The Jordan Institute for Families
The UNC School of Social Work
The Jordan Institute's blog features the voices of emerging and seasoned leaders on a variety of topics including current events, new programs, big ideas - elevating what matters to them as they work to make change for families in North Carolina and beyond.
I want you to know that I have been doing therapy with some of the bravest, most resilient people on the planet. I want them to know it, too. Celebrating their cultures and strengths is the inspiration for my summer generalist placement project through the UNC School of Social Work. I spent more than three […]
Language as a Financial Barrier: Language Inequity Restricts Refugees’ Access to Mental Health Care North Carolina’s Triangle is replete with different languages, each a rich, beautiful thread connecting communities and cultures. As a Master of Social Work Intern at UNC Refugee Wellness, it is a pleasure to hear Dari, Pashto, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Arabic, and Spanish […]
The Trump Administration might effectively halt a program allowing displaced people from to enter the United States as refugees, according to a recent report by Politico. The U.S. has permitted the legal resettlement of people fleeing violence and persecution since Jewish refugees fled Germany during World War II. Refugees are designated by governments and international […]
Camps and Cages: Volatile Immigration Policies Threaten New Americans’ Mental Health More people around the world have been displaced from their homes than ever before, and the consequences are causing ripple effects in our communities. A record 70.8 million people have been forced from their homes, but fewer than half have been granted legal status […]
Governments collect a lot of data — program participation, event attendance, advisory board applicants, satisfaction with public services, hiring and promotions, contractors and vendors, and more. How these data are collected and used can determine whether the jurisdiction is advancing racial equity or perpetuating the white supremacist status quo. We know that many public […]
Using a racial equity toolkit to inform program, service, and policy-making We often talk about using a racial equity lens when planning programs and services or setting policy. But what does this actually mean? How do we operationalize this lens? Experts in advancing racial equity in government from the Government Alliance for Race and Equity […]
On July 29, 2017 the Herald-Sun posted an article by Allison De Marco titled – Another Aspect of Equity: Our Town and County Advisory Boards. In this article, Allison highlights the importance of advisory boards and the invaluable contributions these volunteers make towards the promotion of public awareness of contemporary issues facing Orange County and […]
On February 18, 2019, four residents from Benevolence Farm, a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated women, visited the Social Innovation Entrepreneurship Lab (SIEL) to share their personal stories about their time and work at Benevolence Farm. They shared about how they use social entrepreneurship to support their mission by selling shares in their farm and […]
On February 18, 2019, the Latinx Student Caucus and Social Justice Action Committee hosted a panel and teach-in on immigration and detention, coving topics ranging from the history of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to a personal account of what it is like to be detained. After the panel, the speakers and participants shared a […]
Speaking Up at the Table: Facilitating Organizational Change Through the Committee for Cultural Diversity and Inclusion at Duke University – An Interview with Quinton Smith Quinton Smith, MSW, is an Associate in Research at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. In this position, he acts as the Diversity & Inclusion Fellow. Quinton met with […]
Working Towards Creating Environmentally Safe Food – An Interview with Jaylen Cates Jaylen Cates, MSW, is a Community Mobilizer at Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA). Jaylen is a 2012 UNC School of Social Work graduate with a specialization in community management and policy practice. Jaylen spoke with Dr. Marie Weil, Professor Emeritus, this past summer […]
Focusing on the Symptoms and the Root of Problems – Using Opportunities in Direct Practice Work to Inform a Career in Macro Practice – an interview with Oprah Keyes Oprah Keyes, LMSW, is a Community School Coordinator at the University of Maryland-Baltimore’s School of Social Work, currently working in an elementary / middle school in […]
Tackling Big Issues with the Power of Policy – an interview with Victoria Crouse Victoria (Vikki) Crouse, MSW, is a State Policy Fellow at the Michigan League for Public Policy. She graduated in 2017 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work with a specialization in Community, Management & Policy […]
‘Rediscovering the Fighting Spirit of the Early Social Workers” – an interview with Isela Gutierrez Isela Gutierrez, MSW, is the Research and Policy Director at Democracy North Carolina. She has worked on democracy and voter engagement issues since 2011. This past summer, Isela sat down with Dr. Marie Weil, Professor Emeritus, to share her journey […]
Some families in our communities don’t know if they will have a meal today. Others will be unable to retain adequate housing. Still, others will experience crushing financial pressures with insufficient income to meet them. For these and so many other reasons, poverty is a troubling social problem—a problem that touches every state in our […]
When Barbara Leach’s phone rings, she never knows what the need will be on the other end. Barbara manages the toll-free Information and Referral line at Access Family Support (800.852.0042), responding to parents and service providers calling with all kinds of questions related to families with children who have special needs. A grandmother wonders if […]
Humanity has, collectively, a budget of about twenty more years of carbon emissions at current rates before we pass the threshold of 2oC of global warming, which scientists believe will lead to runaway destabilization of the climate. Should that be a concern of social workers? A child of color in the United States is significantly […]
The Jordan Institute for Families has decided to start a blog. We know, what’s the point? We get it. When large institutions run blogs, they tend to be self-conscious and can come off like a series of press releases that no one follows. So, what’s our motivation for starting one? Well, to be perfectly honest, […]
