Running head: COMMUNITY ASSIGNMENT PAPER 1
Community Assignment Paper
Melissa Chandler
Liberty University
COMMUNITY ASSIGNMENT PAPER 2
Community Description
Anselmo, Nebraska is a village in Custer County Nebraska. The population in 2010 was
145 people. Anselmo is located 20 miles northwest of Broken Bow on Nebraska Hwy 2. It is also
just west of the 100 Meridian and the beautiful Nebraska Sandhills. Victoria Springs is located
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6 miles east which is one of the State Recreation Areas. Anselmo has three attractions you can
view. The first one is Victoria Springs State Recreation Area, second is St. Anselmo’s Catholic
Church which is a beautiful Gothic style church which dominates the skyline of the community.
It was started in 1928 and it was completed in 1929 and is 112.5 feet tall. Lastly is the Historic
Sod House and Jail. Our community is a farm and ranch town. We have one bar and a small
grocery store. We do have a post office, but it is only open till 11a.m. everyday except Sundays.
We do not have a school in Anselmo but it is located about 10 minutes from our house in a small
town called Merna. The school is preschool to 12 grade.
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Social Service Agencies
In the small community of Anselmo there is no housing authority, hospital, school, or
social work offices. The only real social work opportunity in my town specifically would be
opening a counseling service. In Broken Bow which is 20 miles away they have our local
department of health and human services office. Majority of the social workers that are
employed there are remote or hybrid workers. They cover 2 cities (Broken Bow and Sargent), 9
villages (Anselmo, Ansley, Arnold, Berwyn, Callaway, Comstock, Mason City, Merna, Oconto),
12 unincorporated communities (Cumro, etna, Finchville, Gates, Lillian, Lodi, Milburn, New
Helena, Round Valley, Walworth, Weissert, Wescott), and 31 Townships (Algeron, Ansley,
Arnold, Berwyn, Cliff, Comstock, Corner, Custer, Delight, Douglas Grove, East Custer, Elim,
COMMUNITY ASSIGNMENT PAPER 3
Elk Creek, Garfield, Grant, Hayes, Kilfoil, Lillian, Loup, Milburn, Myrtle, Ryno, Sargent, Spring
Creek, Triumph, Victoria, Wayne, Westerville, West Union and Wood River).
Non-Social Service Agencies Employing Social workers
There are several options within 50 miles of my hometown. In Broken Bow there is a
Head Start and three schools, Elementary, Middle School, and High School. All of the schools in
our area hire social workers as counselors. There are numerous healthcare facilities around that
also hire social workers. Our local community action also hires social workers and they are there
to help families with resources that are available for low income families. The main one in our
communities is counseling. One of them is called Healing Hearts and Families. According to
their website they are a 24 hour crisis center. They connect survivors with an advocate who is
available to support the domestic or sexual abuse survivor or help the survivor identify services
they need. They also offer emergency shelter, Crisis Counseling, Transportation, Support
Groups, Assistance with protection orders, counseling, medical, legal, and financial services.
(Healing Hearts, 2022).
Conclusion
In closing, I always thought I wanted to do nursing but after working with a contracted
company with the department of health and human services my career path changed. I was in a
couple abusive marriages and found myself helping others in that position. Someone once told
me that sometimes you find your path you are to take in the midst of a tragedy. Right now I
perform drug tests and supervised visits with family support and I love being able to help
someone get their children back. When I get my degree I want to either help by being a
counselor to domestic abuse survivors or a case manager for our local child and family protective
service. My goal is to be able to help as many families as I can.
COMMUNITY ASSIGNMENT PAPER 4
References
Visit Custer County, NE., Retrieved 2023, March 13, Anselmo
https://www.custertourism.com/anselmo
Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved 2023, March 12, Jobs
https://www.statejobs.nebraska.gov
Healing Hearts and Families., 2022, Retrieved 2023, March 13. Services
https://www.healingheartsandfamilies.com/services/
