By Tarrisyna Bartley, LCSW , NASW IEU Chair

In honor of Social Work Month, the NASW IEU, Region F held their monthly meeting and celebrated with an event with over 50 participants on Monday March 7, 2016 at InnovAge Greater California PACE in San Bernardino.

We wanted to recognize all social workers in our unit and region for their contributions to the Field of Social Work. In the spirit of our social work theme for 2016, “Forging Solutions out of Challenges” we invited a guest speaker, Isaac Carreon, LMFT, who presented the findings of his qualitative study that was published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Psychiatry entitled, Cuento Therapy: Cultural Attunement in a Spanish-Speaking Alcohol and Drug Recovery Treatment Program.

We also invited four vendors from the community, Beloved Foundation, Independent Assistance, Inc., Meridian Gardens of Riverside and Right at Home to provide resources to the Social Workers regarding their various agencies and services offered.

During the presentation, there was an interactive activity to assist in recognizing the power of Cuento Therapy. We also engaged in a little social work trivia and had several give-a-ways for the opportunity drawing.  We want to thank our host, InnovAge Greater California Pace, for providing the venue and specialized gift bags and for sponsoring dinner for the evening. We also would like to thank Meridian Gardens of Riverside for providing and serving dessert and for the three gift cards to local restaurants use for the Social Work Trivia give-a-ways.

The NASW IEU also provided a very nice give-a-way for all participants.  The evening was memorable and the social workers were honored to be recognized for their passion and hard work.