UTEP Health Sciences Students Offer $100 Solutions
Last Updated on December 10, 2019 at 12:00 AM
Originally published December 10, 2019
By UC Staff
UTEP Communications
Students in The University of Texas at El Paso’s Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences (BS-RHSC) and social work programs will present $100 Solutions they developed to address health-related quality of life issues in the community during a poster presentation from 1 to 3 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 10, in the second-floor lobby of UTEP’s Health Sciences and Nursing Building.
The $100 Solution, whose academic home is located at Western Kentucky University, is a global nonprofit that provides university students with practical knowledge, skills and $100 micro-grants to create projects that generate sustainable changes in local communities.
During the fall 2019 semester, BS-RHSC and social work students collaborated with community partners such as the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence (CASFV) and La Casa de Las Abuelitas homeless shelter to develop projects that incorporated partnership, reciprocity, capacity-building, sustainability and reflection.
Under the guidance of BS-RHSC Director Carolina Valencia, Ph.D., and Social Work Associate Professor Eva Moya, Ph.D., students were divided into eight groups and each group received $100 to implement their projects. The College of Health Sciences’ Charles H. and Shirley T. Leavell Endowed Chair Faculty Fellowships provided the funding. Valencia is the faculty fellow in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Students worked with community partners on a needs assessment, literature review and plan of action.
Projects included:
- A coffee cart at Tippin Elementary School that involved children in the school’s special education program delivering coffee to teachers to build social and life skills
- Weekly team sports activities for children at CASFV
- Gross and fine motor program for elderly residents of La Casa de Las Abuelitas
- Free dance classes for senior citizens at the Polly Harris Senior Citizen Center
- Mindfulness activities to improve stress management in children
- Video exercise program for residents of the Sunridge Cambria Senior Living Facility
- Calming corner at El Dorado High School to provide students a comforting space when they feel overwhelmed during class
- Progressive Community Night in Fabens, Texas