Join a Group or Start a New One!
The goal of NACSW’s chapters and groups is to help connect NACSW members and friends with other interested Christians in social work in their local areas. NACSW chapters and groups come in many shapes and sizes, and engage in a wide variety of activities, depending on the needs and interests of each group.
Below you will find information enabling you to connect with NACSW contact people in your area, find out what other local groups are up to, and explore forming a new NACSW group in your area if one doesn’t exist there yet!
NACSW Local Area Contacts
Group Status: Active
Contact: Amy-Lynne Hilderbrand
Primary Phone: (805) 540-8388 (Cell) • E-mail: hi***********@gm***.com
Group Status: Active
Contact: Eleanor Speakes
PO Box 11303; Fresno, CA 937772
Primary Phone: 559-313-1837 (cell) • Secondary Phone: 559-278-2454 (work) • E-mail: es********@gm***.com
Group Status: Active
Contact: Denis Costello
Primary Phone: • E-mail: de************@gm***.com
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Bob Nield
58 E Washington Rd; Terryville, CT 06786-6816
Primary Phone: 203-755-9300 • E-mail: bo******@ho*****.com
Contact Person: Marleen Milner
Southeastern University
Primary Phone: 863.667.5163 • E-mail: mm*****@se*.edu
Contact Person: Robin Paino
Coral Springs, Florida
Primary Phone: 954-804-4949 • E-mail: ro*********@gm***.com or ro*********@br************.com
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Shaina Blair
Primary Phone: 404-542-9511 • Secondary Phone: 404-788-2716 • E-mail: sd*******@ya***.com
Group Status: Active
Contact: Jeff Bryant
University of Indianapolis – The Phylis LAN Lin Department of Social Work; 1400 East Hanna Ave; Indianapolis, IN 46227
Primary Phone: (317) 788-3999 • Secondary Phone: (317) 956-6988 • E-mail: jb*****@ui***.edu
Contact Person: Tim Moseley
PO Box 7249; Louisville, KY 40257
Primary Phone: (502) 584-3711 • Secondary Phone: (502) 345-6100 • E-mail: Ti*@wa*********************.org
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Brent Thornton
Cumberland, MD
Primary Phone: (301) 697-1070 • E-mail: Sn**********@gm***.com
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Stacey Barker
Primary Phone: (617) 745-3564 • E-mail: st***********@en*.edu
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Gary Deckert
Primary Phone: 616 843-5942 • E-mail: gd******@ya***.com
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Nick Zeimet
E-mail: ze*********@gm***.com
Group Status: Active
Contact: Jana Donahoe
400 East Percy St, Indianola, MS 38751
Primary Phone: 662.887.6069 • Secondary Phone: 662.846.4795 • E-mail: jd******@de********.edu
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Terri Bennett
617 NW Cortland Dr, Blue Springs, MO 64015
Primary Phone: 816-421-7643, ext. 14 • E-mail: ne**********@ya***.com
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Lacey Nunnally
Evangel Univ.; 1111 N Glenstone, Springfield, MO 65802
Primary Phone: (417) 865-2815 • E-mail: nu*******@ev*****.edu
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: David Fritz
Primary Phone: 718-286-2177 (office) • Secondary Phone: 631-332-9354 (cell) • Primary e-mail: dm******@gm***.com • Secondary e-mail: dm*****@le*******.org
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Ken Smith
3600 Jeffrey St, Sanford, NC 27332
Primary Phone: (919) 718-9923 • E-mail: kt*******@gm***.com
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Gayla Sherman
Charles Hall Youth and Family Services; 513 E. Bismarck Expressway; PO Box 1995, Bismarck, ND 58502
Primary Phone: 701-255-2773, Ext. 304 • Fax: 701-255-6261 • E-mail: ga***********@ch**********************.com
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Linda Openshaw
Commerce, Texas
Primary Phone: (903) 468-6095 • E-mail: Li************@ta***.edu
Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Primary Phone: Group Status: Organizing
Contact: Karen Magruder
E-mail: ka************@gm***.com
Contact Person: Kim Parker
Primary Phone: 713-291-2272 • E-mail: pa******@ms*.com
Chapter Development Information
The following are a few possible first steps for you to consider:
Forming a Leadership Team
We have found that developing a sustainable local NACSW group is usually best tackled by a team (rather than by just one person). Are there other Christians in social work/social services in your area that might want to work with you? NACSW would also be glad to send you a list of names/contact info for NACSW members and friends in your area with whom you could network related to exploring an NACSW group. Consider including a variety of fields of practice, years of experience, educational levels, and ethnic/gender diversity on your leadership team if possible. Ask folks you have identified as candidates for your leadership team if they would be willing to meet every other month or so (either at a central location, or via telephone conference call) to get things started. It will be helpful to agree on a focus for the group and develop a tentative one year plan. Setting modest goals and a schedule of activities will help give shape to the planning process.
Discovering What Others Might Want in a Group
Some Christians in social work will be most interested in support, prayer, and fellowship; others will want professional development from a Christian perspective. Still others might be interested in working together on a service project. It is critical to successful planning not to put forth a lot of energy organizing events that the membership might not be interested in. NACSW has developed an online survey that we could send out to NACSW members and friends in your area to gather information related to chapter activity. To see what this sample survey looks like, you can go to: http://nacsw.org/cgi-bin/kmp_survey2.cgi?createlive=22258. In addition, we could send you a link to this survey so that you could send it out to Christians in social work that you know in your area.
Posting Your Name as a Contact Person
If you would be interested/willing, we would be glad to list your name (in our newsletter and Groups & Contacts webpage) as a local contact for NACSW members in your area. Often this step alone encourages NACSW members and friends to “surface” as they seek to connect with other Christians in social workers in the area.
Getting Started
Most groups exploring the development of an NACSW chapter start with an initial event or activity (workshop or “meet and greet”) to which they invite all social workers of faith including folks in NACSW’s database, as well as folks they know and might be interested in inviting. NACSW would be glad to work with you on developing and promoting (via email and a website presence) this initial event or activity if you think this would be helpful.
Available Supports
Academic Social Work Programs: Contact local colleges that have social work programs – especially, though not exclusively Christian colleges. Check out faculty and student interest. Many colleges have Christian social work groups with whom you can connect.
NACSW Headquarters: NACSW staff (in**@na***.org) would be glad to brainstorm with you, and attempt to answer any questions that might come up along the way as you explore developing a local chapter.
Local Church and Christian Social Service Agencies: See if your church would consider supporting your organization with meeting space and/or other forms of support. Also many Christian agencies (like The Salvation Army) would be willing to offer you space to meet, and might have staff who would like to become a part of your group.
NACSW looks forward to working with you to help bring local Christians in social work together in your area!
Member Interest Groups
NACSW’s member interest groups were created to give those with similar interests and professional aspirations a place to learn from and network with colleagues.