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TAMPA BAY UNIT
(Updated 9/16819)
Friends and Fellow Social Work Colleagues,
I'm checking in with you. How is everyone doing? How is work? We are here together to advance our profession as well as to support each other. Please share if you are having any concerns or challenges in your practice settings. We commit to using our wealth of degrees, diversity, and years of experience to find solutions.
We had a good start to our year. Steering Committe met in July and set out a tentative schedule thru the end of the year.
The first event drew over 25 of our colleagues at Cigar City Brewing on August 24. From all reports, we all had a grand time snacking and getting to know each other. Our theme is Connections on a Grand Scale. We discussed how we might connect with each other; moreover connect with the Grand Challenges of Social Work in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
The plans to collect backpacks and school supplies in September is postponed to coincide with a special annual event in Hillsborough County, led by Mary Martinez-Grovie, our membership chair. More info to follow. Instead, for September I am asking you to connect with social workers where you work and/or attend an event in your community or county celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
Stand up for social work and for our communities. If you meet with a social worker, over lunch, dinner or for a weekend walk, tell them what you love most about being a social worker. For me, it's finding you and connecting with each of you. It's knowing I'm working on a big idea, a big picture issue of social justice and meeting human need. It's knowing I can be smarter by going to a workshop and/or a conference, in our Tampa Bay Unit, at our annual state conference, or at our biennial National Conference in Washington, DC. It's knowing I can reconnect with myself, the "why" I am a social worker.
We have workshops scheduled for October and November, and then our Holiday event in December. Details to come.
Meanwhile, in whatever way you connect this month, please provide any feedback, outcomes, anecdotes. I will include your story in the October post on the Tampa Bay Unit page.
I'm traveling to Washington, DC next week for the NASW Board of Directors meeting. It will be my first meeting and I'm tremendously excited to meet the other Regional Representatives (I represent Region VII) and our National Staff. In that regard, I have been collaborating with the NASW Chapter Executive Directors and Presidents in our Region VII (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Virgin islands) for context and for my own education and knowledge. I am grateful that each Chapter Rep is open to sharing and providing me with details I might take with me to Washington. Remember, connection -- together we can.
Have the best day ever friends.
Kind regards,
Sharon Barber
tampabay.naswfl@socialworkers.org
Follow us on FB: https://www.facebook.com/naswtampabay
As always, feel free to submit your ideas to make our Tampa Bay Unit better. If you have ideas or wish to volunteer, please contact Sharon Barber at tampabay.naswfl@socialworkers.org.
UPCOMING EVENTS
There are no local events planned at this time. Please visit the Events page for other opportunities.
UNIT LEADERSHIP
Sharon Barber - Unit Chair
tampabay.naswfl@socialworkers.org
Chapter Committee on Nominations and Leadership Identification (CCNLI)
Stacy Kratz
Political Action for Candidate Election (PACE) Committee
Christine Campbell, LCSW
Membership
Mary Martinez-Drovie
Social Media
Elizabeth Thomas, MSW
Legislative
Brittany Peters
491 Board Liaison
Susan Infanzon
Chapter Supervisory Task Force
Nancy Gordon
Susan Infanzon
Ethics
Stacy Kratz
MSW Representative
Alexandra Pellot, USF
BSW Representatives
Haydee Davis, Saint Leo University
Tampa Bay Unit 2019 Social Work
Month Photo Gallery