Your participation matters. If you don’t read the rest of this article, please hear that. Whether in life or in the social work profession, if you don’t show up, nothing gets done. The people who show up are the people who make things happen.
That’s a double-edged sword, colleagues, depending on who shows up.
As social workers, I am urging you to be the people who show up. Our profession needs you. NASW-MO needs you. Missouri needs you. Our country needs you. We need social workers to stay engaged with policy.
That means engaging with the work of our local community organizations that contribute to our communities, to social justice, and to our common welfare. That means spending time caring for one another and ourselves (rest is resistance!). That means we engage in activities such as voting, volunteering, and even running for offices that matter.
Have you considered the importance of your local library board? The choices of books entering our public libraries have a profound impact on our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. The value of a person with deep education and professional knowledge of child development and the social and emotional needs of youth to a local school board is incalculable. And even something as boring sounding as a zoning and planning committee? What impacts can a person with genuine knowledge of the issues of the unhoused and issues of poverty have when we are deciding issues of public transit? Zoning for shelters and supports? Day treatment centers?
I am not speaking out of turn. I have engaged with some of these exact issues in my local community. I have learned the power of my social work education to influence public policy and to directly support my neighbors. Many of you are already doing these things! But maybe you aren’t.
I encourage you to attend a meeting of your city council or a subcommittee thereof. Attend a school board meeting. See who is making the decisions that impact you every day. If you regularly make referrals to a group or agency within your community, try attending an open meeting or an open board meeting. Meet leadership. Meet volunteers. It’s a great start to breaking down the mysteries to “how things work.”
The world is run by those who show up.
And, if you are a person who is DOING this work! First of all, THANK YOU.
And… If you are growing tired, wearing thin, stretching yourself too far… Have you found someone to mentor? Have you discovered the people who are the next generation of leaders? Do you know how to teach, supervise, encourage? Rest is resistance, too. Find those who will come after you, ready to make change, and teach them how.
In solidarity
Cassie E. Brown, MSW, LCSW (she/her/hers)
Executive Director, NASW-MO