Case workers who will not abandon their clients die along with them in the nation’s hospitals. Even though advised to go home by medical professionals, these dedicated social workers didn’t leave when the pandemic broke out.

“Shelter in place. Stay at home. Self-isolation. Quarantine. Important measures for slowing and overcoming the spread of COVID-19. But for survivors living with violence, abuse, and assault, these terms mean something else: trapped.” (NPQ, May 8, 2020, Drew Adams)

The question of why the virus has overwhelmed some places and left others relatively untouched is a puzzle that has spawned numerous theories and speculations but no definitive answers. That knowledge, however, could have profound implications for how states, counties, and municipalities respond to the virus, for determining who is at risk and for knowing when it’s safe to go out again.

Case workers in the US have been refining their role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by taking inspiration from the pivotal role their Chinese colleagues played in controlling the rate of infection in Wuhan.

For more than 100 years American nonprofits have provided the social safety net that catches the most vulnerable before they slip beyond hope. However, although our American nonprofit infrastructure is vast and intricate, it is not invulnerable. 

At least 7,300 people living in long-term care have died in the COVID-19 outbreak, a survey of state records by ABC News found. The actual count is very likely far higher, advocates for seniors believe, in part because the available data only covers 19 states where governors' offices and state departments of health have kept track. Other states do not yet report this data and did not reply to requests for this information.

We are suddenly sailing in uncharted waters. A deadly viral pandemic has infected the entire world. So many people are in distress. They need so much help. Nonprofits, as they always do, are responding. But in these troubled times, the nonprofits themselves will need help.

Overwhelmed by your client’s need, it’s possible to neglect your own vulnerability.

Prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic our political climate was spewing constant conflict, divisive quarreling, insensitive bickering, and displaying an empathy deficit unparalleled in modern history. Whole nations were in conflict as we initiated a tariff war with China, Britain turned its back on the European Union, Russia continued to threaten the Ukraine and U.S. politicians began erecting a wall between us and Mexico, our closest neighbor.

The Corona Virus pandemic has swooped down on the human race like a tornado onto a small Midwestern trailer park. Its impact has been sudden, uncontrollable, devastating, life-changing, and fear inducing. The entire human race has reacted.

Each year Social Work Today asks its readers to nominate their top-ten colleagues for outstanding service in the field. I like to publish the list here on our blog as a form of recognition and congratulations. However, what caught my eye this year was the element of a “calling” in each of their stories. To these successful case workers, social work is so much more than a job.