Casey Winnecke is a non-traditional college student that originally went to school for Fine Arts out of High school. However, he found that the degree wasn’t a good fit for him and took some time away from school. After a few years, Casey attended a Human Services class at Ivy Tech and fell in love with the program. He graduated from the TSAP Social Work program at Ivy tech and Transferred to IU Bloomington where he plans on finishing his bachelor’s and ultimately getting a masters! 

 Casey currently runs a non-profit called Surviving Bloomington where he hosts a yearly event designed to raise awareness and funds for people in Bloomington experiencing homelessness. Casey is great at event planning and group work, so anything that combines those skills with people who are less advantaged in society is what he wants to do. 

 Casey also loves learning about Group Work and Team Building activities. While he would certainly consider himself an introvert most of the time, He also gets a lot of passion from working with others and watching bonds form in a group. He is big into doing outdoor adventures, and he finds it incredible to see how close humans can get to strangers in such a short amount of time.   

 As said before, Casey runs a non-profit called Surviving Bloomington where he hosts a yearly event based off the reality television show Survivor. Casey gets 16 strangers together where they play a 3-day game out in the woods that requires teamwork, strategy, bond-building, trust, and so much more. In the months leading up to the game, each contestant raises money to ultimately be donated to the Bloomington community, and the contestants who raise the most money get advantages in the game. In 2021 he was able to raise over $10,000! He is able to use his experience learning social work skills throughout the competition to help resolve group conflicts, enact team-building activities, and even have one-on-one discussions with people after the game about their experience. 

 “Take your time and follow your own path. For years after high school, I just did what I thought my parents wanted me to do, and I was miserable. When I finally took things into my own hands and did them on my personal timeline, that’s when I started feeling happy again. ”  

 Favorite Quote: “The adventure you’re ready for is the one you’ll get.” -Jeff Probst