Holding Ground

Holding Ground

The documentary “Holding Ground” is about an organization called the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI). In 1985, The Riley Foundation, working with several other community building agencies, held a meeting at St. Patrick’s Church to discuss initiatives to rebuild the communities of Roxbury and Dorchester Massachusetts. These communities had been targeted as Boston’s poorest and most needy areas. This meeting was advertised in The Boston Globe and many concerned residents, determined to be a part of community change, attended. One resident, Che Madyun, asked a simple question; how many of you are residents of this community? At this point the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) underwent a huge transformation so that community needs could be determined by people in the community rather than people coming from “somewhere else”.

Homan, in "Promoting Community Change" writes that community change efforts should include the cultural perspectives, experiences, values, norms, and rituals of the people affected by the change. (Homan, p.50) In following this idea, the majority of the board of directors of the DSNI would be residents of the community, to be elected every two years. Each ethnic group would be represented by holding 3 seats each and the remaining members would be from local businesses, housing and human service agencies, and religious institutions. A director was hired and a community needs assessment began, with “knocking on doors” to complete neighborhood surveys. One of the most widespread concerns identified was the issue of vacant lots full of trash, broken down cars, and old appliances. 

Don’t Dump On Us

In 1986, the first campaign that DSNI tackled was born; “Don’t Dump On Us”. Residents rallied, sending out radio messages encouraging people to contact city hall and other state agencies to demand the clean-up of the city. Over 100 members of the community gathered at St. Patrick’s Church to demand action.  Mayor Ray Flynn, recognizing an opportunity to gain support from people of color, responded swiftly by providing public funds to support the clean-up.  However, a year later DSNI, unhappy with Flynn’s broken promises to clean up illegal trash transfer stations, rallied again with the threat of transferring this trash to the steps of city hall. This forced the Mayor to take action and he did so by padlocking the illegal dump site. This was a “symbol of hope” for DSNI.

The Dudley Triangle

In 1988, in another significant victory for DSNI, the organization was granted eminent domain power. This would provide 50 acres of private vacant land, owned by 130 different people, in the area identified as the “Dudley Triangle”. This was the DSNI’s target area. This project included over 200 people and included the goals of creating jobs, local businesses, affordable housing, educational and human services. Plans would also include two community centers to create safe spaces for youth. DSNI would not rely on outside planners to come in and dictate, in a top-down approach but rather utilize a bottom-up approach with major solutions and decisions coming from members of the community. This project was funded with 134 million dollars of public funds. It would take time, planning and hard work but eventually in 1993 a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of an affordable housing development, Winthrop Estates.

Take Back the Park

In1991, DSNI in collaboration with police and the local youth center, organized a summer program to take back the park. The park had become overrun with drug dealing and violence. Summer programming was created to provide youth with a safe place for sports and recreation. While DSNI recognize that this did not address the bigger picture of drug dealing and violence it was a short term step toward providing a safer community for youth. In 1993, DSNI reached out in the community again in an effort to address drugs and violence. The focus was on “working together” with those in the community struggling with these issues. 

Empowerment

Finally, one of the greatest aspects of this organization is the empowerment that comes along with activism. I was impressed by the formation of a youth organization and how the ones who were small children in the beginning stages of the DSNI felt they had a “voice” and knew how to use it! I was really moved by that. I was also moved by the way they set out to address drugs and violence in their community.

The empowerment of the disenfranchised community members involved them looking the “opressors” straight in the face and confronting them-the banks, the businesses, and the politicians, etc. I think it’s such an important piece of this puzzle and how it all came together. They did not deserve to be living in this type of environment.

