RADFORD -- Radford University School of Social Work has always been dedicated to preparing students to work with social welfare issues that affect the nation. On November 20, the university’s Social Work Club emphasized that commitment when they hosted 14 young female refugees on campus.

The young refugee women were members of The Imani Nailah Program, a partnership between St. John’s Community Youth Program and Refugee and Immigration Services that was founded by RU graduate Laura Boutwell. The program was designed to increase academic and life skills, provide opportunities for youth leadership, and engage young refugee women living in the Roanoke area. Program members hail largely from Burundi, Haiti, Iraq, Liberia, Somalia and the Sudan and range in age from 11 to 20.

The RU Social Work Club, an active group of social work majors dedicated to scholarship, professional development and service to the community, took participants from The Imani Nailah Program on a campus tour, informed them of the process of applying to college, and emphasized the importance of maintaining good grades. The program members also attended classes with social work students and participated in classroom discussion.

“One of the goals of RU’s Social Work Club is to prepare social work students for active involvement in both the formal education at Radford University and social issues that impact the nation,” said Jackie Omenitsch, president of the club. “The goal of this service project was to stimulate an interest in higher education, and dispel the notion that these women would find it difficult to ‘fit in’ in a campus environment.”

To learn more about the RU Social Work Club, email sowkclub@radford.edu or visit their website.