This SW Month’s theme is Empowering Social Workers. I am fortunate to talk with incredible social workers as part of my work, to hear about what we do across the state and the nation to Inspire Action and Make Change.
Social workers are the changemakers that we need right now.
We have the skills and perspectives, the training, education, and compassion, to approach social problems from a holistic approach. We see and affirm the dignity and worth of all people, which allows us to center social justice without excluding important voices. We meet people where they are.
I was recently interviewed on a podcast, and after the recording, we social workers were still on the call chatting. Someone observed that they had never met a social worker who wasn’t “doing all the things. Doing too much?”
That sentiment has stuck with me, and I have been mulling this over. We certainly are “yes” people.
This month, as we focus on Empowering Social Workers, I want us to think about that together. We are powerful because we are holistic thinkers. We are powerful because we are capable of complex perspectives and holding people gently and in their contexts.
I think, often, people praise us for the selflessness of our job, and joke endlessly about how no one goes into social work for the money. I have made similar jokes myself. But when we are “yes” people, when we do too much, are we diluting our own value?
We are the changemakers that we need right now. And we deserve to make change for us, too.
It’s Social Work Month. I celebrate you, my colleagues, as our lobbying team and I continue to push for better funding for our programs in Missouri, and NASW pushes for better reimbursement rates for social workers. We are saying “yes” to social workers, because you inspire us.
In solidarity
Cassie E. Brown, MSW, LCSW (she/her/hers)
Executive Director, NASW-MO