The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) announces the recipients of the 2003 Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial MSW Scholarship

The Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial Scholarship is awarded to master’s degree candidates in social work who have demonstrated a commitment to working with — or who have a special affinity with — American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino populations, or in public and voluntary nonprofit agency settings.

This year, the award winners are:

Rachel Bennett, Hunter College, New York, NY

In the last 10 years, Ms. Bennett has explored ways to combat institutional racism, oppression, and poverty in the United States, beginning with a volunteer job with VISTA in San Francisco, where she helped Latino youth with job training and education.

Ms. Bennett chose social work as a career to gain the skills necessary to play a constructive role in the struggle for justice in communities affected by racism and oppression. When teaching social studies and English at a public high school, she realized that, because of their challenging family lives, her Latino students were not able to concentrate solely on academics. By helping these students stabilize their living situations and improve their coping mechanisms, Ms. Bennett was able to give them the skills necessary to focus on their education.

Recently, Ms. Bennett began to work with the American Indian Community House (AICH), in Manhattan. AICH is a non-profit organization that provides services to Native Americans in New York City, and that advocates on their behalf.

Ms. Bennett realizes that with a social work degree, she will be able to continue to help individuals, families, and communities in oppressed areas reach their fullest potential.

Laurel Phillips, Barry University, Miami, FL

Ms. Phillips’ social work career began even before she realized it. While in high school, she volunteered with an organization that served vegetarian food to local homeless and hungry people. This experience opened her eyes to a career field that she hadn’t considered before. After this experience, Ms. Phillips decided to get her BSW, and became the NASW student representative from Weber State University in Utah.

An advocate for social justice through NASW legislative involvement, Ms. Phillips worked with others to sponsor service projects and graduate fairs. She also started a school social work intern project in a school district with a 60% Hispanic population.

After graduation from college, Ms. Phillips volunteered in a Guatemalan hospital, “Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro, where she focused on helping orphaned, bed-ridden, severely disabled children. She hopes to get more involved in public policy, child and family welfare, Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender rights, and Latino/Hispanic achievement in her future career.

Eugene Cameron, Newman University, Wichita, KS

Mr. Cameron is a member of the Southern Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, and hopes to dedicate his future to teaching indigenous youth to live in “two worlds,” and make health related choices in both. He is a volunteer for the Basic Education for Active Teens (B.E.A.T.) which provides services to help Indigenous youth succeed in school by offering tutorial services, computer classes, and cultural knowledge.

Over the past year, Mr. Cameron and his wife—a member of the Picuris Pueblo tribe of northern New Mexico—have tutored more than 25 school-age indigenous youth, hoping to combat the high school drop-out rates and reeducate these youth by reintroducing them to their culture, values, and traditional practices.

Rick Smith, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

Mr. Smith plans on building a group home to help teenagers in foster care develop essential life skills, which will help them make the transition into a multicultural society. Directly out of high school, he spent time recruiting other teenagers to go on trips to poor Latin American countries to help build homes, shelters, and churches.

Mr. Smith has an undergraduate degree in Spanish and has traveled extensively in Latino/Hispanic countries. He has seen and experienced the oppression that minorities live with, both here and abroad. For this vision of helping children in the future, Mr. Smith has received this award.

Jose Luis Velasco, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC

Mr. Velasco is being recognized for his dedication to promoting the well-being of individuals, families, and their communities—particularly those in the Latino community.

Most recently, Mr. Velasco served as a health promotion and disease prevention program manager at the National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCoA), in Washington, DC. He was director of the NHCoA national diabetes project, entitled “Prevention and Early Screening for Latino Families and Communities,” and has also managed programs targeted to detect breast and cervical cancer for the Latino/Hispanic elderly.

Mr. Velasco’s bilingual and bicultural background will prove to be significant assets in his social work career. He is interested in clinical work with older adults, particularly those in the Latino community.

Coya Walker, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Because she is Native American and has seen, firsthand, what oppression has done to indigenous people, Ms. Walker is committed to serving the Native American population. She would like to return to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, where she is from, and build a drug and alcohol treatment and education center for children and adults.

Ms. Walker hopes to educate a new generation of Native Americans about the risks and problems associated with alcohol abuse, and to help them become successful young adults. In the past year, as a mental health assistant at the Copper Hills Youth Center where she teaches clients to make appropriate life skill decisions, Ms. Walker has gained experience to fulfill her dream. The Copper Hills Youth Center is comprised of 80 percent indigenous youth, mainly from Arizona and Alaska. Ms. Walker has also worked as a rehabilitative trainer for Futures Through Choices, assisting disabled adult males with daily living skills in a group home setting.