The month of March is Social Work Month and we’d like to celebrate by sharing stories from some of our frontline social service team members who work hard every day to support community members. Each team member has their own story and reason why they were inspired to start working in the social service sector, and why they love what they do. Together, our entire team serves over 2,000 children, youth, and families annually; helping them build and maintain strong connections with family, friends, and their community, while providing them with the skills and resources to make positive long-lasting changes in their lives. Below are stories from a few of our dedicated team members who wanted to share the impact and importance of their work:
Mabel Reimer | Lead Clinician, Mental Health & Wellness
“Being a fellow human means that I know how hard life can be”
As a young adult I realized I loved hearing people’s stories, understanding where they came from and being a witness to their journey. A social worker also played an integral part in changing the course of my young adult life.
I am inspired to do great work every day because being a fellow human means that I know how hard life can be. Making that a little more bearable for another human inspires me to get up every day.
Just last weekend, we had a dad run out of his car to tell us we saved his teenage daughter’s life. He said they had been in therapy for years and nothing worked until she came to our DBT group. He thanked us for giving his daughter another chance.
Social work is a unique profession that approaches situations from a truly holistic lens looking at all contributing factors within a person’s environment. It is also deeply committed to social justice and not simply upholding the status quo.
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Nathan Harriman | Transitions Worker, Youth Transitions to Adulthood Program
“My own experience has taught me that one positive person who believes in you can make a huge impact on a youth’s life”
I absolutely love helping people. It’s just something that’s always been in my heart, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. My own experience has taught me that one positive person who believes in you can make a huge impact on a youth’s life and that relationship can build a foundation for success for the rest of their life.
What inspires me to be in social services is my own life experiences and struggles. These experiences have fueled my passion for helping others and making a positive impact on the world. I truly believe that changing the world starts with helping just one person and understanding where they’re coming from. That’s what I want to do as a social services worker – to make an impact on the world by being that one positive person who believes in them.
One of the most rewarding moments in my career so far has been able to see the impact that our team has had on the young people we work with and hearing from the youth individually how much they appreciate us. It’s truly heartwarming to hear these youth express a desire to give back to their communities and help others, because of the support and guidance we have provided. These moments show the incredible work that our team is doing and the impact that we are making. I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of such an amazing team, and I am honored to be able to work alongside them every day.
I believe that this line of work is important for our community because it promotes long-term resilience, well-being, and positive change. Our focus is not on a quick fix, but rather on empowering people to thrive over the long term, we aim to equip individuals with the tools to overcome challenges, enabling them to achieve lasting success.
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Robyn Margeson | Program Supervisor, Manhattan Place (Boys Group Home)
“This work is not easy, but it is so important in building healthy people and healthy relationships in our community”
I always knew I wanted to be in the helping profession, and I originally thought my calling in life was to be a nurse. After about 3 weeks of grade 11 chemistry, I quickly realized nursing was not going to be the career path for me. I headed to university wanting to be a teacher, and then switched my focus to social work not long after, realizing the diversity and scope of jobs you can do in this field.
This is incredibly cliché, but it’s the boys (clients) I work with that inspire me to do great work every day. Ironically enough, if you asked me what inspires you to leave the field, I would have the same answer! But joking aside, these youth have been through unimaginable amounts of trauma and neglect, yet they still get up everyday (albeit sometimes loooonng into the afternoon) and work towards their goals, even if it is with tremendous amounts of help. Celebrating the small wins with them helps me stay focused and gives me those much-needed reminders that they work we do matters.
One of the boys I currently work with has recently saved up his money (and gotten some help from mom and grandma) to purchase his first car. This thing is the definition of a 17-year-old male car – complete with LED lights lining the dashboard. To have him be so proud of his hard work and see a tangible outcome of his dedication was an impact shared by all staff members – especially when it took some convincing to get him up and moving on the days he had early morning shifts at work! It’s refreshing to see the boys in the group home completing “normal” teenage boy milestones.
I have found through this line of work that everyone we work with has the skills, and more importantly the relationships, to succeed without help from professionals, they just aren’t able to see it yet. This work is key in capitalizing on what the client already brings to the table and helps them build, repair and maintain connection for life-long success. This work is not easy, but it is so important in building healthy people and healthy relationships in our community.
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Samuel Marroquin | Transition Specialist, James House
“Homelessness impacts us all. Each Calgarian is deserving of a safe and secure space to call home.”
Like many families, mine has had to access supports to deal with the ups/down of life. With the support of a Social Worker, we were connected with the right supports, encouraged to make connections with community, and assisted in creating change. Today, my family is made up of many Social Workers who are seeking to carry on this tradition of supporting others and building up our community.
I’m inspired by people! People are amazing! I am so privileged to be a part of each individuals life that I get to work with. I learn so much from them and get to be a part of so many milestones, changes, and amazing moments, it makes it all worth while. Not to mention by supporting an individual it all works towards building up the community as a whole.
It is always an impactful moment to meet with an individual who is accessing emergency shelter and support them in moving into the James House. From the moment when we first meet to when we provide them with keys to their new apartment – that hits me every time.
Homelessness impact us all. Each Calgarian is deserving of a safe and secure space to call home. If we have the resources/supports to do this, let’s do our best to support our community and achieve housing for all.
