“A Force for Good”: USAHS Staff Engages in Virtual Day of Service

Each year, faculty and staff at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences come together to give back to our local communities in our Day of Service. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued this tradition in a creative way: virtually! On October 28, our Virtual Day of Service engaged nearly 150 USAHS faculty and staff members across our five campuses.

The event’s focus was to help youth who are experiencing homelessness. Without regular access to running water, these teens face extra barriers to maintaining proper hygiene and staying healthy during the pandemic. USAHS staff assembled 200 sanitation and personal hygiene supplies into “bare necessities bundles” for them.

We partnered with Building Impact, an organization that facilitates volunteering opportunities for companies and nonprofits. Participants worked in virtual teams on RingCentral, choosing items online for the necessities kits, such as masks, hand sanitizer, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, socks, underwear, and more. Over the coming days, Building Impact staff will physically assemble the kits at their warehouse and deliver them to nonprofits in each of our local communities.

“On a daily basis we are in need of personal hygiene items for our youth and families that are suffering from homelessness. Thanks to your generous donations, we are able to re-allocate our resources to sustain our housing program. It is because of organizations like yours, we can focus our efforts on helping those in need find a safe home in St. Augustine and St. John’s County.” —Port in the Storm Homeless Youth Center, St. Augustine, FL

Beneficiaries

These are the nonprofit organizations and constituents that will benefit from our volunteer work:

• Augustine: Port in the Storm Homeless Youth Center, which provides daytime drop-in services to teens, including life skills, basic needs, job skills, housing assistance, and more. It also maintains 16 beds for youth needing a place to stay.
• Miami: Lotus House, an organization that offers sanctuary, support, education, tools and resources for women, youth, and children experiencing homelessness.
• Austin: LifeWorks, which helps young people experiencing homelessness become self‑sufficient, thus breaking cycles of instability.
• Dallas: Promise House, providing youth in our community access to the most basic needs—shelter, nourishment, and access to healthcare.
• San Marcos: Casa de Amparo, supporting those affected by and at risk of child abuse and neglect through a range of programs and services that promote healing, growth, and healthy relationships.

In respect for to the safety protocols and delivery requirements of each receiving organization, we opted to utilize this virtual model for fulfilling these urgently needed requests. This method ensures the safety for all and maximizes the impact we can collectively make to support young people in our local communities—and be “a force for good.”

“The mission behind Casa de Amparo is so moving,” says Hannah Greenwood, a marketing specialist on the San Marcos campus who participated in the event. “I’m grateful that USAHS provided us the opportunity to learn about this non-profit and put together a kit full of not only necessities, but positive vibes for those who truly need it!”