Social Work Partner Program Leads to Purposeful Work

“From my first classes until my last one, I was excited about what I was learning,” says Danica Buys.

Buys recently completed Dordt University’s Master of Social Work program. Before that, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in applied social sciences at Redeemer University, located in Ontario, Canada. It was during her time at Redeemer that she realized her passion didn’t quite align with her current studies.

“Throughout my schooling, I realized that my passions lay less in social work's counseling and clinical areas but was unsure of what the other options could be,” Buys says.

Part of her studies at Redeemer included a placement at Rose City Kids, a children and youth ministry in Welland, Ontario.

“This opportunity opened my eyes to the challenges facing families in our cities today. I saw how substance abuse and cycles of poverty are leaving families, and especially their children, in hopeless situations.”

Through this experience, Buys’ determination to pursue further studies was confirmed. “I was challenged and stretched in this placement, but it also renewed my passion and desire to help give hope to the most vulnerable in our cities,” Buys says. “After meeting with several Redeemer professors, I decided to look into a Master of Social Work program in community practice.”

Buys began researching programs, but she discovered her options in Canada were limited. “I was encouraged by a Redeemer professor to search for programs in the United States and see what other options might align with what I was pursuing,” says Buys.

That’s when she found Dordt University.

“After some searching, I noticed that Dordt University had a Master of Social Work program,” says Buys. “To my surprise, not only did they have a community practice stream in the Master of Social Work program, but it was combined with a non-profit administration stream. This felt like the perfect combination of what I was looking for.”

Buys started the online program at Dordt just two weeks after obtaining her bachelor’s degree from Redeemer. She completed the program this past summer.

“My experience at Dordt University has been nothing but amazing,” says Buys. “Everything I learned felt directly applicable to my current work or the things I want to pursue. The courses were always intentional and practical in applying real-life examples to our learning. I could take situations or activities from my work and dig deeper into them through my schooling. I was challenged to think critically and practically about any problem.”

During her time in the program at Dordt, Buys was able to expand upon not only her knowledge acquired at Redeemer University, but also on her field experiences. Buys had an internship at Rose City Kids. “However, this time, I could learn non-profit administration,” says Buys.

These days, Buys is serving in a part-time role at Rose City Kids. “My current role is facilitating the junior leadership and mentoring programs for teen girls,” says Buys.

She is grateful for both her undergraduate studies at Redeemer University and the Master of Social Work program at Dordt University.

“My time at Redeemer University allowed me to get involved with Rose City Kids and helped me see that I wanted to continue pursuing non-profit work,” says Buys. “Dordt University allowed me to dive deep into my passions, learning everything possible about community practice and administration through my class and field placement experiences.”

Buys’ story is exactly what Joe Bakker, dean of online, graduate and partner programs at Dordt, believes is valuable about the Redeemer and Dordt partnership.

“The partnership with Redeemer allows students in Ontario the most efficient pathway to a Master of Social Work at a Christ-centered institution,” Bakker says. “The most encouraging result of this partnership is how thankful students are to continue their social work education at Dordt where they learn through the same Reformed Christian perspective that they have at Redeemer.”

“I studied trauma, poverty, and leadership in my studies at Redeemer and Dordt,” says Buys. “These help me better lead and understand the families, children, and youth I work with daily. I am excited to continue pursuing further work in the non-profit field serving vulnerable families.”