Unity Through Diversity Mural

This is a mural painted on Dudley Street. This mural represents various people in the community and has become a neighborhood icon.

http://www.dsni.org/

References

Fraser, J., & Kick, E. (2005). Understanding community building in urban America. Journal of Poverty, 9(1). doi:10.1300/j134v09n01_02

Hardina, PhD, D. (2003). Linking citizen participation to empowerment practice: A historical perspective. Journal of Community Practice, 11(4). doi:10.1300/j125v11n04_02

Homan, M. S. (2011). Promoting community change. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Sen, R. (2003). Stir it up. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

http://www.dsni.org/

Change Agents

Change Agents

Helen Keller was born a healthy infant, but an early childhood illness left her blind and deaf. Her story of overcoming these barriers to communication and learning to read, write, and speak is well known. She was like a celebrity in her time period. Laura Hershey was born with muscular dystrophy, a disease that weakens the muscles. She spent her life in a wheel chair.  When Laura was a child she was the poster child for the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, which raises money for muscular dystrophy. Both Helen and Laura, well known for their physical limitations, fought for social justice and for people with disabilities to be recognized for their individual strengths, abilities, and contributions.

Helen Keller

Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was a healthy child until about 18 months old when she suffered an illness that left her deaf and blind. Helen spent the next 5 years of her life struggling to make sense of the world with no real way to communicate. Her parents thought they were going to have to put her in an institution as was the typical scenario during this time period. Fortunately for Helen, her parents were referred to Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, who was working with deaf children at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts.  It is through this connection that Helen was introduced to Anne Sullivan. Anne Sullivan became Helen’s teacher and lifelong companion. Helen, who was an intelligent and committed learner, was able to learn how to communicate through touch lip reading, Braille, speech, typing, and finger spelling.

Education

Helen’s progress was framed as a miracle and talked about throughout New England. The Perkins Institute for the Blind was made famous and Helen was asked to tell her story time and time again. Helen’s thirst for knowledge brought her through schooling at Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston, Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York City, and prep school at Cambridge School for Young Ladies where she prepared for entrance into Radcliffe College. She graduated Radcliffe in 1904 at the age of 24 years old. This was a time when few women were getting a college education, never mind a woman who was both deaf and blind.

Activism and Accomplishments

Helen Keller became an activist for social justice. She fought to pass legislation establishing minimum wage, maximum work hours, limits on child labor, and worker safety codes. She joined the Socialist Party in 1909 to advocate for the eradication of growing economic inequalities and the unregulated nature of U.S. capitalism.  Helen was involved with social and political issues such as women’s suffrage, pacifism, and birth control. She testified before U.S. Congress to bring attention to the welfare of the blind. In 1915, she co-founded Helen Keller International to raise awareness of the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition. In 1920 Helen was one of the founding members of the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU). In 1924 she became a member of the American Federation for the Blind, helping to raise awareness and funds to support blind people. In 1946, Helen was named Counselor of International Relations for the American Foundation of Overseas Blind, and from 1946 to 1957 Helen traveled to 35 countries to advocate for better treatment and welfare of their blind citizens.

Helen was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal (1936), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), and nominated into the Women’s Hall of Fame (1965).  Eleanor Roosevelt referred to Helen as the “Good Will Ambassador to the World”. Helen passed away in 1968, at 88 years old. The “miracle” that happened to Helen when she learned to communicate despite being deaf and blind is what made her famous, catching the attention of the elite, however Helen used her position to try and make the world a better, more socially just place for everyone and that is what she should be known for. Helen spent her life fighting for social justice.

Laura Hershey

Laura Hershey was born on August 11, 1962 in Colorado. She was born with muscular dystrophy, causing her to spend her life in a wheel chair. At the age of 11 years old Laura was the poster child for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon which raises funds to help find a cure for this disease. Laura later describes this as playing the act of a “cheerful victim”. This experience turned her into a “mini-celebrity” for a couple of years. This experience would later lead her to protest the telethon and everything that it stands for.

