March is National Social Work month. It represents a time to recognize and celebrate the vital services social workers provide to individuals, families, and communities. At Thomas House, we greatly value the impact our social workers and social work interns have on the families we serve as they help guide parents and children through moments of instability, growth, and healing.
Social Workers are at the heart of our efforts to provide our families with the foundation to build towards long term stability. Our social work interns allow us to expand our capacity by supporting case management, working with youth, and assisting with documentation and research. Their presence allows our team to spend more time building meaningful relationships with residents enhancing the support we provide both residents and program graduates.
We also place a strong emphasis on prevention and continued care, and our interns allow us to do this through strengthening the support we provide. They help us extend our reach, strengthen our systems, and maintain a high standard of care for the families we serve. They add depth to our programs by ensuring all our families have the guidance to build the skills and confidence they need to remain stable long after they leave our program.
How our Social Work Interns Support our Families
We have two different types of Social Work Interns. Our Micro-Level and Macro-Level Social Work Interns play different, but deeply complementary roles at Thomas House.
Thomas House’s Approach with our Micro and Macro Level Interns provides them with hands on experience working with clients or advocating for long term community change. This supports their development as Social Workers and prepares them to work in the community after completing their degree.
The Different Ways our Micro-Level Interns Support our Families
Our Micro-Level Social Work Interns provide individualized support to our Thomas House families. They connect with their clients through empowerment and support them in recognizing their capacity for growth.
The different ways our Micro Level Interns support our families:
- Provide Case Management support to Thomas House graduates through monthly budgeting, goal setting, and resource linkage ensuring they are maintaining housing stability
- Support our teens and youth through Teen Case Management (i.e. academic support, skills development, and hosting teen group facilitations)
- Supporting hotline calls
- Engage and assist with our youth during Youth Development Programming
- Support apartment inspections led by the Operations team that help ensure our residents are maintaining a clean, organized home environment
Hien, one of our Micro-Level Master of Social Work Interns, provides some of our program graduates and teens with case management. Specifically, her work with the teens on her caseload represents what Micro-Level social work looks like at Thomas House. Hien has built connections allowing them to feel comfortable opening up about challenges they are facing academically and socially. Through her compassionate, client-centered approach, Hien creates a safe space where teens feel supported, heard, and empowered to grow.
Our Micro-Level interns provide more than just case management. They build trust, safety, and consistency in a way that allows teens to open up about the challenges they face.
Additionally, at Thomas House, we place a strong emphasis on prevention and continued care. Our Micro-Level Interns allow us to do this through adding depth to our programs by ensuring all our families have the guidance to build the skills and confidence they need to remain stable long after they leave our program. We stay connected with our families after they secure permanent housing and graduate from Thomas House through follow up services and housing stability support. Several of our Micro-Level Interns provide Case Management to our program graduates, allowing us to continue supporting our families. The continuity of care we provide reflects a social work approach that values long term outcomes rather than quick fixes. These ongoing relationships create accountability, lasting support, and reducing the likelihood of families returning to homelessness.
This can be seen in the fact that 98% of our graduating families, tracked, retained permanent housing for 12 months or longer.
How our Macro-Level Interns Support Thomas House
Our Macro-Level Social Work Interns contribute to strengthening Thomas House as a whole. Their focus on the organization as a whole advances our efforts of long-term community change for underrepresented communities.
The different ways our Macro Level Interns support our families:
- Contribute to program development and evaluation by helping identify gaps in services, improve processes, and strengthen outcomes for families
- Review case files
- Support documentation audits
- Help ensure that our services meet professional and funding standards
- Support development efforts through researching funding opportunities, assisting with grant-related projects, and helping document program impact allowing continual growth and service to more families
- Advocate for policy change to break cycles of instability for vulnerable populations
Natalie, our Macro-Level MSW Intern, reflects that throughout her internship she discovered just how impactful Macro-Level Social Work can be. She reflects that “Macro Social Work is a lot of the behind the scenes work that we don’t really get to see when working directly with clients. It’s the less-appreciated administrative work, long hours writing grants, working on development, and things that we don’t think about!”
During her internship, her main tasks included assisting with seeking out grant opportunities, helping raise funds for various Thomas House fundraisers, and reviewing case files ensuring our families receive the best possible services. Her role directly displays how Macro-Level Social Workers strengthen our systems behind the scenes and leave a lasting impact for our families.
The Future of Social Work
At Thomas House, we take pride in providing real world experience to the next generation of Social Workers grounding their learning in the importance of serving marginalized communities with care, empathy, and understanding. Through hands‑on practice and meaningful connection, we help shape compassionate professionals who are committed to uplifting every family they encounter.
Hien reflects that “I am grateful to be able to expand my skills as a social worker while advocating for marginalized individuals. Agencies like Thomas House provide holistic services that push against the systemic barriers which strengthened my commitment to continue to pursue the field of social work.” She recognizes how critical social workers are in advocating for long-term community change.
Join Us: Be Part of Our Life Changing Work
Want to be part of our life changing work?
If you are currently studying Social Work or a related field and are interested in empowering families as risk of or experiencing homelessness: Email your resume to Shakoya Green Long, CEO, at Shakoya@thomashouseshelter.org for more information