Do you have more time to take care of your family and children? Shanghai's grassroots social workers have something to say: young people with idle work | neighborhood committee | social workers
In 2017, military sister-in-law Song Mengmeng left the office building and walked into the neighborhood committee to become a community worker. I thought this was a "leisurely" job where I could have more time to take care of my children, but I never expected to be burdened with trivial matters from now on. I had to eliminate small advertisements in the hallway, clean up the debris in the hallway, fill out various forms, assist residents in applying for various civil welfare policies, and even patrol and visit the community in extreme weather... Song Mengmeng felt frustrated at one point. Can doing these small things all day really realize her personal value?
Until her husband, who was serving in the military on the island, woke her up with a few words: these inconspicuous things in your eyes are all big things in the eyes of the residents. Soldiers have been at sea for more than ten days, and even a basin of facial wash needs to be used for several days. Living conditions are difficult, but the thought of making contributions to our country's coastal defense makes our hearts light up. Adjusting her mindset, Song Mengmeng began to treat trivial matters as a cause of serving the people, gradually integrating into the community. Watching more and more residents nod and smile at each other when they meet in the community, and the changes in the community's appearance are more recognized, Song Mengmeng's heart also becomes more open.
"In ordinary positions, we can also follow the light and become the light." During the "Social Workers Have Words" TED speech event held recently, Song Mengmeng, a social worker from the Binhai Second Village Second Neighborhood Committee in Wusong Street, Baoshan District, received waves of applause for her words. In order to build more "face-to-face communication" platforms for social workers, create more opportunities to "go to the center of Taiwan", and enhance the "competence" of the social worker team, the Baoshan District Civil Affairs Bureau has deeply promoted the "Community Growth Plan" and organized and planned this TED speech activity.
How to understand the word "dedication"? What is resilience? How to understand the professionalism of social workers and the vitality of the community? Around these keywords, 24 social workers spoke their minds.
Do you regret transferring from enterprises and institutions to community work
After six years of working as a social worker, friends said that Li Shiyi had changed. He used to be able to leave work on time at work. He met with Lujiazui and Xintiandi for a drink, but now he is not seen at weekends. After coming to work at the Baoshan Village Neighborhood Committee in Youyi Road Street, Li Shiyi became very busy, which was also a common feeling among several other "semi ordained" social workers. Before stepping into their positions, like many residents, they had no understanding of the job responsibilities and content of social workers, and even had the idea that the work of the neighborhood committee was like "having a cup of tea at work, flipping through newspapers, and then leaving work".
Reality taught them a lesson. The work of community workers involves party building, civil affairs, family planning, culture, education, sports and health, comprehensive governance, and other aspects. They also need to contact trade unions, women's federations, and the Communist Youth League. These tasks cannot be completed by sitting in an office or clicking a mouse. A large number of affairs require them to communicate, coordinate, and implement while on the go. Liu Wenting, a social worker at Qianxi Yiju in Dachang Town, said that riding a small electric donkey is a new skill learned after work and also a skill that must be mastered. Usually, when visiting disadvantaged groups in the community and delivering groceries to families with lost or only children, it's easy to take tens of thousands of steps. "But if you need to go to two community health service centers, or go to the town government, party and mass service center, community office, community service center for the elderly, etc., you rely on small electric donkeys to save time and improve efficiency."
Li Jieying, the director of the Baoxinyuan Second Neighborhood Committee in Luodian Town, has worked as a legal representative for a listed company and worked in the construction industry for several years after obtaining the qualification of registered constructor. Having worked in the community for less than a year, she felt that her acute illness had been cured. "When facing residents, especially when communicating with older residents, we need to be patient and listen to their demands with empathy." One night, Li Jieying heard that Aunt Ji in Building 8 had been scammed of money, and was in a hurry. In order not to disturb Aunt Ji's disabled spouse at home, she immediately accompanied Aunt Ji to the police station. Fortunately, after investigation by the police, it was discovered that this was an "own incident". After calming Aunt Ji's emotions, Li Jieying arrived home late at night. "Saying that we are not tired is deceiving, but the residents' gratitude has given us motivation for our work."
Have you ever regretted transitioning from an enterprise or public institution to community work? Zhou Xuanhan, from the Tongji Apartment Neighborhood Committee of Youyi Road Street, honestly replied, "Yes, I have." However, her six years of social work experience have made her understand that everyone will encounter difficulties in understanding and advancing their work. In the basic unit of social governance, the community, every achievement will benefit the residents around her. A resilient work attitude will eventually earn recognition and trust. Xu Yayue, a former chemistry teacher, thinks that community work has opened a Xintiandi for him. During her two years working at the Haihai Yujingyuan Neighborhood Committee in Luojing Town, she has formed a deep friendship with the cross flower team composed of community residents. Thinking that the enthusiasm of residents for intangible cultural heritage may also play a role in community governance, Xu Yayue combines cross shaped flower works with the construction of vibrant community buildings. In May of this year, she also took the residents to the exhibition hall of the "Beautiful Home Creation Festival" in Jiali City, Pudong, to appreciate the beautiful works of the aunties.
