Advance Human Rights and Social and Economic Justice
Advancing human rights and social and economic justice is the core of what social work means to me. The advocacy of vulnerable populations in order to enhance their well being is how I connect with this competency. It is my desire to advocate for vulnerable populations in my community to help them acknowledge their rights as humans and thrive in the community.
Demonstrate leadership in advocating for human rights, social, economic and environmental justice
Field: I participated in the annual suicide prevention conference in order to be able to more effectively advocate for students, and other individuals, with mental illnesses. I journaled about what I learned during my time there and used that knowledge when meeting with my clients in Disability Access.
Class: In my Advanced Administration class my peers and I created a Volunteer Recruitment, Retention, and Training Program in order to advocate for the needs of one of the community’s much needed resources: The Caring Place in Cleveland, TN.
Other: During my internship at Dalton State College, I went to a Regents Advisory Committee for Disability Services (RACDS) meeting in Atlanta at AMAC Accessibility. At the meeting we discussed the disability services that are provided over the whole state of Georgia and how we could improve upon them. Here is an exerpt of my journal from that week.
Design and Implement Social Action Strategies
Field: I participated in an anti-discriminatory initiative that provided dorm students with uplifting and encouraging notes after students were harassed in on-campus housing, because of their race, by other students
Class: In my Advanced Administration Class, my peers and I created a program called New Pathways of Southeast Tennessee (NPST) that would help give needed resources, such as counseling, to perpetrators of sexual abuse and those who are at risk to perpetrate and did a group presentation on it.
Other: While at the Suicide Awareness and Prevention Conference, on Monday, we created and developed strategies in which to implement the ideas presented at the conference on our campuses. This is an example of designing social action strategies, with the intent to implement them