NASW Ohio Chapter

Happy Birthday to NASW Ohio Region 6 Director Marché Gendrew, MASW! Marché is a social worker, community leader, strategist, and advocate whose work is grounded in connection, community voice, equity, and collective power. From advancing birth equity and supporting Black women leaders through Cradle Cincinnati’s Queens Village to her leadership with NASW Ohio and the YWCA Greater Cincinnati, Marché is committed to creating meaningful change alongside communities. We are so grateful for Marché’s leadership and the passion she brings to social work and our NASW Ohio community. Please join us in wishing her a very happy birthday!

Meet our intern, Jonathan Merriman Velez!

Jonathan is entering his final year at The Ohio State University, where he is pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Social Work as a member of the College of Social Work Honors Cohort.

As part of his undergraduate thesis, Jonathan is conducting research on child welfare social service administrators’ experiences placing unhoused youth considered “hard to place” and their perspectives on developing solutions. He hopes to pursue a career in macro social work, particularly in health and human services and community development leadership.

Jonathan grew up in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood and spent summers with family in Cidra, Puerto Rico. Outside of social work, he enjoys baking sourdough bread, running, trying new coffee shops, and spending time with family.

We’re excited to have Jonathan on the NASW Ohio team!

You can reach Jonathan at [email protected].

If you're looking for information on how to vote and what you can do to help your clients be civically engaged, we've got you covered. Join the next Legislative Advocacy Committee meeting for all that and more!
For more information on the committee and to register for the meetings, go to: https://www.naswoh.org/page/legislativecommittee

This week, our Professional Advocacy Coordinator, Matthew Tippit, joined the Social Work Environmental Action Team (SWEAT) monthly meeting to share information on effective legislative advocacy and discuss Ohio's current environmental policy landscape. To get involved with SWEAT, go to https://www.naswoh.org/calendar and look for the meetings under the Advocacy category.

Amplify your impact. Advocate for justice. Create change.

Start your MSW journey at Ohio State, online or on campus. 🎓💥

Next week: Free CEU on supporting survivors of intimate partner violence

Join NASW Ohio on Wednesday, September 9 from 10–11 a.m. ET for Breaking Silence, Reclaiming Power: The Social Worker’s Role in the Journey from Safety to Healing in IPV, presented by Stephanie Lane, MSW, LISW.

This webinar will explore the social worker’s role in supporting individuals impacted by intimate partner violence, with trauma-informed strategies that center survivor autonomy and empowerment. Participants will learn practical tools for crisis response, safety planning, and long-term healing.

1 free CEU for NASW members
$10 for non-members
Live on Zoom, Recording Sent Later

Register today and join us next week!

Join community members and local candidates for a conversation about the impact of large-scale data center development in Licking County.

The panel will feature candidates for local, state, and federal office discussing the issues surrounding data centers and what their continued growth could mean for our communities.

September 10 at 6 p.m.
Northwestern Licking County
RSVP for the location and additional details: JohnstownDataCenterEvent.com

Region 7 has new Directors and they want to meet you! Join us for a casual coffee/tea date to connect, chat and be in good company.

When: Saturday, October 3 10:00 am-11:30 am
Where: Socialite Cafe
Fairmont Plaza Shopping Center
4011 Marshall Rd
Dayton, Ohio 45429

RSVP: https://forms.gle/ZX8AGBnrtvH8bVMF9

Pierre Damas Bal was a 20-year-old Haitian student with a bright future who wanted to play soccer and study neuroscience. Being required to wear an ankle monitor made Pierre feel increasingly distressed and isolated up to his passing. His passing is the devastating result of the aggressive enforcement of anti-immigration policies and the abrupt loss of Haitian’s Temporary Protected Status.

NASW is emphatically opposed to the revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants. We implore social workers in and around Ohio to contact their members of Congress and take action to support our immigrant neighbors, who are living under constant surveillance and threat of violence.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please don’t hesitate to contact 988 for the Su***de and Crisis Hotline or SAMHSA’s National Hotline at 1-800-662-4357

Support Haitians in Ohio by donating to the Ohio Immigrant Alliance (https://ohioimmigrant.org/) and the Haitian Community Help and Support Center (https://haitiansupportcenter.org/).

Social workers looking for resources on how to support their immigrant clients can find trainings and practice guidance at https://www.naswoh.org/PracticeGuidance

Review more ways to help at OhioIsHome with this link: https://ohioimmigrant.org/blog/2026/1/31/57six-ways-to-help

Need help finding local help for food, housing, and essential community services? Call 211 or visit 211.org

Contact the Ohio Immigrant Hotline at 419-777-4357 if you have been mistreated by ICE, Border Patrol, or state and local law enforcement.

Links found above:
Su***de and Crisis Hotline - 988Lifeline.org
SAMHSA - https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/helplines/national-helpline
Local Help - 211.org
Ohio Immigration Alliance - https://ohioimmigrant.org/
Haitian Community Help and Support Center -
https://haitiansupportcenter.org/
Ohio Is Home - https://ohioimmigrant.org/blog/2026/1/31/57six-ways-to-help
NASW Practice Guidance - https://www.naswoh.org/PracticeGuidance

The 2026 Ohio Social Work Conference has a great line up of presenters and workshops, including "Healing Justice at the Intersection of Social Justice and Allyship" Presented by Lois Stepney, PhD, MSW, LISW-S & Leslie Scott, MSSA, LISW-S

This training promotes a healing justice framework for personal and collective transformative healing within social work practice today. While centering the needs of Powerful Groups Targeted for Oppression (PGTO), this training will seek to amplify what it means to be social justice advocates and allies with an emphasis on social justice strategies for those of us who primarily practice in clinical/micro-level practice spaces. Training participants will have an opportunity to engage in a world café-style experiential exercise designed to elicit synergistic ideas to further solidify and/or reimagine what allyship can look like to stand in greater solidarity with PGTO’s.

📅 November 12th & 13th
📍 Columbus, Ohio
🌐 www.naswoh.org/annualconference