For more than 17 years I have been employed as a Library Associate by the XXXX County Library. A bilingual Mexican American woman, I coordinate membership programs and referral services as well as translating for Spanish-speaking patrons. I also assist with workshops and information booths. While I have enjoyed my work immensely, I am making a career change to social work and hope to earn the MSW Degree at XXXX University.
My second job, as a part-time case worker with the XXXX Resource Center and Refugee Safe Haven in Los Angeles, CA (2007-2011), set me on track to becoming a professional social worker. I fell in love with crisis intervention and other services, including advocacy, outreach, and referral for designated caseloads, as well as emergencies. I also attended and participated in staff meetings and agency training and consulted and cooperated with community organizations. My volunteer work with XXXX, at KPFK Pacifica Radio since 2003 has brought me remarkably close to the Latino community in LA and proven to be a great learning experience with respect to my community. Finally, I spent two years serving as a recruiting specialist for XXXX Intercultural Exchange Programs, USA; this was the organization that sent me to Africa in 2005 to organize an education program in Ghana (2004-2005).
My parents came to the United States from Mexico in the late seventies, and I was born and raised in LA. My decision to apply to graduate school in social work is in many ways a result of my trip to Africa as an undergraduate student participating in an exchange program. After returning from Africa, I went to work with another organization geared towards immigrants from Africa. I am a Mexican woman who enjoys working with Black people very much. I suppose I like to think of myself as a rainbow social worker celebrating the great diversity of people that we have in America, especially LA.
In 2005 I went to Ghana, West Africa for a full six months as a participant in the AFS Intercultural Exchange Programs, meeting my husband there. A Latina with a husband from Africa helps me to contribute to diversity in a variety of ways. In Ghana, I was assigned to work with the Hackman Foundation in Effuses, in the eastern part of the country. This organization allowed me to design and carry out my own project based on what I saw as the greatest needs of the community and the area in which I might make my best contribution to improving their lives. I chose to start an after-school program for children at the local public library. I recruited teachers and local artists to teach arts and crafts and reading to younger children, as well as poetry writing, sports, and dance. I also worked with a co-op that empowers women financially by teaching them how to make jewelry and tie dye clothes and purses, all with local and affordable material.
I faced and overcame major obstacles in Ghana, where children, especially in rural areas like Effuses, are expected to work both before and after school. They wake up incredibly early to fetch water in buckets each morning and then go out and sell food in the streets. They may also take care of their siblings, feed them, dress them, clean the house, cook, or wash clothes, etc. I had to beg parents to allow their children to participate in my program and I was not always successful. We managed to put together a wonderful after school program nevertheless, which was a vast learning experience for everyone involved.
In the summer of 2007, I was given the opportunity to work as a Caseworker part-time on the weekends for Refugee Safe Haven, a shelter for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking who have African roots, until it was forced to close due to lack of funds in July of 2011. Here, I learned about some of the deeper intricacies of social work and, increasingly, I found immense joy in my work for 4 years at the shelter because I Ias making a difference, supporting the arduous work of the staff as well as the clients. My responsibilities as a Caseworker included advocating for services and collaborating with other public resources to get the best results possible for each family. I loved playing liaison with government agencies particularly in cases of domestic violence, and especially immigration when assisting with human trafficking clients applying for a visa or residency. These four years at Refugee Safe Haven were a time of great self-empowerment for me as well as my clients. I provided emotional support daily and during stressful life changing situations to the women and children that I worked with. I learned how to communicate with clients about sensitive issues in an appropriate manner, understanding and being prepared for their reactions. I became more aware of my own principles, especially in showing respect for all humans and their values, beliefs, cultures, goals, needs and preferences.
While working with Nuestra Voz at KPFK Pacifica Radio, a weekly, one hour, all Spanish roundtable of Latino and Latin American issues, we covered topics such as immigration, environment, health, human rights among many others: I was exposed to broad diversity of first-hand, heartfelt issues. While becoming intensely motivated, persistent, and resilient in our quest for social justice, I also became more acutely aware of the importance of objectivity and flexibility, always ready for last-minute changes. Most of all, this position helped me to become highly organized and to work constantly to perfect my ability to perform as part of team; and energize the team for success.
