School of Social Work Shares Gifts of Gratitude with Community Partners

Social work is hard. And like many professions who have faced stress and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, its challenges have only deepened.

Yet, the dedicated social workers across the North State continue to not only support their clients but serve the future of their profession. More than 80 partner agencies of Chico State’s School of Social Work’s Field Education program have continued to train, mentor, and support dozens of students across the North State as a key part of their social work education.

“Social workers feed the homeless, counsel the grieving, navigate government services, locate housing, connect people to resources, all while listening with a calm and caring ear to stories of loss and trauma,” said Susan Roll, director of the School of Social Work. “All of our agency field instructors and task supervisors are volunteers—they are not compensated for their support, supervision, and training of future social workers. They take on students each year because they are deeply committed to the profession of social work and our community.”

The participating agencies voluntarily train as many as 10 students for 16–24 hours of field internships each week, and 2020–21 was no different.

By the end of the academic year, the School of Social Work’s undergraduate and graduate students will have completed 122,640 practicum hours at the hosting social service agencies. These partnered social workers fill crucial roles at hospitals, long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, domestic violence agencies, schools, and foster family agencies.

“The pandemic has been challenging in every aspect for field education,” said Andrea Rioux, field coordinator for the program. “Despite the everchanging needs, concerns, expectations, and barriers it has brought this past year, our community partners have remained steadfast in their dedication and commitment to our students.”

Earlier this spring, when the North Valley Community Foundation gifted the School of Social Work a $5,000 COVID-19 relief grant, Roll and the field education team knew exactly what to do with it, creating gifts of gratitude to give to more than 200 University-affiliated social workers across dozens of agencies who have remained unwavering in their support of students and their work.

Each gift included a copy of The Age of Overwhelm by Laura Van Dernoot Lipsky and a “gratitude journal,” to use as a way to reflect and ground, as well as a note of thanks expressing the school’s appreciation for their selfless and community-centered dedication.

“This donation has allowed us the opportunity to pause and intentionally recognize, appreciate and honor our social work partners that generously give of themselves and their time to provide vital opportunities for our students,” Rioux said.

Lipsky’s books are assigned in School of Social Work courses every year, which made the decision to give The Age of Overwhelm to the 200 social work partners an easy decision. Lipsky’s book focuses on the tools and practices needed in balancing personal care with maintaining professionalism, while working in traumatic environments. In light of the pandemic, this tool has become even more valuable. 

“The vital social work practices that our partnering social service agencies conduct with traumatized, vulnerable people are emotionally, mentally, and physically demanding,” said Patrick Borel, director of the Field Education program at the School of Social Work. “On top of that, the bombardment of stressful personal, community, and global experiences from this COVID year, Age of Overwhelm was the natural choice as a sustainment gift to our community partners.”

Anna Flores (Social Work, ’15; MSW, ’16), who has been an agency field instructor for the past three years, said it was a lovely surprise to receive the gifts in the mail, including an affirmation of support from the program.

“I have always felt supported by the faculty and staff of the school of Social Work,” she said. “The gifts are so thoughtful and appreciated.”

Similarly, Jodene Setera (English, ’16), program director of the Salvation Army, said she was deeply touched by the surprise token of gratitude.

“As we all work through this past year of trials, challenges, and tragedies, we must accept the challenge to care for ourselves as stewards of our community,” she said. “The gift from the School of Social Work gave me that opportunity—to stop, to pause, and be grateful.”

Printing Services on campus produced the 200 accompanying gratitude journals and packaged them with the books for delivery. This gesture, Roll said, was a small but meaningful way to demonstrate the school’s gratitude and a way to support their self-care while trying to navigate these turbulent times and mitigating the impacts of secondary trauma.

“Fortunately, the resilience and heartfelt dedication of agency staff have been instrumental in guiding social work interns in their learning this year,” Borel said. “As we move forward, we will continue to prioritize the safety of our students while ensuring they are skillfully helping those in need while making a positive difference to children, adults, the elderly, families, communities, and our society.”

The actions taken to uplift, inspire, and support the University’s social work partners is the momentum that is needed in this time of uncertainty, Borel said. The changes that have evolved in civic engagement are uncharted in nature as the pandemic continues to impact American lives, and though these challenges initiate roadblocks in every facet of our lives, the mantra “we are all in this together” echoes a little louder in the School of Social Work.

“Service is one of the core values of professional social work,” Borel said. “Social workers are essential, and our students will continue to engage in their field internships with or without a pandemic.”