by Robert S. Schachter, DSW, ACSW
(January 2002)
Almost everyday we are seeing indications of poverty increasing in New York City. The number of people using homeless shelters is at an historic high. Huge numbers are being turned away from soup kitchens and food pantries. Thousands of people are out of work. And welfare is ending as people reach their five year time limit.
Amid such reports, we brace ourselves for 2002. We certainly hope things will not be as bad as we can imagine.
In mid-December, the newly elected City Comptroller, William Thompson, told members of NYC-PACE (the chapter's political action committee) at their annual meeting, , that we should not feel that there is "doom and gloom" in front of us.
That was good to hear from the public official who is expected to understand the City's fiscal picture better than anyone. He said that the City will pull out of its emerging recession and budgetary deficits faster than many people realize, and he deftly described numerous ways in which this will occur.
Pair Mr. Thompson's optimism with that of our new Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Social workers who know Mr. Bloomberg quite well believe that he is a very capable administrator who is unusually effective and that his business background and connections, combined with a social consciousness, will help the City a great deal in the several years ahead.
Add to this the Mayor's choice for Deputy Mayor, Dennis Walcott, an MSW who headed the NYC Urban League and Harlem Dowling. The selection of Mr. Walcott has added confidence in many circles that the Mayor is serious about addressing the problems confronting the more disadvantaged among us.
Good leadership and confidence that New York City will pull out of its current economic situation within a couple years, not the five to ten as some have predicted, is hopeful. Nevertheless, the pain will be considerable for many people who are already living in poverty. And the pain will be shared by the thousands of social workers who attempt to ameliorate some of the conditions associated with this.
I was very pleased when the Editor of Currents, Jessica Rosenberg, told me in November that she thought the January issue should spotlight poverty and social work. The timing could not be more on the mark.
I am especially pleased that Currents is able to highlight the work of Ms. Miguelina Espiritu, a social worker who works with the mobile crisis team out of New York Presbyterian Medical Center, serving northern Manhattan (and the Bronx??). Ms. Espiritu work is an example of how good social work practice, taking place within a sound program, can make a remarkable difference, one person and one family at a time.
I went out on a home visit with Ms. Espiritu over the summer and experienced with her the realities that poverty can so often bring to the lives of its victims. Any one of a number of issues confronting the family might have been enough to destroy its members.
From a certain perspective, that of an outside observer unfamiliar with social work, what Ms. Espiritu was doing might be described by the tasks that she engaged in, or the referrals that she made, which were important in there own right. For example, providing the mother with information about how she could move to another apartment.
Below the surface, and within a limited amount of time, something additional, and I believe critical, was taking place. Ms. Espiritu was establishing a climate of trust that allowed the woman we were meeting with to relax and sort out the issues so that they could be addressed one at a time. An opportunity was provided to gather information about how these issues were already being addressed and respond to her concerns about moving forward. Of course, that Ms.Espiritu spoke fluent Spanish helped enormously.
There is work like this going on all over New York City by enormously committed and skillful social workers. And many social workers are engaged in advocacy, not just on a case by case basis, but getting public officials and the media to pay attention.
The work of the social work profession, and of NASW in particular, will be as critical as ever in the times ahead.