My principal limitation is the difficulty that I find in detaching myself from my clients when my workday is over. I try not to think about them, but they invariably come flooding back in during my free time. I am making some progress in this regard, forcing myself to get more involved in other things to refresh myself for the next day as a social work professional.
I’ve always called myself a “lucky girl from the hood” and I don’t mean this to be funny or be taken lightly. I have always been surrounded by strong women who have guided me and helped me take the right path, nourishing in me a grain of love for humankind and a keen desire to fight for a better world. My mother survived an abusive relationship with my father with two young children, on her own, always supportive and loving. My rock and biggest hero, she taught me empathy. My aunt, who cooked for me and my sister and helped us do our homework taught me the art of sharing and giving. My friend Maria from the AFS Intercultural Exchange Program opened an important door for opportunity. Had it not been for her inspiring presentation about the exchange program to Africa, I might have become a teenage mother. My host mother from Mexico, taught me etiquette and to adapt to new environments in loving and caring ways.
My mentor from high school pushed me to apply for college and not to settle into being a secretary but to study hard now to become professional. I also count among my great resources having a loving, supportive, non-judgmental husband, and a lovely and inspiring little boy.
My immediate goal is to be accepted to the MSW Program at XXXX University. and to become a licensed social worker. Eventually, I look forward to having my own private practice, providing services, guidance and support to families and individuals, especially in shelters, hospitals or school settings. I hope to start my own non-profit at some point. My central focus will always be on women and children because I have been a witness to the horrific levels of abuse to which they are subjected.
I was raised in South Central Los Angeles in a neighborhood notorious for gangs, prostitution, and drug crime, my parents separated when I was 9. At one point in my life, we were a total of twelve people sharing a 3-bedroom house and one restroom. Most of my friends in high school had babies at the age of 15 or 16 and/or dropped out. I went to Puebla Mexico and stayed with a host family where I had a mom, a dad, two sisters and a pet dog. I attended high school and became fully bicultural. I also met a lot of wonderful people from other US states coming to live and study in Mexico. Upon my return to the US in 1998, I helped organize and lead a trip for inner city kids from my high school to Europe.
While an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology, I took several classes on Latin American Studies. One of the classes was on Cuba, and if you passed the class you were invited to travel with an educational visa to the Island. I traveled to La Havana in 2003 and attended classes on politics, art, culture and economy. Before traveling to Cuba, I served as president of XXXX Cuban American Studies student body and helped organize medicine and school supplies to take with us to donate to Cuba. In 2005 my mother and her fiancé bough land and built a house a rural area in Ensenada, Mexico. Since then, I’ve organized a dozen caravan trips with college and close friends to take donations to the “Ejidos “surrounding my mom’s community. We’ve taken clothes, blankets, and school supplies on numerous occasions. I relish the diversity found even within LA’s Spanish-speaking community. My friends from Nuestra Voz come from all diverse levels of society and countries of origin, Mexico, Cuba, Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Spain, etc.
From 2013 and 2014, I volunteered at the House of Uhuru in South Central Los Angeles which strives to enhance the well-being of communities impacted by chemical dependency by providing comprehensive culturally sensitive prevention and education with a continuum of quality care for positive social change. Through an organization called Crossing the Digital Divide, I taught basic computer classes twice a week for 3 months, then participated in the end of class “graduation” ceremony. In 2013, a girlfriend and I backpacked through Spain for 10 days and I was able to return to Europe in 2014 with my husband, getting to know London and Edinburg, Scotland as well as returning to Spain, Sevilla, Granada, Cordova, and Malaga.
My mother and sister have offered to take care of my son as much as needed when I return to school so that I can devote myself fully to my studies. My husband has offered to take full responsibility for the family so I can quit my job at the library.
Thank you for considering my application to XXXX.
MSW Sample Statement of Purpose for Social Work