Niagara University Students Participating in National Poverty-Relief Program
At the end of June, Maggie Bulger did what many rising college seniors do during the summer: she packed a suitcase and headed south.
But Bulger’s motivation wasn’t to find a beach and soak up the sun; rather, the Niagara University social work major was on her way to Virginia to intern with the Prevention Council of Roanoke County and the Urgent Love Initiative for eight weeks.
Bulger, who lives in Buffalo, found the opportunity through the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP), a program that places interns in nonprofit organizations that are focused on assisting individuals living on the margins.
The consortium’s charge, according to SHECP board member Dr. Kevin Blair, corresponds well with the Catholic and Vincentian mission of Niagara University, where Dr. Blair serves as chair of the social work department. He and Dr. David Taylor, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at NU, recruit students for the internship every year.
While Bulger helps to alleviate poverty in Roanoke, fellow NU students Gillian Belcher and Julianne Reese are assisting poverty-relief efforts in Greensboro, N.C., and Cleveland, Ohio, respectively.