Jeanette Babin
March 23, 2016James Bryant
March 23, 2016
Robert Gorman is not happy with what has happened to child welfare in Louisiana over the last two decades, and he hopes others in the state are not satisfied either.
Gorman, executive director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, has been a social worker since 1975. He said one in four Louisiana children live in poverty, a number that has not changed in 25 years. When asked why that number has remained static, Gorman blamed the lack of effort.
“I think it’s because we haven’t had the commitment to do it. I think we have the resources; we just haven’t had enough people speaking out on behalf of our children. It hasn’t been a priority, and we haven’t been organized,” he said.
To address the issue, Gorman helped develop the Bread or Stones campaign four years ago. The campaign, supported by the Louisiana Interchurch Conference, seeks to unite churches of different faiths across the state in an effort to improve child welfare. Though Breads or Stones currently has only Christian member organizations, Gorman said he hopes to bring in Louisiana synagogues and mosques as well.
Bread or Stones focuses on maternal and child health, school readiness and dropout prevention, marriage and family support and child poverty reduction. Member organizations are asked to provide as many more social services as they can, and promote such services to the community. The campaign reaches out to individual places of worship around the state to sign up and do their part.
For Gorman’s efforts, the Houma-Thibodaux Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers honored him as the Social Worker of the Year.
With state funding likely to be scarce, social worker Karen Schilling, who presented Gorman his award, worried out loud that social programs could face more cuts.
“There’s so much need, and with the budget crisis at the federal and state levels, the most needy people usually are the ones that face the cuts,” Schilling said. “It’s very difficult to depend on assistance from the federal government for funding, for grants and federal projects. If we don’t have money to do that, we’re not able to carry out our mission.”
Schilling stressed the importance of social workers’ presence in the community.
“Social work is not just about giving people handouts. It’s about teaching people how to better their lives, to maybe get assistance and better their lives and do something with that,” she said.
Gorman agreed, noting the payoff social workers get from their jobs.
“So many people work jobs where they don’t feel like they’re making a difference,” he said. “We’re fortunate to have the jobs we do.”
Also accepting awards were Linda Howard-Curtis for School Social Worker of the Year, the St. Francis Vegetable Garden as the Organization of the Year and Lloyd and Faie Duplantis as the Public Citizen of the Year.
Howard-Curtis, a resident of Houma and social worker at Pierre A. Capdau Charter School in New Orleans, said her job’s focus is to support children and address issues interfering with their ability to learn. Quelling negative images in the media or their communities is essential, she said.
“Remove those barriers, those limitations, the labels, the stereotypes and change the mindset to, ‘You can do it, you can do it!”
Howard-Curtis explained. “That would make all the difference in the world.”
Howard-Curtis also challenges stereotypes. “One-hundred percent of the students in my school receive free lunch. Sometimes when people hear that they think disadvantaged or underachieving, which could not be further from the truth,” she said.
The St. Francis Vegetable Garden, located in Thibodaux, donated more than 7,000 pounds of food last year. The program also offers local teachers the chance to bring their classes to the garden to learn about growing food and adopting healthy lifestyles.
“Part of our mission statement is to provide materials for teachers to teach their students. We have a very big educational push,” church secretary Nancy Bernard said.
Lloyd and Faie Duplantis, of Gray, formed Haiti Mission Inc. after visiting the country in 2000. Since 2007, the couple has raised money to drill 45 wells in efforts to bring safe water supplies to the region. Haiti communities – part of Haiti Mission Inc. – determine what each area needs most and seeks the most efficient ways to supply goods, housing and wells, the Duplantis’ said.
The 2016 Leadership Award winners for the Houma-Thibodaux Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers are, from left, Robert Gorman, Linda Howard Curtis, Lloyd and Faie Duplantis, Kimber Ratcliff, Nancy Bernard and Chris Ledet.
