Louise Seliski and her dog Bailey. Photo by Steve Kohls of the Brainerd Dispatch.

Cheers to the Brainerd Dispatch in Minnesota for this article on National Association of Social Workers member Louise Seliski, who is retiring from a battered women’s shelter she founded 33 years ago.

Seliski’s work at the Women’s Center of Mid-Minnesota Inc. and the Alex and Brandon Child Safety Center, has allowed her to save hundreds of women and children from abusive homes. But some of the people she helped were also killed by abusers.

“The reason I can do it is because of the women and children I’ve worked with who are leading better lives,” said Seliski, MSW, ACSW. “I always believe in the goodness in people. The greatest thing I would like to see is the shelter shut down because we don’t need it anymore.”

To learn more about how social workers help victims of domestic violence click here to visit the Domestic Violence Web page on NASW’s “Help Starts Here” consumer Web site.