On Saturday, Portland State’s School of Social Work and the Social Welfare Action Alliance will hold their third annual social work conference. This year, the event is titled “Voices on the Ground: Resistance and Resilience.”
It will be an afternoon of education on community-focused social work and services. The all-day event will take place in the Academic and Student Rec Center beginning at 9 a.m.
Ethel Long-Scott, a long-time human rights advocate, will speak. She comes to PSU from Oakland, Calif., to serve as the conference’s keynote speaker.
Long-Scott is the executive director of the Women’s Economic Agenda Project and co-chair of the Commission on Women’s Power in the Green Shadow Cabinet. She has spent nearly 40 years working to eliminate poverty and advance the economic, social and cultural rights of women.
“She’s a big deal. She is actually out there making things happen,” said Michelle Clinch, the online learning specialist for the SSW’s continued education program.
After Long-Scott’s opening speech, attendees will have time to visit four 45-minute workshops. The workshops will focus on community-based social work in three categories: margin to center, revolutionary tools and human rights. Between the four workshop sessions, lunch will be provided, accompanied by an interactive play by Living Stages.
This year’s conference will focus on community-based social work, explained Bill Boyd, an adjunct instructor in the SSW as well as the supportive housing coordinator for JOIN, an organization that seeks to ease the transition for people moving from the streets into a home. JOIN is one of the conference’s sponsors.
“Social work is broad,” Boyd said, explaining that the majority of social work is done directly with individuals on a case-by-case basis. “Community-based social work puts an emphasis on looking at social issues in context of a community.”
Boyd also believes that community-based social work takes a critical look at the larger structural forces that negatively impact communities.
Boyd explained that taking the time to learn about and appreciate community-based social work is one of the goals of the conference.
Another benefit of the conference is that nearly 90 percent of the speakers are PSU social work students, said Lisa Hawash, a SWAA coordinator.
“The conference was created to be a formal venue for almost-ready-to-graduate master’s students who are ready to present in conference format to get that practice,” Hawash said.
But the conference is more than that, she added. “It is a foundation of social work; a place to view others’ work, spend a day together and network.”
Boyd agreed that, most importantly, the conference will give students and social workers the opportunity to share their work—“And also just to have fun.”
One of the aspects both Boyd and Clinch said they are excited for is the Living Stages performance. The play, titled Lunch, traces part of a day in the life of a woman living on the streets.
“What makes it so great is that it’s interactive,” Clinch said. The audience will be invited to step onto the stage to try their best to find solutions to the problems presented in the play.
To people still on the fence about attending the event, Clinch said: “It’s an amazing opportunity to learn with your peers, connect with those currently practicing and learn from our leaders.”
Tickets are $35 for faculty, $22 for community-based workers and $12 for students. To register and find more information about the event, visit tinyurl.com/voicesontheground.
The conference will be co-hosted by Portland State’s School of Social Work and Social Welfare Action Alliance. While the SSW handled the logistics, the SWAA took care of the programing and workshop assignments.
Other sponsors include Street Roots, Veggie Grill, the Social Justice Fund and Sisters of the Road.