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March 21 is designated as World Social Work Day, marking a central point of Social Work Month celebrated all March. As a human services agency, Urban Resource Institute’s social workers are at the heart of our work to transform the lives of domestic violence survivors and homeless families. Today, and every day, we celebrate social workers – some 700,000 strong across the U.S. and 3 million worldwide.
While my role at URI is Chief Executive Officer, many of you know I began my career as a social worker. I proudly hold a master’s degree in social work from Fordham University and know firsthand the impact of social work.
The theme for Social Work Month 2023, as set by the National Association of Social Workers, especially resonates with URI: Social Work Breaks Barriers That Prevent People and Communities from Thriving. This theme perfectly echoes the work that URI has done since 1980 and the Vision statement we aspire to: “A world free of domestic violence, homelessness, poverty, and trauma, where individuals and communities are safe, stable, and thriving.” For more than 40 years, we have identified barriers to safety and healing, and developed programs and services to overcome them, including our pioneering People and Animals Living Safely (PALS) program that this year reaches its 10 year milestone. The dedicated URI social workers deliver innovative, life changing services and programs to the 2,200 clients we house each night and the approximately 40,000 youth and adults reached each year via our prevention and intervention programs to help break cycles of violence.
While our social workers are committed to our mission and clients, URI is committed to them. We are very proud that URI is now an approved training provider for NYSED State Board for Social Work and for Mental Health Practitioners. This means training programs delivered by the URI Quality Improvement, Evaluation and Training team earn continuing education units (CEUs) for our staff, supporting excellence in skills and career advancement.
We invite you to learn more about URI and consider supporting us by visiting our website.
In solidarity and gratitude,
Nat Fields
Link to NASW in case imbedded link does not work: https://www.socialworkers.org/News/Social-Work-Month
