solve the problem of 无家可归.
They were participants in the University's first 无家可归的这家网站, which was sponsored by the National Center for Excellence in 无家可归的人 Services 和 hosted by the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) 和 its 伯恩斯贫困和无家可归者中心. 参与者的目标是发展技术, 社会, political 和/or legal solutions that best meet the needs of Denver residents who are experiencing 无家可归.
"Social workers are very skilled at underst和ing problems in their complexity, 正因为如此, 我们倾向于往大处想, 复杂的模型,黑客马拉松指导委员会主席Kim 本德说, a professor 和 associate dean for doctoral education at GSSW. "But there are things we can learn from 工程 和 other disciplines. Those big complex problems are made up of smaller, more approachable problems. There's a benefit to breaking that down 和 thinking outside the box."
The event's 32 participants included community members from a variety of professional backgrounds, 以及该校的研究生和本科生, 国际研究, 计算机科学, 市场营销, 工程, 心理学, 施工管理和其他DU程序. 下面是对无家可归问题的概述, participants heard from a 12-member expert panel that included a Denver city councilwoman, 州法院法官, 一个牧师, 一个心理学家, 非营利组织和管理专家, 服务提供商, 提倡, 教育工作者, 还有那些无家可归的人. Participants then broke into six teams 和 spent the rest of the seven-hour hackathon brainstorming, 制作原型并推销他们的想法, 在专家和导师的指导下.
"The [hackathon] reenergized me 和 reminded me why I chose 社会 work,参加者Kelsey Stone(17年城市生活)说。, who spent her concentration year interning at Urban Peak — a nonprofit that serves youths who are experiencing 无家可归. "It was vastly different from any experience I've ever had in that it was so interdisciplinary. 在研究生院, you're focused on your niche; to be able to work across dimensions 和 share ideas 和 knowledge was so incredibly valuable."