Rouse Change Project Proposal

Name: Connor Delaney, Rebecca Harton, Jenn McCarthy

Emails: connor.delaney6@gmail.com, rdharton@yahoo.com, jennifermccarthy27@gmail.com
Cell Phones: Connor: 410.461.1797, Rebecca: 410.207.6236, Jenn: 443.827.3349
Title of Project: Special Olympics Howard County/R-word Campaign
Form of project: Connecting Special Olympics Howard County with HCC
Proposed dates: March 2nd-6th, 2015

Provide a summary of your project

Our change project will be a combination of many sub-projects, all with the common goal of benefiting the
Special Olympics Howard County (SOHO) organization by increasing volunteers, spreading awareness,
and providing opportunities. Through social media and advertising on HCCs campus, we plan to help
generate more volunteers for SOHO. This will include creating and monitoring a Twitter and other new
social media accounts for SOHO, as well as taking action internally on HCCs campus and try to
implement advertising through the T.V. monitors, newspaper, and info booths. The goal will be to
abundantly introduce the positive volunteering experience at SOHO to HCC, as well as more community
members who have formally been ill-informed. We also plan to organize an event week the first week in
March to coincide with the R-word Campaign, which is supporting a pledge drive on Wednesday, March
4th. The purpose of our actions will be to get people on HCCs campus to stop using the R-word, and
pledge to do so in the form of signing their name and posting it to a wall. This event week will also be
used to present and provide information about volunteering for SOHO, and what opportunities are
available to college students.

Mission or Goal Statement: To foster relationships and reduce stigma between individuals with
intellectual disabilities and the community by increasing the number of volunteers at Special Olympics
Howard County through advertising, programming, and social media.

Why did you chose this issue?

We all have volunteered with individuals with intellectual disabilities, and we all know somebody, whether
they are family or a friends, with an intellectual disability. We are aware of the benefits creating

opportunities where different populations are able to interact and learn about one another, and are
passionate about getting the HCC community more involved with Special Olympics because of these
personal, educational, and communal benefits.

Task Research: Background information and research must be included. What information is needed?
After meeting with Marilyn Miceli, the Assistant Coordinator of Special Olympics Howard County, we have
learned the necessity and importance for increasing the number of volunteers and how it significantly
benefits the organization. We have also researched the mission of the R-word Campaign and how its
goals to reduce stigma with individuals with intellectual disabilities correspond with ours. Specifically, the
R-word campaigns plan is to Spread the word, to end the word, by increasing the knowledge about the
harmful effects the derogatory word (retard) has on individuals with intellectual disabilities. Using their
platform and mission, and coordinating our own ideas with Special Olympics Howard County, we plan to
spread awareness of the R-word campaign on HCCs campus and community, and also share the
opportunities of volunteering with Special Olympics Howard County during the process.

Division of Labor: What and how will tasks be divided? What are the resources in/out of the group?
Jenn McCarthy: Social Media Coordinator - Create and monitor the new Twitter account for Special
Olympics Howard County by increasing followers, tweeting frequent updates, and engaging others
through social media.
Becca Harton: R-word Campaign Manager - Research and gather information about R-word campaign
and plan how we can best incorporate their messages during our event week week in March to get
students to pledge to spread the word to end the word.
Connor Delaney: Internal Advertising Correspondent - Communicate and coordinate how to distribute
advertising and information about Special Olympics Howard County on the HCC campus via digital,
paper, and social media forums.

Mode of Group Functioning: What is the role? How will collaboration take place to ensure equity?
To ensure equity, we will be dividing parts equally. We all have an extreme passion towards our change
project. We do not want anyone doing more work than the other group members. We will communicate
constantly through email, text, social media, and we will have meetings in person as well. We plan to
consistently update one another on the progress that each of us has made.

Identifying Resources: What or who are some resources that you will utilize to enhance your project.
These resources can be campus resources (i.e. Student Activities/Advisors/Professors) or community
programs/professionals.
Marilyn Miceli - Assistant Director of Special Olympics Howard County
Janet Larrimore - Volunteer Coordinator of Special Olympics Howard County
HCC Times, HCC Service Learning, and HCC Student Activities

Legitimizing the Project: Is the community included? Who will it benefit? How will the change be
addressed? What are other perspectives/Voices? How will impact be evaluated?
We have two communities being involved here. One is Howard Community College and the students who
attend here as well as the staff. The other community is the participants and volunteers involved in the
Special Olympics. This change project will benefit everyone involved in volunteering at the Special
Olympics. Ignorance happens because people are ill-informed. By working with a different population,
adults and children with intellectual disabilities, volunteers are able to learn how adults with intellectual
disabilities behave. Volunteers are able to get a first-hand experience working with a different population
than what are they used to, and that provides a valuable education you will not be able to get from a
textbook.
The change will be addressed by posters around the school, social media, word of mouth, and an event
week in March. Many college students are constantly looking for volunteer opportunities but are unsure of
where to look. By providing information and advertising the Special Olympics, students will have all the
information they need to sign up.
Other perspectives are from the Special Olympics participants. As a participant of High School allied
sports, I myself saw their appreciation for my help. It helps them feel very welcomed and loved in a
society that is not always accepting to people who may seem different. Correspondingly, we expect there
to be very few negative voices for this change project because working with an underrepresented
population can only bring more positivity to the world.
The impact will be evaluated by how many volunteers we end up bringing to the Special Olympics. The
most amazing thing is that it only takes one time volunteering to realize how rewarding an experience it is.
Working with a friendly, caring, and affable crowd of adults and children be a positive experience which
will lead to volunteers recruiting their friends and even their family, further pushing our project forward.

Who - Our target focus is the students of Howard Community College. Also, through social media we will
also aim to attract other students or members of the community who are not Howard Community College
students but have access to Twitter.

What - Increasing the number of students at HCC who volunteer with Special Olympics Howard County.
Our goal is to get 20 new volunteers by Fall 2015. Also, for our event week in March, our goal is to get at
least 50 students to take the R-word pledge.

When - Our event week would be March 2nd-6th while our internal advertising and social media updating
will begin the start of Spring semester.

Where - The campus setting will be used to our advantage. The week of events will take place on
campus as well as the advertising for the volunteering campaign. Also, social media allows said campaign
to expand onto the internet.

Why - Special Olympics is a volunteer run organization. In Howard County, student volunteers play a
large role in the success of the organization. Additionally, increasing the number of volunteers and
refreshing the volunteer base is crucial because the number of athletes is growing rapidly in Howard
County. The Special Olympics Howard County will benefit from an increase in volunteers because it will
help the organization thrive and keep up with recent and expected growth. HCC is a prime location to
gather volunteers and introduce students to a valuable experience connecting with a different population
in their area through service.

How - Influxing HCC with news, information, and events related to Special Olympics Howard County
through a new Twitter account, digital and paper advertising, and an information booth on campus during
our event week. We will continue to communicate with the offices of Special Olympics Howard County to
get the latest updates to send via Twitter, in addition to making the right the contacts at HCC to put digital
ads on the monitors and organize our event week.

A complete outline with proposed dates/benchmarks (milestones) must be provided along with the
information above.

Please note: Change Projects must include some form of a final reflection/summary. Evaluating
the success, impact, and other observations. This will be due at the end of the year and included
in your Rouse eportfolio.

Adapted from:
Doerr, E. (2010). What is social change? In W. Wagner, D. T. Ostick, S. R. Komives, & Associates (Eds.).
Leadership for a better world: Instructor manual. (pp. 10-31). A publication of the National Clearinghouse
for Leaders