Service-Learning Video Project

Abstract

This video was completed through our service-learning student positions within the Champaign County Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Board. These positions were made possible through the University of Illinois School of Social Work’s various partnerships within the Champaign-Urbana community. The Champaign County Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Board decided to continue their ongoing initiative to make informational videos of different area agencies for the populations they serve. This aligned perfectly with our semester project assignment. As a group, we admired their mission, and we decided to make two informational videos for the disABILITY Resource Expo’s YouTube channel.

Filming an educational video about Stephen’s Family YMCA, or Larkin’s Place, was most likely our favorite project out of the two completed. We were able to develop an informational video that was appealing to watch while still allowing viewers to process the facts being presented to them. Unlike the other disABILITY Resource Expo video, this one had more of a Q & A session style which was valuable because it covered a lot of similar questions the disability community has when going to new places such as Stephen’s Family YMCA or Larkin’s Place. Along with this, it made the interaction more personable and transparent to those watching.

Relating it back to the social work profession, this project ultimately aligns with the social perspective of disability. The perspective exclaims that “disability is caused by the way society is organized, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference. It looks at ways of removing barriers that restrict life choices for disabled people” (Disability Nottinghamshire, 2020). Using this specific perspective, and looking through this unique lens, allowed us as media creators to produce the best content possible to align with the mission at hand.