MSW

MSW alumna appointed to California Veterans Board

by Claudia Bustamante

Gena Truitt is a social worker with unique perspectives.

The Navy veteran and USC School of Social Work alumna works at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System in San Bernardino County, where she interacts directly with veterans as a homeless outreach social worker.

Aside from this personal interaction with veterans, Truitt, MSW ’12, is also one of the few people with the opportunity to improve the role played by the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs, also known as CalVet, in the day-to-day lives of veterans. Last year, Truitt was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to serve on the California Veterans […]

By |May 8th, 2015|News|0 Comments

Veteran trades military service for social service

by Claudia Bustamante

Gerardo Reynoso joined the Army because he wanted adventure and prestige. He signed up while still in high school during peacetime and was captivated by the idea of escaping his Southern California neighborhood and living in Europe, where the most danger he could possibly see would be in Bosnia.

But two days before graduating from boot camp, the plan changed. It was Sept. 11, 2001.

“I didn’t even realize it happened,” Reynoso said. He and the other privates went into a room that was streaming live news coverage of the attacks. “We thought it was fake, and they were testing us […]

By |December 17th, 2014|News|0 Comments