“Social Change” Program Transcript

HOLLY HOEY: So Maurice, as we talk about social change, I know there’s a story behind how you got into this field. I can just sense your passion and enthusiasm for what you do.

MAURICE WILLIAMS: Well, I’ve always had an interest in the human condition. My undergrad was in psychology, so we studied a lot about the mind, human behavior. I’ve always been inquisitive. I want to know; how did we get here, who are we, why are we so different, why are we so alike, what makes us who we are? And so, literally, that’s why I got into it.

Now, as I started working in the field though, I saw that, wow, it’s not about being inquisitive. There’s really a lot of needs out here for people. There’s a lot of pain out here. It’s a lot of trauma, a lot of grief, a lot of loss. And I come from a family that has always been very community focused.

And so I got into working with people with disabilities. And then next, I worked with adults who were on assistance, tenants assistance. And then I ended up working with children. And now it’s like, “Wow, there it is.” Children have such a vulnerability, but such a purity. I can connect with them, because children always remind me that we all were one of them at one time. And I’m fortunate enough to have gotten into a field that keeps me focused on, like Holly asked, What am I going to do good today? Who am I going to help? Not really save, but who am I going to help progress further in their life.”

HOLLY HOEY: What about you Andrea?

ANDREA INGRAM: Well, I grew up in a large family, a lot of kids, and I was in the middle. So middle children, we do a lot of mediating and all this kind of stuff. But, I also grew up with a very keen sense of justice and fairness. When there are seven kids in the family, you learn that life is not fair. And my parents had a strong sense of justice also, and were great examples.

So when I went out into the world, I felt an obligation, a responsibility to try to make life better for people that didn’t have it as well as I did. Because to me, it’s a sense of justice and fairness to include people in the mainstream who are left out, for whatever reason. They’re left out because of poverty, they’re left out because of mental illness, or there are left out because of their personality. They’re just left out because of relationships. So it’s just because of, I think, being raised with a keen sense of fairness and justice and wanting to have an impact on that.

I found that I really loved crisis work, because when people are in crisis there’s such energy there and motivation to make things different. And there’s a real opportunity to make things different and to make some really significant changes and reach some really significant resolutions in your life that really might put you on a different path.

HOLLY HOEY: I say that I’m in this field by default. But it worked out to my benefit, because I absolutely love what I do. I wasn’t a middle child, but I’ve always been a mediator. Always. “Are you OK? Is everyone OK? Let’s make sure everybody gets along.” And so that’s just my personality.

But I have a degree in interior design. And so I did design work for five years. And I race walked a marathon for Leukemia Society, and we had to raise money. Here we go. Here goes my life story. And I had to raise money, which I found to be so simple. And people kept saying, “How are you raising all that money?” And I said, “It’s because I believe in it.” If I could talk about it and I believed in it, and I really had a case for why I was raising money, I found it to be very easy.

And so here goes my career change. I loved it. And I said, “I’m not fulfilled in my previous job.” And I just said, “I’m going to make a life change.” And it was the best change that I made. And 12 years later, here I am. I love it at United Way.

And I just feel that I connect the dots. That’s my job. I connect the dots. I connect the dots with my volunteers, with donors, to people that need help. And United Way does the same thing with partners. And I just feel that that’s where my skill set is. If I can bring these people together to effect change, I’ve done my job.Human services administration is a broad and interesting field with many important aspects to explore. This course provided a dynamic array of practices and competencies that should prove useful to you if you decide to pursue a career in human services administration. For this, the final Discussion of the course, you review the Roundtable Discussion in this weeks Resources, Social Change. You also will select a human services administrator and an example of social change outlined in the Roundtable Discussion. Then you will think about the how human services organizations contribute to social change. Finally, given all the information presented in the course, you will consider how you personally might influence social change.

Post in your Journal a brief description of the human services administrator and the example of social change you selected from this weeks video. Then, based on the example you selected, explain how human services organizations can contribute to social change. Finally, given the information presented in this course about human services administration, explain how you personally might influence social change.
Suggested length: approximately 250“500 words (1“2 pages).