This year, the National Association of Social Workers’ Maine Chapter named Preble Street the 2024 Social Work Agency of the Year. Preble Street’s Vice President of Social Work, Andrew Bove, accepted the award on behalf of the agency. Below are the remarks he gave in his acceptance speech.
My name is Andrew Bove, and I am a social worker at Preble Street. I am honored to be here on behalf of Preble Street to receive the NASW-Maine award for Social Work Agency of the year.
Preble Street prides itself on being a social work agency. It’s in our blood and social work values are embedded in every aspect of the work we do–from how we design and run our 15 programs throughout the State, to the ways we take care of our more than 300 staff.
For those that don’t know–Preble Street was founded 50 years by ago by a Dean of Social Work at the University of Southern Maine. His name was Joe Kreisler. He and other social workers helped craft Preble Street’s mission statement, which continues to guide our work today:
The mission of Preble Street is to provide accessible barrier free services to empower people experiencing problems with homelessness, housing, hunger and poverty and to advocate for solutions to these problems.
Preble Street takes our mission seriously, and we never, ever forget–that the most important part of social work is always the person standing directly in front of you.
Client eligibility, program scope—It’s all relative. True social work is about meeting someone where they’re at and building an authentic human connection. Because after all, everyone has value, and everyone deserves someone to care about them.
Photos from the Social Work Agency of the Year Award Ceremony and Bove’s acceptance speech.
Social work is supposed to be messy. It’s supposed to be hard, and at times we should feel uncomfortable. Just like each of us, social work doesn’t fit neatly into a box and we should never pretend that we have it all figured out.
We can’t be afraid to get our hands dirty and we must always be willing to think outside the box and question our beliefs about what we think is possible. They ways we think about ourselves, each other, and the world, have the power to change the future.
I’d like to end with some words from the late Joe Kreisler, Preble Street’s founder. Joe once said that “part of being alive is making sure that others are, too.”
So let those words ground us all in the work we do each and every day and inspire us forward to keep showing up. It’s hard work, but at the end of the day, it’s heart work.
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