Her Story
About Chelci
I've been in the social work field since 2008, and for the past four years since 2020, I've worked as a clinical social worker on an inpatient psychiatric unit for the Veterans Affairs Hospitals. Here on the inpatient unit, I advocate for veterans, and my main job is ensuring they have the linkage to the correct level of care post-discharge from the hospital. Sometimes that involves us having guardianship started or appointed while they're here, and sometimes that involves a different level of care than what they were admitted with. So if they were living independently and can no longer live independently, they would then discharge to either a group home, or an assisted living facility, or sometimes they go to a long-term nursing facility. I'm also a visiting professor at Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Sciences since fall of 2020, which is the oldest social work school in the country and where I'm also an alum. I recently was asked to be an adjunct at Cleveland State University's School of Social Work as well. I only teach graduate students at the master's level. What I really enjoy is giving back to the field, teaching the next generation of social workers, and playing a role in their internships and their education, setting up the next set of people that will come behind you.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Chelci
01What do you attribute your success to?
I have a desire to really speak for those that don't have a voice. I really like advocating for the voiceless. I really get happiness and joy from helping others. That's truly what it is.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is that tomorrow's a new day, and to sleep on it. It's true. You don't know what tomorrow will bring, but you can still sleep on it.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You'll have good days, and you'll have bad days. Remember the good days so you can muddle through the bad days. And always have a tribe, a woman tribe. I have a woman tribe from a leadership development course I did about 10 years ago or more, and I'm still in contact with that group of women. They're not in my field, they're in different industries, and we really lean on each other with just career advice and hyping each other up. You need a hype person, because work is not easy.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's always opportunity. There's never enough resources to go around. There's always someone that's going to be sicker than the patient you saw today, the next day. But there is value in being able to solve the puzzles. So you have someone that doesn't have all of their basic needs met, and you're trying to figure out a way to make those needs happen, make something out of nothing. Trying to see if you can get this person qualified for Medicaid, or what other resources you can find for them, so that you can improve their quality of life.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I value my integrity, and I really get disturbed when others do not have any integrity. It really bothers me when we as a society treat each other less than trash. We have a habit of passing the buck, and when we're talking about people's lives, you can't do that. I really live by treating others how you would want to be treated. If you wouldn't treat your family member like that, why would you treat another client or patient like that? That's a really large guiding principle for me. You're supposed to be helping those around you, especially those that can't help themselves. I really do not like when I witness someone being manipulated or used and abused, people taking advantage of others. The bullying that goes on in the health industry, doctors trying to pressure families to do things just because they want them to do that, and not because it's in the best interest of the patient, or what the patient has expressed to their family.
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