BUSSW Receives Planning Grant

–Farha Sandhu (COM ’09)

BUSSW has recently received a planning grant from Third Sector New England through its affiliation with the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership (MBHP). BUSSW Adjunct Lecturer and PhD candidate Christiana Bratiotis has been integral to the planning process and represents the School in the partnership.

The Partnership applied to Third Sector’s Capacity Building Grant as the lead agency in a network which is designed to create a regional response to compulsive hoarding in the Greater Boston area. The organizations that are part of the network are BUSSW, MBHP, Elder Services of Merrimack Valley (ESMV), Department of Mental Health (DMH) and Brookline Community Mental Health (BCMH).

The network is a group of service providers that provide intervention services for people with hoarding. “The grant is a planning grant to allow us to think about how hoarding intervention in the Boston area can be enhanced,” Bratiotis says. “We are preparing a proposal for a second round of funding from Third Sector to implement our proposal for community hoarding intervention.”

Third Sector New England is a nonprofit dedicated to assisting fellow organizations better their ability to anticipate, adjust to and create social change; as stronger organizations, they can undoubtedly improve the way they engage people in community and public life. Third Sector provides training, management resources and support to build the capacity of the nonprofit community and strengthen individual nonprofit organizations.

About BUSSW:
Distinguished by its urban mission and clinical and macro practice focus, the Boston University School of Social Work is committed to educating masters’ and doctoral level students who will become leaders in a multicultural environment. The School offers the MSW and PhD degrees, as well as continuing professional education, and its nationally recognized faculty has been ranked 8th in productivity and among schools of social work with doctoral programs. Located in a diverse and academically rich community, the School offers almost unlimited opportunities for urban social work practice and research. Visit bu.edu/ssw for more information.

About Boston University:
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 30,000 students, it is the fourth largest independent university in the United States. BU consists of 17 colleges and schools along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes which are central to the school’s research and teaching mission.