Graduate School of Social Work Takes Part in Ninth Annual ‘HOPE’ Survey

Annual Event Counts Homeless in NYC to Provide Better Services

February 05, 2014
Students, faculty and staff who participated in the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE). Back row, fourth from left, is Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor; to his right is Touro Professor Elhanan Marvit, director of administrative services for the Graduate School of Social Work.

New York, N.Y. – Sixteen students, faculty, administrators and support staff from the Graduate School of Social Work braved freezing temperatures from midnight until the wee hours of the morning recently to help New York City with its annual count of the numbers of homeless living on the streets, and offering to take them to shelters.

The evening marked the fifth consecutive year the graduate school has participated in the event, which draws thousands of volunteers from throughout the city to canvass parks, subways and other public spaces as part of the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE). 

“Participating in HOPE is aligned with Touro’s mission of Tikkun Olam,” said Professor Elhanan Marvit, MSW, LCSW, director of administrative services for the graduate school. “It also raises our consciousness to the issues surrounding homelessness, and, as the city has noted, HOPE is critical to helping evaluate strategies to overcome street homelessness as well as appropriate housing resources for the most vulnerable New Yorkers living without shelter.”

Touro College's Graduate School of Social Work's Master of Social Work program trains clinical social work practitioners who assist individuals, families and communities in meeting their own needs and enhancing their well-being. The program meets all academic requirements for both social work licenses: LMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker) and LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker).

Media Contact

Barbara Franklin 
Director of Communications 
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Barbara.franklin@touro.edu