Not being a "neighborhood committee lady", young people speak with actions
Another stereotype people have about social work is that those who work in this field are all "neighborhood committee aunties". When you arrive at the TED speech "Social Workers Have Words", you will find that the audience is full of youth.
Li Wenyi from the Yili Community Committee in Miaohang Town and Huang Yilei from Songnan Eight Villages in Songnan Town were both born in 1999. Because they were young, when they first started working, residents asked with skeptical eyes, "Can I ask you for help?" They still relied on facts to speak. After receiving feedback from residents that the installation of anti-theft doors in the hallway resulted in a narrower distance at the entrance and the wheelchair used by his spouse could not pass through, Huang Yilei, under the leadership of the residential area secretary, immediately conducted on-site inspections with the property management and construction party, and quickly completed the rectification. During the follow-up visit afterwards, Huang Yilei felt that the residents had become increasingly eager to see him. Li Wenyi completed her transformation from a novice to an old soldier during last year's Battle of Shanghai. At that time, each of the seven staff members of the neighborhood committee walked at least 20000 steps per day, serving the various demands of 4780 residents in the community. After this battle, residents learned that Xiao Li was capable of carrying things, and Li Wenyi herself firmly believed in blooming youth in the community.
In Baoshan, there are also more and more young people engaged in community work. After retiring from the military, Cheng Xinghai worked at a cold rolling mill, but soon realized that it was not suitable for him. Remembering the image of a social worker he had seen in Hong Kong dramas, with a self fulfilling ideal, he went to work in the second bedroom of Gongkang Six Village in Miaohang Town through targeted recruitment. Not long after taking up his post, Cheng Xinghai melted a piece of "hard ice" with his passion and attention to detail. On that day, he met an old man who was looking around but refused to enter or talk to him at the entrance of the neighborhood committee activity room. After being checked by the external mouth assistant, he found out that the old man had lupus erythematosus and dermatomyositis, was divorced and living alone. He had just moved into the community. Cheng Xinghai saw his pretense of strength and inner loneliness, and took the initiative to add him on WeChat. For over 700 days so far, he greeted the old man every day and chatted with him. With the care of Cheng Xinghai, the old man gradually opened up his heart and now actively cares about Xiao Cheng's life affairs. He specifically went to the People's Park blind date corner to find a suitable partner for him.
Solving the practical difficulties of residents is the common mission and aspiration of social workers, but sometimes it is not enough to rely solely on enthusiasm. In a village in Baoshan, Li Shiyi noticed Mei Mei, who was born in the 1990s and about the same age as herself. Mei Mei graduated from a vocational school and needs to take medication for a long time due to congenital heart disease. The medication has led to obesity and made her feel inferior, hindering her desire to find a job and enter society. Li Shiyi realized that to help Meimei, it was not enough to just recommend job positions for her. The first step was to relieve her mental illness. For this reason, she often visits Meimei with the neighborhood committee director. Whenever there are activities in the community, regardless of size, Meimei is invited to participate, gradually adapting to communication with the outside world. There are job fairs in the district and street towns, and Li Shiyi took Mei Mei along to understand the job requirements before helping her revise her resume and practice interview skills. After a period of time, Meimei successfully applied for the job of a cinema ticket inspector.
In order to help more residents like Mei Mei, Li Shiyi decided to improve her professional skills. She passed the adult college entrance examination and successfully completed her studies in the field of social work at Fudan University. At the same time, I also passed the social worker exam and obtained a professional level certificate. Another person who has worked hard to obtain a social work professional level certificate, like her, is Dai Jin from Baoxinyuan Sanju in Luodian Town. Both of them believe that social work is not static and must always face various challenges. Only by breaking through oneself and improving one's abilities and literacy can we provide better services to residents and truly achieve self-help.
Only by caring about the growth of social workers can we better build a professional, specialized, and standardized grassroots team. Gao Dan, Deputy Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Baoshan District, introduced that in recent years, Baoshan District has established a "Social Work Training Camp" vocational ability training system, in conjunction with the District Community Governance College, through online "cloud classroom" and offline "growth training" linkage, to carry out social work empowerment training in a hierarchical and classified manner. This has achieved that all social workers participate in annual training for no less than 40 hours, and social work teacher exams should be tested to the fullest extent possible. Nearly 400 backbone social work talents have been selected and cultivated.
