The old woman sat with Eastern Michigan University social
work professor Elvia Krajewski-Jaime in a Morelia, Mexico,
nursing home, trying to read along with the professor,
who'd brought a group of students to experience community
social work at ground level.
"I cannot read. I went blind a long time ago," the woman
said.
"Blind?" Krajewski-Jaime said. "But you can see
me."
The woman explained that yes, she could see people, but
the words on the page were a jumble.
"I took my eyeglasses off and put them on her and said,
'Can you read now?'" Krajewski-Jaime said. "And she started
to cry."
 |
SOCIAL STATUS: Elvia Krajewski-Jaime,
an Eastern Michigan University professor
of social
work, was named the 2008 Social
Worker of the Year
by the National
Association of Social Workers (NASW). |
Krajewski-Jaime left that pair of glasses behind and,
the next year, her EMU contingent returned with some 50
pairs of eyeglasses in different prescriptions to give
to the elderly people from the poor rural areas around
Morelia.
Krajewski-Jaime, 70, has built a career of teaching, outreach
and advocacy on the principle that, "You are only successful
to the extent that, at the end of a particular project,
you have left the community stronger and more capable than
before."
Her efforts haven't gone unnoticed. In August, the National
Association of Social Workers (NASW) named Krajewski-Jaime
its 2008 Social Worker of the Year. She'll be honored by
the NASW, the largest professional social work organization
in the country, in a yet-to-be scheduled virtual ceremony.
"I just thought she should be recognized for her
quiet work she does that has such a big impact on so many
people," said Guadeloupe G. Lara, who nominated Krajewski-Jaime
for the national award. "... She's published a lot
in the area of cultural awareness and serving the elderly
and, of course, her commitment to people where they are
at — to understanding their history and their background
— is very important."
Lara finished her term as president of the NASW's Michigan
chapter in June and also taught with Krajewski-Jaime at
EMU, where she's been an adjunct professor in the School
of Social Work. Lara and Krajewski-Jaime were among the
founders of the National Organization of Latino Social
Workers.
"It's still hard for me to believe I was selected," said
Krajewski-Jaime, 70. "I feel so privileged and, of course,
for my (Latino) culture, it means so much to me. It's such
an honor, and I would hope that my university benefits
from that honor, too. Because, if it were not for my university,
I would not have been able to do my work."
Born and raised in Mexico, Krajewski-Jaime came to the
United States with a sixth-grade education, a few years
of bilingual secretarial school, and some French and English
language training. Truth be told, she was just passing
through on her way to study French in Paris when she stopped
in Philadelphia to visit a friend and met the guy next
door, Eugene Krajewski. They fell in love, got married,
settled in Philadelphia and had two daughters before
Krajewski-Jaime (pronounced kry-EV-ski - HIGH may) turned
her attention back to her own education.
At 37, she set out to earn her GED and, for the next 13
years, she steadily climbed the educational ladder, starting
with a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University
of Pennsylvania.
"Psychology was more of a research-oriented degree, and
I wanted to be working with people," said Krajewski-Jaime,
who has since learned to appreciate research, too. "Someone
told me 'Why don't you try social work?' I'd never heard
of that but, at the time, I wanted to work in the community,
to do community organization. (I wanted to) plan programs
so we could provide services to people in the community
who were vulnerable. I wanted the hands-on experience.
That's how I went to Temple University to get my master's.
I got it (masters degree) in planning and administration,
with lots of community organizing in it. I really love
that area."
 |
TOTAL ACCESS: Elvia Krajewski-Jaime (above,
second from left), an Eastern Michigan University
professor of social work, poses with EMU graduate
students, and community partners from Latino
Family Services, Alternatives for Girls, and the Arab
Community Center for Economic and Social Services
(ACCESS) in Dearborn. Funded by the Department
of Justice, this meeting's purpose was to help
solidify plans for EMU's work with the center's
Latino, Arab and African-American community
partner agencies. |
Next came a doctorate fellowship at the University of
Texas-Austin, which awarded her a Ph.D. when she was 50.
A member of her doctoral committee mentioned that EMU
was looking for beginning faculty and, at the suggestion
of others, she applied to EMU and the University of Michigan.
"I came to interview with both of them, but I fell in
love with EMU," she said. "I felt it was a much better
fit for what I wanted to do."
Krajewski-Jaime brings social work to life for her students
by taking them out into the communities that social workers
serve, both locally and abroad.
"I work with Latino, African-American and Arab-American
communities, and it's very difficult to translate them
in a book and have students get a feel for them. I have
students do studies, surveys, focus groups. They speak
to people about an issue and get a feel for how social
workers can really help them. The students really love
it, and they appreciate it because it's better than me
standing in front of the classroom, talking to them."
She created an international program for social
work students that provides them field experience working
in community agencies in Mexico and England.
"She's somebody who gets things done," said David Clifford,
an EMU health administration professor who,
with Krajewski-Jaime, co-founded what would become the
U.S. Department of Justice-funded Center for Community
Building and Civic Engagement. "She
is an incredibly good organizer, very good at getting people
on task, and very good at taking a complex task, breaking
it down and implementing it. She's very effective, in particular,
working with students — bringing students into
the process of providing a program."
Through the Center for Community Building and Civic Engagement,
she helped connect EMU faculty with organizations in Southeastern
Michigan's minority communities and establish long-term
working relationships. One partnership, with a Hispanic
development association in Detroit, recruited young gang
members, helping them use their leadership skills to give
young Hispanics a voice in the voting system. Another worked
with ACCESS to create a domestic violence program. She's
also president of the Organization of Latino Social
Workers.
Nearing retirement, Krajewski-Jaime now divides her time
between directing EMU's social work graduate program and
her favorite kind of teaching, directing field studies
and placing social work students with community agencies.
"I want to make sure I have a leg in the community," she
said. "One leg here, one leg in the community."