Education

Laura’s love of writing began with poetry as early as grade school. The process of becoming an activist started in high school and continued on through college. Laura earned her BA in History at Colorado College in 1983, where she earned a Watson Fellowship. This gave her the opportunity to travel, research and write about England’s disability rights movement. Laura was a prolific writer including poetry, books, and magazine articles.  In 1985, she attended the Non-Governmental Organizations Forum on Women in Nairobi, Kenya as an advocate for disabled women’s issues. Laura was completely blown away and upon return home she began writing activist poetry. Laura went on to earn her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles in 2008.

Activism and Accomplishments

Laura is most well known for protesting the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, beginning in Sept 1991. The protests would become an annual tradition. Laura spoke out against the telethon because it case people with disabilities into a subservient “poor victim” role in society and perpetuated the paternalistic attitudes of society. Basically, this telethon was a money making event and the money went to research for a cure, not the practical everyday things that a person with disabilities needs to lead a healthy productive life and reach their personal, professional, and social goals. The telethon portrayed people with disabilities as helpless and pathetic. She called attention to the difference between cures versus accommodation and charity versus civil rights. She advocated for self determination, self expression and accommodations. In addition for fighting for the human and civil rights of people with disabilities, Laura sought increased visibility for people with disabilities in the LGBTQ community. She also advocated for improvements to Medicaid’s home and community based services.

Laura was involved with several human rights organizations such as ADAPT, Not DeadYet, and Colorado Cross Disability Coalition. She wrote blogs for the Christopherand Dana Reeve Foundation. Laura was awarded the President’s Award from the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities in 1998 and the “Extraordinary Woman” Award from the Colorado Domestic Violence Initiative in 1999. In 2010 she received the Lambda Poetry Fellowship. Laura has dozens of published works in books, poetry, magazines, newspapers and other media.

Laura passed away on November 26, 2010 at the age of 48 years old. She is survived by her partner of more than 20 years, Robin Stephens and their 14 year old daughter. Laura compelled people to look at more than her physical disability-more than her wheelchair. She pushed to change the attitudes of our society by protesting the image of a poor, helpless, pitiable disabled person, so often used to compel the public to give money for a cure. She said that people want a cure so they don’t have to feel so bad when they look at someone with disabilities-they want the problem to go away, but instead we should look at the practical daily needs and desires of people. Laura spent her life fighting for social justice. For more information on Laura Hershey visit her site at www.LauraHershey.com.

Conclusion

Helen Keller and Laura Hershey were both amazing women who inspire me. Both faced barriers to leading a healthy productive life because of their disabilities but they overcame them and showed the world that they had a lot to offer. They used the position they were thrust into to benefit the world and fight for social justice. What I take away from this is that you have to look at the strengths and capabilities of each individual because no matter how big or how small, how “able” or “disabled”, each person has a contribution to make. As a social worker this is what I aim to do with each person that crosses my path in both my personal and professional life- draw out their strengths. I hope to help people see that strong, capable, individual inside them and go after what they want for their life. This is the type of stuff that good leaders are made of.

References

Helen Keller. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 05:23, Mar 11, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/helen-keller-9361967

Hershey, L. (n.d.). Resume. Retrieved from www.LauraHershey.com

Hershey, L. (1993). From poster child to protester. Spectacle. Retrieved from www.cripcommentary.com/from post.html

Ingold, J. (2010, November 28). Laura Hershey, 48, championed disability rights. The Denver Post. Retrieved from www.denverpost.com/fdcp?unique=1329513849565

Nielsen, K. E. (2009). The grown-up Helen Keller. Alabama Heritage.

Potential Problems in Macro Practice

In macro-practice three common issues are; not having an understanding of the community or situation; lack of clear direction and communication within the group; and not having enough money or resources to sustain the program or initiative.

We need to understand the community or situation better.

Assessing community needs and resources is one of the most important steps in community organizing. This involves gathering information about the history and demographics of the community, the issues that are the most concerning to the community at large as well as special interest groups, the scope of the issues (statistics on prevalence and consequences), and identifying potential resources and barriers to addressing the issue.

