The Sulzbacher Homelessness Project:
THE BREADTH OF OUR COMMITMENT
When UNF
faculty and staff participated in the Community Engagement Inventory in the
spring of 2018, the institution discovered for the first time how many
departments and other units have collaborative partnerships with the Sulzbacher
Center. They include, but are not limited to, School of Nursing and Department
of Nutrition and Dietetics in the Brooks College of Health, the Department of
Management in the Coggin College of Business and in the College of Arts and
Sciences, the following academic programs—Social Work, Psychology, and Public
Administration. Co-curricular partnerships include Housing & Residence
Life, the Interfaith Center, Food Fighters, and UNF Athletics.
THE WORK OF THE CENTER
Sulzbacher
Center offers complete services to men, women, families, and veterans in order
to provide immediate support as well as long term transitioning to permanent
housing. Each day the Center provides safe shelter to 360 men, women and
families, provides health care to more than 200 patients and serves more than
1,500 meals. UNF’s participation helps support Sulzbacher Center’s life-saving
efforts.
THE COMPLEXITY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS
In this
context, UNF students have opportunities to understand the complex societal
factors that contribute to homelessness as they apply what they are learning
with a particular focus on food security and mental health. Students gain an important perspective
on socio-economic challenges that contribute to homelessness and realize how
precarious financial security is for many individuals. Nutrition
students assist in kitchen planning, preparing and serving lunch to residents
and walk-in individuals. Social work students working under the supervision of
Sulzbacher Center staff practice skills in case management, crisis
intervention, and brokering of services. Other social science majors have their
students work at the Center because an understanding of social problems unfolds in a dynamic way, as a deeper
conception of poverty and homelessness develops. Students who volunteer with
the Children’s Program learn about the harsh realities of children facing
homelessness, the experience of life in a shelter, and develop
self-expectations about the importance of giving back through community
service.
FOOD FIGHTERS
One of UNF’s newest co-curricular groups, Food Fighters, a student-powered
hunger relief team aims to fight for food justice by reducing food waste on
campus and food insecurity within the Jacksonville community. This food
recovery program collects leftover food from the Osprey Café, campus
convenience stores and special events. Volunteers then use the donations to
provide nutritious meals to be served through our community partners, including
the Sulzbacher Center.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS PARTNERSHIP
This partnership is so central to so many at UNF, that
President Szymanski in his first weeks on campus, spent time at the
Center. In addition to meeting Cindy
Funkhouser, the CEO, the president, as he put it in the Fall 2018 UNF Journal, “had the pleasure to work
alongside a number of our outstanding students serving lunch at Sulzbacher. It
was a tremendous experience being with these dedicated young people, visiting
with the amazing Sulzbacher staff and talking with grateful clients served by
the Center.”
For more information about Sulzbacher Center,
please visit: http://sulzbacherjax.org/