Service gives help, hope to cancer patients
The Charlotte Observer (NC)
Myra Johnston can relate to that kind of fear and loneliness. She was also diagnosed with breast cancer – in May 2009. That was two years after she opened Health Guidance Center, a Charlotte nonprofit that provides logistical, motivational and spiritual support for critically ill people at no charge. She was divorced with three children when she started the service by dipping into her retirement money. A longtime health care clinical services manager and therapist, as well as a licensed clinical social worker, Johnston drives from her University City-area home and takes Harvell to her doctor’s appointments.

Jamie Buller is a member:
Palliative care helps patients navigate healthcare
Clay Today (Clay County, FL)
When someone is diagnosed with a serious illness, the patient and his or her family members are often hit with a dark cloud of confusion. Whether the bad news involves cancer, lung disease, heart issues or something else, figuring out how to navigate a complex medical system can cause even more anxiety. Teaching patients and their loved ones how to do that is the role played by the respective palliative care team. At St. Vincent’s Healthcare, this form of treatment is overseen by Palliative Care Manager Jamie Buller. She says it is an extra layer of care that helps patients and their families understand what is going on.

Vet: Katniss is ‘doing very well’
Cleveland Banner (TN)
According to Dr. Todd Dolen, “Katniss,” the now 9-week-old kitten intentionally set on fire last week, is “doing very well.” Dolen and the staff of Animal Aid, a nonprofit animal clinic in Athens, took up care for Katniss after authorities said she was maliciously set ablaze.…  “There’s a strong connection between the abuse of animals and the abuse of people,” Dolen stated. “These people who start out abusing animals go on to be criminals abusing people.” He cited the University of Tennessee’s Veterinarian Social Work program as a source of information on the connection between animal abuse and criminal violence. The UT program’s page hosts many links to research studies and cites articles and books, all written on the same topic of animal/human violence.

Broken Bonds: Gainesville man overcame abusive foster home
Gainesville Times
As many as 1 in 4 foster children are abused in their homes, according to the New York University School of Social Work. Anecdotes like Peavy’s sometimes play a large role in forming public opinion about foster care, and public opinion is pretty poor, said Peavy. “The system is overworked, overburdened,” he said. “Too many kids, not enough homes, too little money.” But it’s not just the system that has a bad name. The stigma of foster care sticks to the kids, as well. “People see foster care kids as dirty, abused and carrying baggage,” Peavy said.

EPA Gives University Achievement Award for Food Recovery
University of Arkansas Newswire
As [Carlos] Ochoa emphasized in his acceptance remarks, the university’s advances in sustainable food management practices have resulted from collaboration among various units and stakeholders on campus: The Office of Sustainability has made food waste reduction and food recovery an institutional priority in line with its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040.  The School of Law’s Food Recovery Project has provided the legal information and expertise needed to allay concerns about potential liability and insure that the university’s food recovery efforts are safe and effective. The School of Social Work and the Department of Political Science of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Science also brought attention to the twin problems of food waste and hunger and the importance of food recovery at its inaugural Food Justice Summit in Nov. 2013.

Michelle Walsh is a member:
Students protest for prison reform through art demonstration
The Daily Free Press
Umoja, Boston University’s Black Student Union, hosted a “Solitary Confinement Performance Art Project” Wednesday in front of the George Sherman Union to raise awareness for prison reform efforts.…  Rev. Dr. Michelle Walsh said the inhumanity of solitary confinement is one of many problems with the U.S. prison system. She said she spent about 30 minutes in the cell space. “Once people become part of the prison system, they lose all kinds of rights,” said Walsh, a professor in the School of Social Work. “Not just being in the prison system itself, but when they come out, they lose access in most states to being able to vote, access to housing, access to all kinds of things that would even enable them, in terms of rehabilitation, to reenter society successfully.”

Why I Serve: Soldier’s family flees Salvadoran civil war, joins US Army
Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System
The desire to serve the country that gave her family a better chance in life was one of the main reasons Capt. Susana Guerrero said she enlisted in the Army. Guerrero, a behavioral health officer, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, has given more than 10 years of service to the military, enlisted and as an officer.… In 2006, she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work while also serving in the Army Reserve. She later earned a master’s degree in social work from George Mason University. In 2012, after gaining field experience and earning her license as a clinical social worker, Guerrero decided to continue her career in the Army, this time, as an officer.

Ann Johnson was formerly a member:
Ann Johnson, pioneer in aging, dies at 94
News and Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Ann Johnson, seen by many who work in the aging field in North Carolina as a founding figure of the profession, died early Sunday at Carol Woods Retirement Community. She was 94. Johnson died after an extended illness, said Mary Bethel, a state AARP lobbyist and a decades-long friend and colleague of Johnson.