In case you had no idea, March was Social Work Awareness Month! As a student at Northeastern who has engaged in service learning and human services classes, I have been reflecting on my experience. Given our current national climate surrounding social work and social intervention, now more than ever, it is essential to have conversations about the importance of this kind of work and what it entails.
As a field, social work and human services professionals are continually undervalued and underrepresented in political and academic spaces. This field is comprised of over 85% women and 40% people of color. As these marginalized groups make up a large part of this career path, it is not surprising they are receiving a real lack of recognition and appreciation.
We should try to reverse this trend, as in the past few months, we have seen funding being cut and programs being threatened across social intervention organizations and government-funded social work programs. Already, we are seeing the people most impacted by these policy shifts: those receiving social services and those already economically and socially disenfranchised.
As America sees complications in almost every aspect of daily life (housing, mental health, literacy, Substance Use Disorders, etc.), an understanding of social intervention practices and ways we as students can get involved is imperative!
As part of Northeastern’s experiential learning program, I have had the opportunity to take two service learning courses so far during undergrad. These courses involve regular classes with lectures, homework, exams and coursework integrated with community service experience. This means that in addition to class, there is also a volunteering requirement that every student must fulfill and discuss.
Through this class, students are paired with organizations partnered with Northeastern based on their interests and availability. These organizations are nonprofits, community organizations and social intervention programs that facilitate learning in the field. These relationships Northeastern has with its community partners enable academic enrichment and foster connections that often lead students to co-ops and job opportunities.
I first encountered these courses during my very first semester of college. During my Undecided Major Seminar class, we had a service learning requirement. The class served as an advising environment for students to ask questions about their possible majors, Northeastern, college life, Boston and how to navigate so many adjustments. Our participation in service learning was part of this process. In addition to on-site learning, students were meant to come away with better knowledge of their community and better time management skills.
Later in the year, I engaged in service learning in a different capacity during my second semester. At this time, I was taking a class called Social Change and Human Services, which outlines practices and histories of social interventions through guest speakers, projects, field trips, and required out-of-class events like attending an AA meeting. The community partners for this class were different, but I had encountered some of them before in my previous service learning.
During my first semester, I spent my time service learning with Ellis Early Learning. I was a classroom assistant for toddlers during their outdoor time, playtime, lunch and nap. I spent several hours each week supporting faculty (many volunteers and English-second-language speakers) in child and classroom care. I was not only able to have fun getting to know the children, but I was also able to cultivate professional relationships with some of the strongest and kindest women I have ever met.
At Ellis, many students enrolled experience economic and family hardship, so supporting staff in their efforts to cultivate success and love for our students was so meaningful. During my time here, I enjoyed getting to know the city through my commute and outside walks with the students, and the people I met were incredible. Since then, I have continued to volunteer there when I can and recruited three more friends to Ellis’s community as well.
I volunteered at the YMCA on Northeastern’s campus as part of my service learning during my second semester for Social Change and Human Services. I worked in the Teen Health Equity Program as an immigrant family liaison. I was responsible for providing families new to the area and country with case management services and resources in and around Boston.
I also worked to run the Teen Health Equity Program, where I facilitated group projects for YMCA teens to promote health education, specifically around health equity. At the end of the semester, I was able to see all of my teens show their work at our exhibition and enable their peers to learn more about issues that affect society. I learned so much from facilitating collaboration, and the cultivation of community I saw among my teens and new families was something I will take with me everywhere.
Also, while doing service learning for my Social Change and Human Services class, I got to work with Never Use Alone. I was introduced to this program through our unit on harm reduction strategies and our in-class training on overdose intervention. During class, we participated in a medical training workshop to learn how to recognize the signs of an overdose and administer Narcan.
This training was led by representatives from Never Use Alone, who explained their programming to us and let students know about volunteer opportunities with them. After learning about their mission, program and philosophies as a social intervention program, I was so excited about getting involved with Never Use Alone. This organization operates a hotline service for people with active Substance Use Disorders (usually Opioid Use Disorder) and facilitates medical intervention in the event of a possible overdose.
During my time volunteering here, I was a hotline operator. This means that I managed the phone services at Never Use Alone and talked directly with callers as they prepared and administered their drugs to provide moral support and contact local medical services when necessary. Also, as a part of this program, I helped to put together and distribute harm-reduction kits in the greater Boston area to enable safer and less risky use.
I enjoyed engaging in service learning as a part of these classes, and the opportunity at Northeastern for experiential learning has been so impactful for me. Through this experience, I honed skills like time management and public speaking and forged deep relationships with individuals and organizations in the Boston community that will last.
This experience showed me a whole new side of Boston and gave me a window into social work and social intervention. Having the opportunity to even be a part of facilitating smooth and meaningful social interventions for my community was such a special experience and has motivated me to continue volunteering after my service learning courses ended.
Given our current social and political climate, spending time helping to uplift my community and reminding myself that we can all share connection and humanity has been an amazing way to de-stress and practice gratitude.