Alex Karam. Photo courtesy of Connection newspapers.

Cheers to the Connection newspapers in Virginia for this article on social worker, lawyer and volunteer Alex Karam.

Karam, 33, who got his master’s degree in social work from Columbia University, is the only male volunteer at  Doorways for Women and Families, an Arlington nonprofit that provides services to victims of domestic violence and/or homelessness.

Karam said he is used to being the only male because there are fewer men in the social work profession. But he encouraged more males to volunteer at organizations that serve women.

“We have an opportunity to show women who have been abused, whether physically, emotionally or sexually … that we are there to help, that we’re not looking for anything else and to start building the idea that the relationships with men don’t have to be the way they have experienced,” Karam said.

Q: Eight out of 10 licensed social workers was female in 2004, according to this report from the Center for Health Workforce Studies and the National Association of Social Workers Center for Workforce Studies. What can be done to attract more men to the profession?