To collect information you have to get out there in the community. There are many ways of gathering data. You can use surveys, focus groups, public forums, qualitative research, etc. Speak to leaders out in the community. Reach out to diverse organizations, neighborhoods, clubs, groups, etc. so that you include people from all segments of the population.  Some places that you can get information from are hospitals, city hall, schools, and state departments like police, public health, and welfare. Develop a plan using who, what, when, why, and how. Analyze the information collected to establish a comprehensive profile of the community needs and strengths.

There is no clear direction or communication within our group.

The energy created by each individual of the organization needs to be focused or it will not get anything accomplished, and will eventually fizzle out. One thing that can be done to give your organization direction is a planning process referred to as VMOSA (Vison, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans). Your organizations vision is what your community would be like if things were perfect and the issue you are addressing was eradicated. The organization’s mission speaks to what the group is doing and why it’s going to do it. The objectives include how much of what will be accomplished and by when. This is a specific measurable goal. Strategies explain how the organization is going to meet its objectives. Finally, an action plan states what change will happen and who will do what by when to make it happen.

Effective internal communication is a key component to successful community organizing.

Good internal communication can:

v  Afford people the information they need to do their job effectively.

v  Make sure they know about anything that concerns them.

v  Provide people with clear standards and expectations for their work.

v  Give people feedback on their own performance.

v  Provide them emotional support for difficult work.

v  Suggest new ideas about their work and their lives.

v  Allow them to take the pulse of the organization and understand its overall situation.

v  Help them maintain a shared vision and sense of ownership of the organization.

http://ctb.ku.edu/

Communication can take many forms, verbal and non-verbal. First individual members of the organization need to feel valued and open to share ideas and concerns. Newsletters, emails, memos, and social network sites such as Facebook are helpful tools that foster communication, but should not take the place of face-to-face interactions. Face-to-face meetings allow for the sharing of ideas, building of relationships, and continued connection to the main goal of the organization. Another thing that can help an organization is members getting together to socialize outside of the regular workday. Finally, clearly determining who needs to know what, how it’s going to be communicated, and by who, will create a system for communication that people can depend on. 

Not enough money or resources needed to sustain the program or initiative.

In order for your organization to accomplish its goals it is going to need money. A financial plan should include: 

$   A list of all items and needs of the project

$   The amount required to sustain each item

$   Current resources

$   Required resources

$   Potential matching and funding organizations or individuals, and

$   Amount that will be requested from each organization, individual or funding source

$   How it will be requested (and by whom, and when)

http://ctb.ku.edu/

Your financial plan can give you a realistic picture of what it’s going to take to pay for your organization. Funding for your organization will likely come from a number of different sources such as in-kind donations, fundraising efforts, collaboration and cost sharing with other organizations, membership fees, fees for services, government funding, grants, micro-grants, business loans, etc. 

Source

Work Group for Community Health and Development. (2012). The community tool box, Retrieved January 15, 2012, from http://ctb.ku.edu.

StrengthsQuest Results

Achiever


Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by “every day” you mean every single day—workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.




Individualization


Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are impatient with generalizations or “types” because you don’t want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You instinctively observe each person’s style, each person’s motivation, how each thinks, and how each builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person’s life. This theme explains why you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person’s need to be shown and another’s desire to “figure it out as I go.” Because you are such a keen observer of other people’s strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This Individualization theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team “structure” or “process,” you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.




Developer


You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth—a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments—invisible to some—are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.




Input


You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations—or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.


Responsibility


Your Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable. When assigning new responsibilities, people will look to you first because they know it will get done. When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.

Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy

"Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict."

Saul Alinsky

Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy

Saul David Alinsky, community activist, was born in Chicago on Jan. 30, 1909. He was the son of Jewish Russian immigrants, Benjamin Alinsky and Sarah Tannenbaum. His father was a tailor and a landlord. Saul was raised in a Jewish Ghetto in Chicago. His father pushed him to study and his mother instilled in him a sense of responsibility to stand up for others, teaching him that you can’t just walk away from injustice. Saul attended University of Chicago where he earned his Bachelor’s in Philosophy and then continued graduate study in criminology. This was during the time of the Great Depression.

