Faculty and students in UALR’s School of Social Work are teaming up with members of the Oak Forest United Methodist Church on Fair Park Boulevard and other volunteers to expand a one-stop health care center for the working poor by providing counseling and other social work services.

In a recent story in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Oak Forest Pastor Russ Breshears said UALR students already have connected families with much-needed resources. They helped the family of a severely ill child file for government aid they didn’t know they could receive.

“This graduate student, in one minute, profoundly changed this family’s life just by showing them a government benefit,” Breshears told the Democrat-Gazette. “We feel we can change lives in a profound way.”

Dr. LaVerne Bell-Tolliver, associate professor and coordinator of the postgraduate marriage and family therapy program at UALR’s School of Social Work, said students from both the bachelor and master of social work programs began working with the Shepherd’s Hope Clinic during the fall of 2011.

“A range of services were provided, beginning with future BSW students hoping to enter the program. Those students accumulate volunteer service hours assisting with clerical work,” Bell-Tolliver said.

Currently enrolled BSW juniors conducted assessment and referral services for clients who were in need of assistance for a variety of services. Master’s level students provided additional types of services, including assisting older clients with finding drug prescription coverage plans and providing individual and family therapy.

“This is the beginning of what we hope to be a big, consistently ongoing program,” Bell-Tolliver said. “It has increased their learning exponentially.”