As a first-time blogger, I am amazed at the challenge and opportunity offered by blogs to learn about our world. I love to read books and the newspaper (I read the Fort Worth Star Telegram every morning!) and must admit that my skepticism about blogs keeps me from stepping out of my comfort zone into this new world - the bloggosphere. I also am a die-hard NPR fan who listens for hours each day because I appreciate the quality of the reports and the wonderful mixture of information, ideas, culture, music, etc that the talented people at National Public Radio report each day.
One of the reasons why I love to read the newspaper and listen to NPR is that each day I learn more about the depth of social problems that challenge people across the world, compromising their quality of life and well-being. Some days, my heart weeps and the potential of depression creeps close. But, the nature of the terrible social problems that so many people are living with cry out for qualified, effective, competent professionals to do something! The heart of social work is the ability to understand those terribible problems and mobilize effective interventions to help individuals, groups, families, and communities to resolve those problems and restore their well-being. So, I want to understand more about poverty, domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, mental illness (etc) and I want to be a part of the solution to mitigating or eliminating those terrible, heart-breaking problems. One way to be a part of the solution is to teach motivated, committed, and dedicated social work students the knowledge, values, and skills of social work so that they can go out and work in agenices with people in need. This blog will be a place where to explore the heart of social work.