Saul was interested in the connection between poverty/powerlessness and crime. He worked at the Institute for Juvenile Research and the Joliet State Prison during the 1930’s. At this time he became involved with Al Capone’s empire so that he could study gangs from the inside out. Saul was assigned to the back of the yards, an industrial working class neighborhood or slum, to learn the causes of juvenile delinquency. His work there ended up going far beyond that; Saul helped the people in the community unite to form “The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council” which held its first meeting on July 14^th, 1939.

Saul believed that participation in the political process was the key to democracy. He brought together organizations that already existed in the community including the labor union, churches, and over 100 other organizations. United, they were able to make a show of power and change working conditions for the working class citizens in the community. Out of this Saul went on to create the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), which set out to train ordinary community members on how to organize and participate in politics so that they can create social change. At the time of this documentary the IAF was involved in creating over 50 organizations.

One of the organizations to come out of the IAF was The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) which was created on the south side of Chicago in 1959. Saul challenged the mayor, Richard Daley, who controlled the community and only looked out for “his own people”. The African American community was completely left out of the political process. The voter rolls were declared corrupt and everyone was made to re-register. Despite attempts to block mobilization, busloads of people from the African American community arrived to register, shifting the power structure in the city of Chicago.

In Rochester New York, Saul Alinsky was called in on the wake of race riots that broke out in response to the growing tension between the have’s and have not’s. The unemployment rate for African Americans was at 25% despite economic prosperity that was experienced by the surrounding communities. Saul helped organize an organization called FIGHT. The underlying philosophy was that large corporations had a responsibility to the surrounding community. The biggest employer in the area was Kodak, with 40,000 workers. FIGHT insisted that Kodak come to an agreement to develop a job training program and employ 600 community members. When Kodak refused to honor the request, Saul launched an aggressive attack from the inside out, using the stockholders to pressure Kodak. Eventually, Kodak and FIGHT came to an agreement.

Saul Alinsky laid the foundation for community organization through his radical ideas and actions. He knew how to deal with confrontation and how to unite self interest groups to organize behind issues to create a show of power. Saul Alinsky died of a heart attack on June 12, 1972 at the age of 63. His legacy lives on through the IAF.

http://www.industrialareasfoundation.org/

In the documentary, Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy, two organizations that have been developed through the IAF are presented; East Brooklyn Congregations (EBC) and Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI). EBC was involved with getting community members together to fight for affordable housing units to be developed under the Nehemiah Plan in East Brooklyn, NY. Their direct target was the Mayor of New York. DAI was involved with lobbying for funding of a program called Alliance Schools, which improved public school performance. Community members are trained on how to meet face to face with their representatives to push for more funding. In both initiatives the organizations were able to elicit a reaction from local politicians and gain support for their programs. These examples show ordinary people taking back the power over their communities through organizing and participating in the political process.

Prior to viewing this documentary I had never heard of Saul Alinsky. This was an excellent introduction for me. I am amazed at his ability to see right to the problem and go after it. The truth is that many Americans are disheartened with the political process and intimidated by civic engagement. I have to admit that when I saw the organization named FIGHT I was thinking to myself “Why would you choose a name like that?” when it will set people off. The answer was that the name was chosen TO set people off. Issues need to be confronted.

"Always remember the first rule of power tactics; power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have."
Saul Alinsky

Sources:

Hercules, B. & Orenstein, B. (1999). Democratic promise: Saul Alinsky and his legacy. Media Process Educational Film and Chicago Video Program.

What is Macro Social Work?

