ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

DEBRA MASSEY MSW 1981,
School Social Worker, Richland District 1 Schools

“That you empowered someone to take control of their lives again, that’s what it means to be a change agent … It’s not about the paycheck.”

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Upon meeting Debra Massey, MSW ’81, it is soon clear that there is only one thing bigger than her smile – and that’s her heart for service.

The school social worker for Richland County School District 1 recently was honored with the College of Social Work’s 2007 Alumni of the Year award. For more than 25 years, she has served vulnerable populations throughout South Carolina, beginning with an $11,000-a-year job as a family specialist with Head Start.

“But you don’t go into it for the money, you go into it because you want to bring forth a change in society as a whole,” she explains.

Only the anecdotes she has collected – some heartwarming, others heartbreaking – are more colorful and diverse than the stops she has made on her career itinerary. And nearly all of those experiences, she says, have been personally and professionally fulfilling.

There was the job she took with Children Unlimited where she handled special needs adoptions. And the work she did with family planning, child health and prenatal care for the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

She helped develop and operate a turnkey shelter where nearly 12 human service agencies offered assistance to the homeless, was program director for the Richland County Department of Social Service when HIV was becoming a true epidemic, did home health care and hospice work for Baptist Medical Center, and briefly served as program director for Epworth Children’s Home.

“It was really rewarding,” she says.

While some might be physically and emotionally exhausted by simply thinking about Debra’s career accomplishments, she is hardly fazed. She says she inherited the endurance for and dedication to service from her mother, who she describes as an “informal social worker in the black community.”

Debra’s mother took care of elderly and homebound women in their community, volunteered for Meals on Wheels and was active in church. She also cared for her Debra’s grandmother who was ill and disabled.

“That was instilled in me, to see what she did,” Debra says, “that was the foundation.”

That foundation, Debra explains, was fortified by what she learned at COSW.

“The classes here taught me the theory and gave me a better understanding of the history of social work,” Debra remembers. “It put gut-level work into a clinical perspective. It brought everything full circle.”

She credits former faculty members like Dr. John Gandy who helped her gain strength in subjects where she was weak. And she remembers appreciating the small, intimate classes, allowing her and fellow students to connect during and after lessons.

“We didn’t feel estranged from each other,” she says, recalling how important that was for her as she commuted from Winnsboro. “We would get together after class – grab a pack of crackers and a soda, and have study groups. It really prepared me.”

Debra, who will celebrate a milestone birthday in August, has no plans to slow down, even in light of such an impressive career history. She explains that it is her calling to continue serving humanity skillfully and effectively.

“That you empower someone to take control of their lives again, that’s what it means to be a change agent. It’s not about the paycheck. That, to me, makes up for all the miles you drive up and down the highway to make home visits, for getting doors slammed in your face,” she says. “It is not something that is learned; it is a gift to be in this line of work. This has to be your purpose in your life. You have to love it; you have to feel it or you’ll burn out and stop and there’s nothing worse than someone who is burned out and doesn’t care anymore.”