KAMLOOPS — This week is Social Work Week in British Columbia.
The B.C. Association of Social Workers celebrated in Kamloops by honouring a local woman with a passion for working with vulnerable families.
Maureen Doll received the 2018 Heart of the Grasslands Award for exemplary service at a luncheon Friday.
Doll manages the Kamloops Early Language and Literacy Initiative, working with young children and families.
She also works with vulnerable adults through the Kamloops Community Response Network.
Doll says she feels the award belongs to everyone involved in these projects.
“To shine light on the Early Years is just a really wonderful opportunity, and I’ll take it anytime,” Doll said. “To showcase how much work and how wonderful and collaborative the work in the Early Years is, and how wonderful Kamloops is to raise your children, this really is an amazing community.
“We have so much to offer families, and we do it in a way that’s supportive and engaging. Working with vulnerable families is something that’s near and dear to my heart, and to be able to do that and be recognized for it is just really a true honour.”
The Minister of Children and Family Development, Katrine Conroy, was also in attendance at Friday’s celebration.
She spoke to the room full of social workers about the importance of the job they do.
“Social work is an amazing profession, actually I think it’s a calling,” Conroy told CFJC Today. “They are, I think, the unsung heroes in this country that they do work every day, the bottom line is they want to keep kids safe and with their families. It’s a tough job, but it’s an incredibly rewarding job. Social workers that I meet are really amazing people. From our ministry’s perspective, we’re pretty grateful for the work they do.”
