When Carrie Finkelstein (SOCWK ’20) started as a student worker in the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Community and Governmental Relations (CGR) in 2018, she was an MSW student in her final year. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Finkelstein was working on a variety for outreach projects that she quickly adapted to the changing needs of both the University and the Pittsburgh community. She took the lead on new CGR initiatives aimed at supporting community partners and neighborhoods impacted by the pandemic. By time she graduated in April, she was hired on as a temp, and then named Manager of Strategic Projects for CGR in October.
“My work has really been influenced by my education in social work, and working here at Pitt I am able to continue to work with my professors and continue to learn from them,” said Finkelstein. “The University sees community engagement as a partnership and a mutually beneficial relationship. It’s very exciting to be part of that, and to be part of a team that is working to partner closely with the community in an authentic way.”
Finkelstein has been part of Pitt’s COVID-19 Outreach and Community Response Task Force from the beginning, and helped spearhead the Care and Connection Caller (CCC) Program along with Pitt Social Work Associate Professor and COSA Chair Dr. Mary Ohmer. The CCC program started off in March training and deploying Pitt volunteers to support community partners as they reached out, via telephone, to the families and individuals they serve. The volunteers checked in on residents to assess how they were feeling and coping during the pandemic, and to connect them to food, housing and other resources.
Finkelstein worked on the project with six community organizations including the Hill District Consensus Group, the Homewood Children’s Village, and Uptown Partners. As the pandemic continued and evolved, so did the CCC program. The community organizations recognized that the needs of their residents were also changing, as were the barriers they were facing. Realizing that they were more effective working together, the community partners began to meet bi-weekly to tackle issues like rent relief packages, and other more urgent issues.
“It is a really exciting relationship,” notes Finkelstein. “Guided by the community partners and what they need, the University has been able to respond to those community needs first. It really goes to the heart of what social work is all about—community-led and driven work.”
Now that the fall has arrived, however, the community partners identified a new need--voter registration and mobilization. Working with the Housing Alliance and others, CGR mobilized students, faculty, and staff during Civic Action Week to make phone calls to ensure people have a plan for voting. PittServes, in Student Affairs, has helped to lead the voter mobilization efforts on campus by working with Turbovote to maximize student voter registration, help the Pitt community make a voting plan, and confirm voters know the location of their polling place.
What’s the biggest challenge facing the CCC volunteers? Finkelstein explains, “People are getting so many phone calls this election cycle, and they are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information they are getting. But we are working to get through that barrier, and our volunteers can accomplish a lot just by helping people know where their polling location is, or walking them through the voter registration process. It’s a great thing to see the difference they are making!”
MAKE YOUR PLAN
Registering to vote is an important part of being a civically engaged citizen. No matter what state you want to vote in, you can use pittvotes.turbovote.org/ to register. Enter your information into Turbovote and you'll have the relevant voting day details based on your registered address.
If you are interested in volunteering for the Care and Connection Caller Program please visit their website.