艾可直播

John T. Butler, S.J., Haub Vice President for the Division of Mission and Ministry at 艾可直播 College, said that social workers and Jesuit priests share the same charge: to make the world a better place for people on the margins of society.聽

鈥淭he Jesuit should show himself ready to reconcile the estranged, compassionately assist and serve those in prisons and hospitals, and perform any other work of charity, according to what will seem expedient for the glory of God and the common good,鈥� Butler said, reading from The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms on Monday, October 21 in the Yawkey Athletics Center. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what social workers do. They reconcile the estranged, they make love tangible to those on the margins, to those who suffer, to those who have no voice, to those who feel alone.鈥�

Speaking at the 艾可直播 College School of Social Work鈥檚 annual Equity, Justice, and Inclusion Lecture and Distinguished Alumni Awards Celebration, Fr. Butler told dozens of students, faculty, staff, and alumni that BCSSW has an obligation to prepare social workers in training to 鈥済o into the messiness of the world鈥� to tackle global scourges such as hunger while developing policies and practices that foster the common good.聽

He said that social workers who dedicate their careers to improving the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities in need are 鈥渇ulfilling their prophetic roles and staying true鈥� to the mission of the Society of Jesus, which was founded in 1540 by St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Finally, Fr. Butler recommended social workers act out of love to remedy the problems that they鈥檝e witnessed鈥攑roblems that they may have faced in their own lives.

鈥淚 dare say for many of you, that鈥檚 why you鈥檙e social workers,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou were attentive to something and it either resonated in your life or it was so disjunctive to your life that you said 鈥榯his isn鈥檛 right.鈥� And then you were compelled to do something about it鈥攖o reconcile the estranged, to heal the hurting, to bring about some peace.鈥�

There were questions. One audience member, a scientist who works in the pharmaceutical industry, asked Fr. Butler how corporations can create support systems for employees that provide the same level of guidance that universities such as BC offer students.聽

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 more and more things happening in the world today. We鈥檙e not good with health care. We鈥檙e very bad with mental health care,鈥� Fr. Butler said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 more and more assistance programs that companies are implementing to try to deal with that.鈥�

Then he turned to the role that social workers can play in helping clients develop strong social networks that they can rely on in times of hardship no matter where they are in life. 鈥淲hat good social workers do is start to help the client or the patient develop support networks that stay with them throughout life that they can pull on,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have the ability, if we help people, to start to do the networking and the structures that come with us.鈥�

Taiga Guterres, M.S.W./M.A.鈥�22, who moderated the Q&A, asked Fr. Butler to reflect on the idea that educators, social workers, and others who help people for a living are on a never-ending journey to support people in need. Will there ever be a time when their work is finished, he wanted to know, when they have arrived at that elusive, final destination of true peace, justice, and equality?

But Gauch first took attendees back to 2009, to a family trip to Disney World, when her oldest son, then 7, experienced an acute onset of panic, irrational fears, and separation anxiety. He started trying to jump out of moving cars, she said, and required nine weeks of inpatient hospitalization that year. At the same time, her 5-year-old also experienced an acute onset of OCD, separation anxiety, rage, and aggression.聽

鈥榃hen my children became sick, I resolved myself to have them heal. I used every tool I knew as a professional, but they weren鈥檛 getting better,鈥� Gauch recalled. 鈥淲e had a full Department of Mental Health team. We had the police arriving at least once a week. As our youngest was progressively becoming more acute, suicidal, and aggressive, we feared we might lose him to suicide. We were hiding knives, praying every day we would wake up and he would still be with us.鈥�

While her children were in the throes of illness, Gauch met another mom who brought up the possibility that they may have PANS/PANDAS. Gauch had never heard of PANS/PANDAS, but she was desperate, she said, and took her kids to the doctor, who diagnosed both of them with the conditions and put them on a regimen of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. The medications worked.

鈥淚 watched my son be pulled off a cliff of suicidality, the likes of which I have never seen in my entire career as a social worker,鈥� Gauch recalled. 鈥淗is OCD abated, his aggression calmed. For the first time in six years, I felt we had hope that my children might heal. And if my children had been missed, how many children have been missed? With that hope, I decided maybe I could actually leave my house and see if there were other caregivers like me.鈥�

Rebecca Camargo, M.S.W.鈥�15, received the Distinguished Recent Alumni Award.

She鈥檚 dedicated her professional life to reducing homelessness nationwide. One year after graduating from the M.S.W. program, she was hired as the first director of resident services for the Newton, Massachusetts, Housing Authority. Her accomplishments at the city鈥檚 largest provider of affordable housing included developing mental health services for low-income residents, creating an annual survey to collect feedback from tenants, and increasing the amount of yearly grant funding to the Resident Services Department from $12,500 to nearly $300,000.

For the past two years, she鈥檚 worked as a consultant for Focus Strategies, a firm that provides communities throughout the United States with strategic, data-informed solutions to reduce homelessness.

鈥淎ny success that I have as an individual is the product of the strength and nourishment of so many others that have come before me and who make up my community,鈥� said Camargo, who thanked her family in attendance for inspiring her to achieve greatness.聽

Roc铆o Calvo, professor and founding director of BCSSW鈥檚 Latinx Leadership Initiative, recalled meeting Camargo in one of her classes in 2013. Calvo said that she was particularly impressed by a presentation Camargo made on volunteerism and persuaded her to become part of a then burgeoning cohort-based program that prepares students to work with Latinx communities to create sustainable solutions to complex problems.

鈥淚 put one of my smooth moves, and I said, 鈥楻ebecca Camargo, I want to profile you. Are you Latina? Do you speak Spanish?鈥� Calvo recalled, drawing laughter from the audience. 鈥淎nd she鈥檚 like, 鈥榃hat?鈥� And I said, 鈥榊ou are in the LLI.鈥澛�

Calvo acknowledged Camargo for helping to shape the success of the award-winning program, which marked its 10-year anniversary with a daylong symposium in March, and described her as 鈥渢he catalyst for what the LLI is today.鈥�

鈥淵ou showed me the way. I鈥檝e been learning since then. I admire what you do,鈥� Calvo said in her introduction of Camargo. 鈥淎nd I just want to not only congratulate you, but to thank you for showing me where to go.鈥�

Camargo, for her part, said that she is not doing enough on her own to improve the health and well-being of people on the margins of society. But she acknowledged the BCSSW alumni community, of which she is now a member, for its collective efforts to address some of the world鈥檚 most pressing social problems.聽

鈥淚, Rebecca Camargo, am not solely doing enough to tip the scales and to correct the systemic failures that let down our communities every day. But this community, this network of promising and passionate alumni social workers, might be doing enough,鈥� she said. 鈥淥n my most hopeful days, I think we as a community of alumni are making change collectively鈥攃hange that is real, that can be felt and seen and measured, and that is moving the needle toward justice. So for that, I鈥檓 so proud to be part of this collective.鈥