“Without them, it would be chaos:” Prince George celebrates social workers

The nation-wide theme for this year is “social workers everywhere,” but the BCASW wanted to expand on this, so the provincial theme is “social workers make a difference everywhere.”

“You can find us in hospitals and schools and counseling agencies. A lot of social workers are in private practice, and people don’t know that, but we can do counseling and other stuff like that. You can find us in universities and colleges, you can find us at farmer’s markets and just being with people in the Fire Pit or at Saint Vincent de Paul’s,” Walker said.

“Wherever we’re needed, that’s where we are,” she continued.

While the work is necessary and can be life changing for many, it does come with its challenges. Funding and the need for more worker supports is always a big one, but private-practice social worker Brent Goerz says it can also take a significant toll on your own mental well-being.

“One of the challenges that social workers do is they meet people on the worst day of their lives or in the worst phases of their lives, so it’s a very fine line between not rescuing people and trying to empower people and kind of give them agency over their own circumstances,” Goerz said

Despite the challenges, many social workers say the work is worth it to see the positive impacts it can have on an individual and community.

“Any change, any attempt at trying to just be the best person you can be, whatever that looks like, is a win for us. And it’s not about us seeing the wins and the successes, it’s about helping other people see it in themselves,” Walker said.

“The best part about social work is that we see the hope in every single person, even when they can’t see it for themselves,” she added.

A luncheon will be hosted on Wednesday, followed by a pub night on Friday, to continue celebrating the week and our community’s social workers.

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by Tommy Osborne

“Without them, it would be chaos:” Prince George celebrates social workers

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