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Marie Thiede | Kinship Facilitator, Kinnections Kinship Care Program
“People need people! And ALL people deserve support and help when they need it”
I’ve always felt a calling to help people and support them in achieving their full potential, which I think is essentially what all Social Work is all about. For me personally, after working with children and youth for many years, I became most passionate about supporting parents and caregivers in caring for their kids as well as they can.
In McMan’s Kinnections program, I meet caregivers who have given up so much in order to care for the kids that have come into their home. It is honestly an honor to be part of their support team as they care for these kids who are so blessed to have them. Most kiddos in kinship care are coming from very difficult situations and have a lot of trauma, but watching our caregivers step up to the plate to care for them is a really amazing thing. I am inspired to work hard for my clients because of the hard work they are doing themselves.
Many of our kinship caregivers choose to apply for permanent care of their kinship children. Supporting them as they go through this process and become these children’s forever home makes me so proud of the work we do, because we get to be a part of that process and ensure caregivers feel as equipped as possible for this.
People need people! And ALL people deserve support and help when they need it. I think Social Work, in all its various programming and avenues, allows for all people, whether they have natural supports around them or not, to receive the support and help they deserve in trying times. It is not always an easy job but it is always 100% worth it.
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Keshia Bussue | Youth Worker, Manhattan Place (Boys Group Home)
“There are still biases and a lack of understanding from others on why some people struggle”
I work hard everyday because I desire to see others in more complex situations find stability. I am a huge advocate in giving other’s options and educating them on how they can change their lives.
I got into this line of work because I have always had a passion for helping people. For the first part of my career, I focused on individuals with disabilities and then broadened out to more complex needs in 2016. I started by working with youth and then progressed into complex needs. After that, I got the opportunity to explore more of what it means to have complex needs and a better understanding around the injustices within the system. Because I love to help people and saw the boundaries that they face, it only encouraged me more to work in this field.
I worked with a client with extremely complex needs. He challenged me and my co-workers because he was intimidating in size and verbally aggressive. A lot of his life had been controlled by his natural supports and he felt like he had no control over his life. I used the approach of giving him options and freedom to decide on what he would like to navigate in his life without feeling like a supported individual. That looked like providing him with a monthly bus pass and a transit app on his phone to help him navigate his surroundings independently on his timing in the community. It looked like allowing him to have appointments alone and speak for himself and build relationships with people within his community. We noticed from this approach that he felt like he was treated by others like a human and not like a person that had supports. He was learning life skills to help him when we were not there to support him. That was impactful to us as a team because we were meeting his needs and working ourselves out of a job.
I believe that this line of work is important to our community because we are trying to incorporate social role valorization. We are helping our individuals communicate and engage in everyday activities with others. We are also providing a voice when they cannot advocate for themselves and healthy techniques of how to handle situations that they may face. There are still biases and a lack of understanding from others on why some people struggle. I think through education and support, we are changing the narrative of what people think and how they can better help the individuals that we work with.
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Ellen Zelinski | Kinship Facilitator, Kinnections Kinship Care Program
“Social work is a profession that seeks to continually evolve”
I chose social work because it aligned with my personal values of social justice and equity, it was a career where I could make a difference rather than a profit, and it is flexible with job opportunities. I like that I can work in several organizations that serve different populations and still gain experience that offers career growth.
Sometimes it can be frustrating when you are working within systems that have many limits. I think that social work offers the opportunity to be creative in finding ways to help folks despite these limits, and I find that creativity inspiring.
Having knowledge of and supporting caregivers to access resources is an aspect of social work where the impact can be seen in a relatively short period of time. In my current role, I have supported caregivers to access the Disability Tax Credit or FSCD funding, which has provided a significant amount of financial support for some caregivers who did not realize they were eligible to receive it.
Social work is a profession that seeks to continually evolve. It is a profession that places a high importance on working with the community rather than for the community, which I think is a noble endeavor.
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Marnie Johnston | Life Skills Facilitator
“I am continually inspired every day when I facilitate”
I came to McMan 28 years ago as a practicum student and worked with teens. During my practicum, I realized I really liked working with the teens! Then facilitating workshop on a small scale became part of my position. I actually did not choose facilitation; I believe it choose me. As a result, I began seeking out different training to support me to expand my facilitation skills.
I am continually inspired every day when I facilitate. When I see the engagement with young people who are hesitant to engage, when I see an “Aha” moment for a participant, and when I see them connecting the dots for themselves. When I see and feel their empowerment as they gain self understanding, awareness and strategies to manage their situations/life, and when I see them putting their skills into action and experiencing positive results.
I remember a participant who attended the Life Skills Program. This person found it so helpful they attended twice – It was a 2 ½ month program which is already a commitment for youth. They found many of the skills beneficial. This person shared with their extended family some of the exercises we would participate in and as a result, the whole family started to utilize the skills/techniques. This person came back several month later and told me this, and they also said “Marnie, you thought your workshops where just healing me, what is actually happening is that they are healing my whole family.”
Social work is so important for any community because the training/schooling is broad based providing the community with professionals who have a wide range of skills. For me personally, it allowed me to expand and strengthen my skills in the areas that interested me.
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