Fall semester Integratus Capstone classes have been engaged with various community projects on and off campus, as the first class to go all the way through the program completes Integratus. Here’s a look at what the classes have been doing:
Professor Larry Price’s class is partnering with the Dorothy Day House in Rochester and Grace House in Winona. Besides showing up to serve meals, groups have been raising money and donations. One group held a Trunk-or-Treat event for children from the community in exchange for donations of hygiene products to fill personal products bags for individuals in need at the Dorothy Day House. Another group will be fundraising through “Box Out at the Chapel,” where individuals may donate money to provide winter clothes for women and their children at Grace House. Another group is fundraising in the community at various churches through a similar Box Out campaign.
Dr. Kyle Black and his class have been focused on the topic of food scarcity and its effects on communities. They have reached out to partner with on-campus offices of Residence Life, Student Affairs, and the Student Success Center, among others, in hopes of setting up a food pantry on campus, to be called the Cardinal Co-op.
Dr. Brett Bodsgard’s class, partnered with Winona Volunteer Services is “researching how space and services might be optimized or improved for the anticipated Winona Volunteer Services (WVS) new building construction. Through this work,” according to Bodsgard, “the students are gaining an understanding of the problem of food and income insecurity, plus other life challenges, prevalent among Winona community members and an appreciation for how an organization like WVS works to provide support and resources for them in a respectful and dignified manner.”
Dr. Patrick O’ Shea and his students held a fundraising walk this past Saturday for their community partner, Habitat for Humanity Serving Winona County. O’ Shea shared that “we signed up over 20 new volunteers for Habitat for Humanity Winona (our primary goal), and our little raffle made some money for the organization as well.” Over the next couple of weeks, Dr. O’ Shea’s class will be analyzing the event and how to better improve it for future semesters including arranging some words of wisdom for our upcoming Senior Capstone students.
Through these structured opportunities for community engagement, Saint Mary’s University seniors are visibly bringing the Catholic Lasallian mission into the local community and reaching together to attain the learning goals of the Integratus program.
