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It just really hit home for me since I always help people find their career passions.
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Left: Connie Puccetti ’12 with Burlingame Intermediate School teacher and NDNU alumna Amelia Ramos ’04, MAE ’09. Right: Puccetti leads a meeting with Latino parents.
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at a San Francisco establishment, collecting $800 in tips for Dress for Success. Along with individual donations, she was able to raise a total of nearly $2,000 for the nonprofit. She hopes to make the fundraiser an annual event and to continue to work with Dress for Success as a volunteer. Magni picked Dress for Success for her project because the group’s mission speaks to her strength and skills as a human resources professional. “They help people develop interviewing skills and write their resumes and provide networking,” she said. “It just really hit home for me since I always help people find their career passions. This was a perfect match.” Gia Barsi ’11, program coordinator for Dress for Success, was grateful for Magni’s involvement. “It generated a lot of awareness,” said Barsi, an NDNU graduate in liberal studies from last year. “We are a volunteer-driven organization, so whenever someone can do something for us, we are always thankful for their support.” Because of her Mexican heritage and strong
belief in the value of education, Connie Puccetti ’12 has a passion for helping Latino students and their parents. For her project, Puccetti has started a program at Burlingame Intermediate School for Latino parents who are mostly Spanish-speaking and not too familiar with the U.S. educational system. “The services needed by these parents are to be educated and to be empowered on how to assist their children to become better students,” said Puccetti. Her program includes monthly informational meetings about various school events and issues as well as classes in which the parents learn topics ranging from child nutrition and good study habits to how to navigate through Burlingame Intermediate’s website. Puccetti envisions expanding this program throughout the Burlingame School District and turning her capstone project into a career. “I plan to have my own nonprofit, providing this service for all schools,” she said.
Lisa Blanchard '11
The Grateful Garment Project Ten days after her brother died, Lisa Blanchard attended a women’s retreat where she was scheduled to present a workshop. “We have to show up even though life happens,” Blanchard, a May 2011 Human Services graduate, said about persevering through a difficult time. When her workshop was canceled, she made herself a cup of tea and decided to have some time alone. It was May, but it was hailing too hard to go out safely, so Blanchard took a seat on a couch. Next to her was a woman “all bundled up in a sleeping bag.” The woman began telling her that she wanted to start a program where victims of sexual assault are given clothes to replace the clothes they have to surrender to police as evidence in a crime. “I was horrified by what she was telling me,” Blanchard said. After already having suffered through a horrendous experience, sexual assault victims not only have to give up their clothes, but are also often left to wait up to 10 hours to have their examination completed and their statement taken. “I’ll partner with you,” Blanchard told the woman. The two women attempted to exchange contact information, but they had no paper or pen. Blanchard was unable to locate her again at or after the retreat. Who the woman was remains a mystery, but Lisa Blanchard took the idea and approached Valley Medical Center with it. “I told them I was an NDNU student and the program director opened the door,” she said. “We talked about the need for clothing, food, toiletries and making the waiting room comfortable.” Human services majors end their program by performing “a significant project in a human services agency and must
quantify that the agency is a better place because of their work,” explained the program’s director, Dr. Therese Madden, whom Blanchard calls “my favorite professor of all time.” Some, like Blanchard, take it a step further and establish organizations based on their projects. Graduates often have survived “serious hardship that they are drawing strength from, and helping, others,” Dr. Madden says. Based in Campbell, California, The Grateful Garment Project has raised over $50,000 and countless items of clothing for Sexual Assault Response Team centers in 15 different counties throughout California. In October 2011, Blanchard had already raised $25,000 through grassroots efforts alone, just collecting $25 and $100. A donor who wishes to remain anonymous gave $5,000. The vigorous response meant that Lisa had to get a storage unit. “When something is needed, it just shows up,” Blanchard said. Like a truck, for example. “When I started the process, there was an influx of donations,” Blanchard said about interest in her project. When she began in March 2011, the waiting room had “four rinky-dink chairs and a small closet.” “Now there is a fully stocked closet, snack items, a television, a mural, DVD and VHS players,” Blanchard said. Victims can wait 10 hours to give a report, she noted. A full-time student working on a graduate degree, Blanchard was invited to be a guest lecturer at Stanford University Medical School before she had finished her bachelor’s degree. “All my life experiences were leading up to the Grateful Garment Project,” Blanchard says. “It’s no longer just me; it’s a ‘we’.”
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