Social Worker Interviews

My first interview was done with my Jr. Field Supervisor, Terry. Terry is an outreach social worker at the Whitman Council on Aging, where she has been working for the past 15 years. Terry has been a social worker for about 40 years. Terry defined macro social work practice as “looking at the whole picture”. She said you have to identify the bigger issues and then what you can do to improve the well being and quality of life of individual people out in the community. What she does in her role as the outreach social worker is break that down (the bigger issue) into parts that are manageable. She visits clients in their home to assess their individual needs, which is the micro practice piece, but then she is involved in finding out what programs and resources are available, which is the macro level piece. Terry is involved with SHINE counseling, which is providing information and access to health insurance information of older adults as well as many other community organizations including the Salvation Army. Terry estimates that about 75% of the work she does is macro practice. The leadership skills that she were most valuable to being a successful macro social worker are problem solving, ability to work independently as well as in a group, and the ability to “think on your feet”.

The second interview that I did was with a previous supervisor, Marcia. Marcia is the program director at the Evelyn House, a homeless shelter operated by Father Bills & Mainspring House. Marcia has been working with homeless families involved with this organization for the past five years. She has been a social worker for eight years. Marcia had a difficult time defining macro social work practice. We talked a little bit about what I was learning about it and Marcia said that in her role at Evelyn House her work is dictated by policy. The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) sets forth the guidelines that the shelter has to follow. She has very little wiggle room in how she wants to apply these policies and procedures in her work with the homeless families in the shelter. There are very explicit guidelines and protocols. However she can impact the policies through her involvement in advocacy meetings. Marcia spends time meeting with other professionals who work with homeless families and they put pressure on the powers that be to change policies to better serve clients. Marcia said that from 2009 when she started becoming more involved in advocacy to 2012 policies have improved for the better and things are managed much more efficiently. Marcia indicated that about 25% of her work week is involved in macro practice. She identified assertiveness, passion, and the ability to work well with other people as some of the most important skills necessary for successful macro practice.

The third interview that I did was with my current field supervisor, Rachel. Rachel has recently earned her MSW and has worked for Emmanuel House as a case manager for less than a year. Rachel defined macro practice as efforts to change and improve the quality of life for individuals through larger venues like statewide, nationwide, or global efforts. One example that she gave is the Alzheimer’s organization which seeks to help a large number of people. An example that Rachel gave of macro practice involved in her position as case manager is being involved with Mass ALFA (Assisted Living Federation of America) which allows her to get together with other Assisted Living Communities and discuss what changes need to be made to better serve their clients.  Rachel said she spends about 1 hour a week in macro practice activities. The skills she identified as key to successful macro practice are organizational skills, ability to clearly and concisely state what improvements need to happen, and assertiveness. She said you can’t be afraid to “rock the boat”.

Some Thoughts

There were several things that came to my mind in the course of these interviews.

One, it was awkward to be the one asking these questions of people. At first I felt like I was putting them “on the spot” because they had a hard time answering these questions, but when I really thought about it I felt like-too bad! I have been answering questions like this every day for the past year and a half. I wondered about my ability to answer these questions now as opposed to five years from now, or in the case of Terry 40 years from now! It was interesting to me that the concept of macro practice was difficult to put into simple words.

Two, it seems like there should be more macro practice going on. I have been having conversations with my supervisor about this for the past few weeks. For me there should be three pieces to social work practice; micro practice (working to address individual concerns); macro practice (organizing to address environmental concerns); and empowerment (helping individuals become involved in the conditions and decisions affecting their quality of life).  So as a social worker I work to help strengthen individuals, society, and the relationship between the two. What can we do in the assisted living facility to empower older adults to get involved in advocating for things like more affordable and accessible healthcare for example? Do the homeless families that Marcia works with feel empowered to push for more affordable housing options?

The third thing that came up is the diversity among the three social workers that I interviewed. These three women are in different age groups, have been social workers for varied lengths of time, work in completely different settings and roles, and are from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Each social worker brings their unique perspective to the conversation. I have enjoyed working with each one of them and am grateful that they take the time to share so much of themselves with me. 

The History of Macro Social Work Practice

Activist Video