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Human and Social Services

  • Haven House is a shelter for homeless families located in East Lansing and serving the Greater Lansing area. Haven House can provide shelter for up to seven families at one time and averages about 14-18 children (infancy to teens) at any given time. In addition to providing temporary shelter, Haven House assists families in setting goals, finding permanent housing, and a variety of other issues.

    Every year Haven House has a variety of student volunteers from MSU and at least one MSU student as an unpaid intern. Students generally come from the School of Social Work , College of Human Ecology or the Womens Studies Program. Student volunteers perform office work, reception, and initial screening. They also may commit to a regular weekly schedule to work with the children playing games or doing art activities. Interns complete intake interviews with new families and perform follow-up visitations after the families have left the shelter, as well as a variety of other types of assistance.

    Phi Beta Sigma hosts the annual Halloween party and aids with various other projects such as taking children to the circus or just spending time with the children at Haven House. Gamma Phi Beta Sorority collected and donated various needed items, and Tau Beta Pi, the MSU Engineering Society, hosted a date auction to raise money for Haven House. Student groups and on-campus office groups often participate in the Adopt-A-Family program in December to provide gifts and accoutrements for the holiday season. These groups also participate in the Adopt-A-Child program that provides clothes and school items to help a child get ready for the new school year.
  • The Listening Ear provides a 24-hour crisis intervention hotline, short term sexual assault counseling, advocacy for survivors of sexual assault, and community education in the high schools dealing with topics such as date rape, suicide, and depression. During the fall and spring, Listening Ear has a staff of approximately 70-80 people, 75% of which are MSU students. In order to work on the hotline, volunteers undergo 65 hours of training and must undergo an additional 45 hours of training to be qualified for counseling.
  • East Lansing Housing and Neighborhood Services provides assistance to low and moderate income families to purchase a home in the East Lansing Community through HUD block grants. Various MSU faculty have served on the Board of Directors over the years. According to the Center for Housing Policy, "The stability and economic well-being of our communities will be tied directly to the ability to meet the housing needs of these working families."
  • Several MSU Students assisted the American Cancer Society with their various activities. These included: media/promotion coordinator for the ACS "Tell-a-Friend" program; assistants with the "Love Lights a Tree" program during the holiday season at the Meridian Mall; assisting with public relations for the AHA/MI worksite wellness and patient education program; accounting and general clerical work for the ACS; and making rescreening reminder phone calls for the breast and cervical cancer control program. The Zeta Tau Alpha sorority participated in distributing pink ribbons during ACS's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
  • The Lansing Area AIDS Network has MSU students who become "Buddy" volunteers to provide emotional and practical support to individual's living with HIV.
  • Alpha Phi Omega fraternity has been involved in a variety of community service projects in the community since 1937. Some of the organizations Alpha Phi Omega has worked with include the American Cancer Society, the Humane Society, ELRA, the American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Club and the Ronald McDonald House.
  • Greek Week is an annual fund-raising and hands-on service event by the MSU Greek Community that raised $47,000 in 2002. These funds were donated to Area 8 Special Olympics (tri-county area), the Listening Ear, Coaches for Kids, and Gateway Community Services. The Greek Week service event is the organizing and operation of the Area 8 qualifying track meet for Special Olympics.Other events include Songfest, Battle of the Bands, Greeks in the Streets and Beat the Greeks.
  • The College of Osteopathic Medicine Student Outreach Program (CIMSA) provides basic health screening and preventive education to the medically underserved. They also provide diabetic counseling, glucose testing, cholesterol checks, blood pressure checks, BMI measurements, and health literature at various public events through their Unity Health Fairs program. They provide counseling and immunizations to teenagers at the Towar Community Education Center and provide sports physicals for Special Olympians and East Lansing HS student athletes. More than 80% of the MSU COM students volunteer their time during the year. In 2001, the students of MSU COM were a "Crystal Award" recipient for their efforts in "improving and advancing healthcare education in the City of East Lansing."
  • Delta Gamma Sorority annually host Anchorsplash, which consists of a week of events which raise money for the blind. In addition, Delta Gamma collected and donated used eyeglasses to the Lions Club during 2001-2002.
  • Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity hosts the annual "Brothers Feeding Others North American International Food Drive." The food drive raises several thousand dollars worth of money and food which is donated to local charities.
  • The Interfraternity Council held a fundraiser in November 2000 called "Up 'Til Dawn". This event raised nearly $13,000 for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In addition, the Theta Chi Fraternity sponsored a Powder Puff Football game at Spartan Stadium which also raised several hundred dollars for St. Jude's. MSU Fraternities and Sororities also worked with the East Lansing Police Department to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network.
  • Gateway Community Services, located in East Lansing, offers several services to residents of the Greater Lansing Area including two medical clinics for the working poor, a youth crisis intervention program called "Higher Ground", "Crossroads" homeless teen shelter, and a family intervention program.

    The medical clinics provide low cost or free primary health care. MSU students, generally from the medical schools, volunteer at Gateway providing such services as administrative support, health-screening, taking patient histories and blood pressures, staying with patients during exams. Third-year residents from the medical school volunteer as physicians for the clinic. Approximately 25-40 MSU students volunteer at the two medical clinics each year.

    "Higher Ground" provides youth and family counseling and intervention for youth in crisis due to dysfunctional family situations. All of the services are free. Graduate students from the School of Social Work do counseling as unpaid interns in this program. They may also be placed in the schools with senior staff members.

    "Crossroads" is a voluntary transitional living program for homeless youth ages 16-21. The program is a very structured environment that teaches living skills and requires school enrollment or a job, in addition to community service and counseling. The MSU Department of Psychology has an undergrad internship program that provides direct care assistants to the Crossroads program.

Approximately 20-25 MSU students, along with community members volunteer, each year as mentors - helping youth increase self-esteem, developing verbal communication skills, learning computer skills, and improving their academic skills.

The family intervention program is a court-mandated program for parents under investigation by child protective services. MSU undergraduate students, as unpaid interns, take care of much of the paperwork in these cases and graduate students, also as unpaid interns, do the home visits and provide case management services.

During the Spring of 2000, a class from Journalism 205 worked on developing various types of media outreach for the Gateway Community Services program. They designed public service announcements, poster, brochures, and presentations. A class from MSU's ATL 135 did the advance work preparatory to have a poster made for the Spartan Village medical clinic done in four languages.

  • WKAR Radio Talking Book has over 200 volunteers who read from local newspapers and other printed materials on live radio programs for persons who are unable to read traditionally printed material due to a disability. Volunteers read approximately 1-2 hours each week, but nearly 100 volunteers are needed per week as the broadcasts are 24 hours per day. About 20% of these volunteers are MSU faculty, staff, students, and retirees.
  • Students in the English Language Center of the College of Arts and Letters participate in volunteer work as part of a community service class. Students volunteered at a domestic violence center, the Red Cross food bank, and area nursing homes.
  • Omega Tau Sigma, professional fraternity of the College of Veterinary Medicine, lead horses at Beekman Center's therapeutic riding center for handicapped children, sponsor the annual Canine Cruise for charity, Trick-or-Treat for canned goods for local area food banks, and organize an Angel Tree program during the holiday season.
  • Students in the Department of Philosophy, as part of a service learning project, worked with MSU Safe Place assisting the staff with various projects, Refugee Services assisting Sudanese refugees to integrate into the community, and assisting with a Red Cross food kitchen survey.