In an unsuspecting home in Austin, Doug’s House is a sanctuary that serves as the only hospice and recuperative care facility in Central Texas that supports those living with HIV or AIDS. Doug’s House is one part of Project Transitions which is a local organization that provides affordable housing for Austin residents with HIV or AIDS.
To enter the front door, temperatures are checked immediately, IDs are scanned, and health screening questionnaires must be filled out. To exit the back door, it is impossible to miss the backyard garden, which is filled with bricks marking both those who have passed within the facility and members of the greater PT community who contributed their time and passion to the work being done. Confidentiality is revered and expected in this space, and the work that is done is mission critical to those battling illnesses.
And in the middle of it all? A 50-year-old social work student named Kewal Hausmann, who is taking exceptional joy in their practicum placement.
“No one is having as much fun as I am, and I work in hospice care,” said Hausmann.
Hausmann, a non-traditional student in every sense of the word, found social work education after teaching yoga for 20 years in spaces like schools, hospitals, and prisons. They claim they’ve since realized they were doing social work all along through their classes and individual yoga therapies, but they simply didn’t know what social work was when they were inadvertently practicing it.
Spurred on by mentors, Hausmann began at ACC studying social work during the pandemic and transferred to the Steve Hicks School of Social Work in the fall of 2021. Hausmann, who graduated with their BSW in Fall 2023, became one of the more than 500 SHS students that annually partakes in practicum education as part of their degree. They told their advisors that they had only one place that they wanted to take their practicum learning – and it was Doug’s House.
Founded in 1989 and run by Project Transitions, Doug’s House is a 5-room hospice serving people with HIV and AIDS in the Austin area. It is a special care facility that employs about 20 individuals who help provide both recuperative and hospice care in a home-like setting.
Mentored by Aranda Salazar (BSW ‘14, MSSW ’19), who is employed as the Doug’s House program coordinator, Hausmann practices their mezzo-level social work skills by assessing the organization in its training and operational functions. They also provide care for the residents by talking with them, doing arts and crafts projects, preparing food, and simply being with residents to celebrate milestones.
“Birthdays are big deals here,” Hausmann said, noting that every birthday is a celebration over HIV. “For some of our clients, acknowledging a birthday is one of the ways they get loved. You get seen. You get celebrated. And for some of them, it’s the first time in a decade someone gave them a party.”
Sharing that social experience has been “transformative” in the way that Hausmann views social work. As a queer individual, Hausmann said the practicum placement was their “one and only” place they wanted to serve, and describes it as an honor to care for “those that go before me” at Doug’s House.
“Case management skills are important, but providing solutions, making art, celebrating humans, and doing emotional connection is how we practice social work,” said Hausmann. “School provides a lot of structure. Learning that people have had this experience though and getting to turn your classroom theory into full practice unlocks a whole different type of thinking.”
Salazar, who also did her practicum work at Doug’s House while she was completing her BSW, said the practicum work she did was fundamental to making her become an effective social worker. As someone who was “super critical” of systems as a student, she said Doug’s House was one of the most important experiences of her schooling.
“I needed life experience to be a better social worker,” Salazar said. “You learn by participating. You learn from your coworkers, you learn from those who are older, and you learn the tools to advocate for someone. Being at Doug’s House allowed me to explore solutions in social care, and it gave me the tools I needed to be an effective social worker.”
As Salazar continues her work at Doug’s House and Hausmann looks forward to their next chapter of earning a MSSW degree, both feel more confident on their social work skills thanks to their practicum at Doug’s House. They encourage students to understand the importance of learning during their practicum work and to find ways to utilize their skillsets in that learning process.
“The whole point of school is to answer the question ‘How do I prove I am good at helping?’,” said Hausmann. “The best thing for me about this placement has been the sense of affirmation that I get in doing this work and knowing I can help. I am extremely grateful for the guidance and help that I get from my practicum supervisor, and I’m grateful that I have found that I feel capable, and that I know more than I think I know.”