There is so much great information in Chapter 3 of the Lum text that it was truly hard to decide which way to go in my blog writing this week. However, as I got to the section on "Principles," I knew that I had found my subject! Throughout the reading, I continued to relate what I was reading to a particular non-profit I have been working with. Jeremiah Program is an organization that works with low-income single mothers (with children are under the age of five) who are pursuing a post-secondary education. So, when I got to page 102 of the text and read what I already knew about the statistics on women as it relates to poverty and deprivation, and then went on to read the section on values and principles, I was ready to blog. In the first paragraph of this section, I believe there is a very strong statement: "Social workers need to ground their empowerment strategies and actions in values and principles that hold out hope for remedying such underlying crises of values." (Lum 2011, p. 115). As I think about the five principles that guide the values set out by the NASW, there are several links between the work that Jeremiah Program is doing and the principles that ground the strategies and actions we perform in our work as social workers. By tying together the concepts learned in this reading and the "real life" experience of working with the Jeremiah Program, I have been able to recognize that while I might not be able to save the world, I can help in a way that will positively impact a person's life by focusing on meeting their needs and developing their potential and resources.
I have added a marketing piece below that I think shows some of the ways the Jeremiah Program is living out the five principles of social and economic justice.
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