Graduate students in Organization and Community Practice worked in groups to put their social work training into practice. Students identified a social justice community issue to investigate and conducted a needs and strengths assessment using data on the community, key informant interviews of different stakeholders, and other sources as necessary.

The focus of this project is on the Latino population in Muscatine and developing a plan to enhance their public participation within the community. The scope of the project focused on community health and wellness initiatives, such as the Blue Zones Project™ and ensuring health and wellness programs, although it impacted more broadly the issue of enhancing the Latino community’s involvement in volunteerism and public participation.

The students analyzed and synthesized all of their information to develop a realistic macro-level intervention plan (including a change strategy, action plan and development plan).