By Emily Marshall
“Oh, the tangled webs we weave”, my mom used to say when I was growing up. She was referring to life’s complications and how our choices can lead us to interesting places, both good and bad. As I think back on my life thus far, it is easy to see how my life choices and experiences have led me to the field of social work.
I began my college journey undecided. Everything looked interesting! I wanted to learn it all. I eventually settled on the education program, striving to become a middle school math teacher. I did my practicum and realized that life had other plans for me. I knew I wanted to help people and social work felt like the right blend of “interesting” and helping people. I got my master’s degree, moved back home, and started my career as a Care Manager at Region IV Area Agency on Aging. And it has certainly been interesting! Exciting and life-changing, too.
At Area Agency, we are surrounded by social workers, whether that be by official license, or trained professionals with heart. Everyone here has a desire to help others. Our mission of “offering choices for independent lives” is a solid foundation and anchor for us to do the work we do.
Why bring any of this up? Because March is officially “Social Work Month”. It is a month to celebrate the joys and triumphs (and challenges) of social work. What exactly is social work? Social work is the blood, sweat, and tears that individuals pour into others to help them meet their basic needs and to improve their well-being – whether that be an individual, a group, or even all of society. Social workers are the helping hands and giving hearts that you find in many walks of life.
What does a day in the life of a social worker look like, one might wonder. Obviously, there are all kinds of social workers: counselors, foster care workers, policy advocates, adoption workers. The range is quite broad. Even at Area Agency, we have many roles within the work that we do.
I was a care manager social worker in the MI Choice Waiver program for 7+ years before stepping into the role of supervisor for the same program. Each day is always different, just like our clients are all different and each one has different needs.
Some of our responsibilities include assessing our clients in their homes to find out firsthand what their actual needs are. We create person-centered service plans to ensure those needs are met. We coordinate services to be provided in our clients’ homes. We ensure that those services meet the needs by making regular check-up calls and visits. We collaborate with skilled care agencies, doctor’s offices, Hospice programs, and various other entities that our clients are involved with. We keep the gears turning of service provision. We connect with each client individually and personally, and their families, sometimes holding them on our caseloads for many years, even decades. We laugh and cry with them. We change their lives, and they change ours.
Social work is an incredibly noble profession. It takes courage and grit to handle the long and hard days. But it also takes a caring soul to connect with others and build that rapport. While the end of March is drawing near, consider social work. Consider its impact locally and globally. Consider how many lives have been improved thanks to the dedication of others. Consider saying thank you – to the official social worker and to the unofficial social worker – all lending a hand and heart for the betterment of others.
Emily Marshall is a care manager supervisor/social worker for Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Call the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 800-6542-810 or visit www.areaagencyonaging.org. The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.