Due to long-term partnerships that have continued to evolve, during the pandemic Dominican’s Service-Learning program was able to work intensively with partners to support their programming and co-developed new programs to address ongoing equity gaps exacerbated by the pandemic. Most crucially, the pivots and collaborations are grounded in a mutual aid and critical consciousness approach–that acknowledges both trauma and the strengths of collectivist cultures and communities. Innovative programming includes: Leyendo Juntos–a virtual reading pod for K-3rd grade students at a Latino immigrant serving school, and the Digital Literacy and Bilingual Support program with our cohort of heritage Spanish speaking Dominican students that now collaborates with multiple partners. We also created and collaborated on modules and presentations for students and the broader campus community such as the modules based on Cultural Humility principles (Tarvelon & Murray-Garcia, 1998). We will share our effective applications of Appreciative Inquiry, Cultural Humility principles and framing, and asset-based critical community engagement.

When a crisis hits, be it a hurricane or an international pandemic, students want to immediately respond. However, good intentions do not always present themselves as meaningful actions. A large group of untrained volunteers descending upon a community in crisis often creates more harm than good. It is our role to step into these spaces and bridge the gap between community partners and student volunteers. We must help guide our students in finding opportunities that allow them to safely engage, while providing meaningful support to our partners. Come learn from colleagues at Brandeis University’s Department of Community Service and the ways we pivoted our operations to continue providing necessary support to our community and campus amidst a public health crisis. In this session, we will share examples of both new and adapted programs and risk management policies, challenges and successes of remote engagement, takeaways from the shift from direct service to advocacy, and lessons we learned that will change our work long after the pandemic. We will also share the ways our definitions of service and community evolved, leading us to adapt our current models and university resources to provide relevant and sustainable community support. We hope you will walk away from this session with a new perspective on community and action items to help your team not only be proactive in preparing for the next crisis, but perhaps make lasting changes to your current model of engagement.