March is National Social Worker’s Month, a month of celebrating and highlighting the seldom seen but deeply important and necessary service of social workers across the country. Social workers address the fraying threads of the rich tapestry that is community; without them, Hephzibah would crumble without the close personal connections and profound care required to solve the unique struggles of each client.
Sometimes, the best way to help a child is to keep the family together. As an alternative to removing the child from the home, Hephzibah provides a broad spectrum of Intact Family Services designed to help families in crisis. Dana is a foster care supervisor with Hephzibah, and works with families experiencing stress resulting from inadequate housing or homelessness, substance abuse, parenting skills, domestic violence, and mental or physical illness. This is her story.
What are some specific challenges & joys you face working in your role?
It’s often challenging to work with clients who have experienced such significant trauma. Hephzibah truly is a safe space & we are here to help, but trying to portray that to clients who are in survival mode can be tough. It can take a lot of time & patience to build trust with clients before we can even begin talking about services. That being said, there are also so many rewarding aspects of this job. I love watching our clients make progress, having a breakthrough moment with a client, successfully closing a case, or hearing positive updates from a client after their case has closed. During our team meetings our Director encourages each staff to share Good News & Gratitude which is always so nice to hear! Hephzibah is a smaller agency which allows us to maintain a “family” feeling. Our agency is also well known in the community & we have some fantastic donors which allows us to better serve our families.
“We are all different & we have all lived a different story.”
What’s your favorite story from working at Hephzibah?
That would have to be the first time I ever returned children home to their biological parents. I had been working diligently with the parents for years. It took a while to build a strong relationship with the parents but in the end they did what they needed to in order to have their children returned home. These parents still keep in touch & give me updates to this day! All of my client “success” stories stick with me but particularly this one because it was the first time I had children returned home to their biological parents. It definitely gave me a different view of the child welfare system & showed me a happy, positive side of an often intense, serious job.
How has your work shaped your view of the world?
I feel that I have a better understanding of each person as an individual. We are all different & we have all lived a different story. This doesn’t mean that one person is necessarily better than another. I’ve learned that there is no baseline for “normal.” Everyone’s best can look different & that’s okay. There’s a lot going on in our world today & most people are trying to get through each day however that may look. My work in this field has shown me that if I can let go of any expectations & simply meet someone where they’re at, I will have a better chance of connecting with them. I’ve always though of myself as an optimistic person but focusing on positive things no matter how big or small can help myself & our clients.
Dana will have served with Hephzibah for 10 years this coming November. She began working at Hephzibah as an intern in undergrad, and has been with us ever since!
Learn more about Hephzibah’s Prevention Services here.