Social Workers Kick Off Visibility Campaign

1199SEIU social workers have launched a campaign to bring attention to the vital role they play within the healthcare community. The kickoff of the campaign, which will extend through March, took place February 27 at 1199SEIU Manhattan headquarters.

 

The Social Work Visibility Campaign takes place during National Social Work Month and is a culmination of a two-year partnership between 1199SEIU and the New York City chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

 

The goal of the campaign, representatives of the 1199SEIU Social Work Committee say, is to emphasize the variety of roles that social workers play in the lives of patients and their families.

 

“We were very encouraged by the presence of our president, George Gresham, and secretary-treasurer, Maria Castaneda, at the kickoff,” says Elise Rackmill, a senior social worker for Manhattan’s St. Luke’s-Roosevelt school-based health centers and a member of the Social Work Committee.

 

“George and Maria stated clearly that the role and mission of social work are consistent and closely aligned with the goals of our union, that is, healing those we treat as well as our society.” Rackmill says.

 

The wide-ranging campaign, she says, will include meetings, forums, posters and tabling within 1199SEIU institutions. “We are not waiting for administrators or vendors,” Rackmill says. “We’re doing it ourselves.”

 

The Social Work Committee is also designing a brochure to distribute to our patients, families, and community residents who use healthcare facilities that employ 1199SEIU social workers.

 

The month of visibility activities will end with the second annual Social Work Seminar on March 29. Its venue has not been confirmed. The seminar’s theme is “Case Management Dilemma and the Changes in the Provision of Mental Health Services.”