Observational Entries

Entry #5: Latin American Coalition with Omar Ramirez

Final day Ill come to the Latin American Coalition before I begin to formerly put together my
project. Ive thought about what I could develop for my project and a video seems like the best
choice.
The more I come here the more opportunity I have to interact with the people who come to seek
help. In many cases I just end up hearing about the help they need. Today for example Im sitting
with Omar at the front reception desk where he greets people and asks them if its their first time
here. Every time, after asking that question he makes the people sign a form. Theres two forms,
one for people with their first time here and another form for people whove been here more than
once. In the times Ive come Ive seen maybe two of his clients come in again. This is a small
organization as Ive mentioned before which makes realize why Omar and this office doesnt get
much work to deal with. Which also makes me believe that not many people know about the help
thats around them.
I asked Omar a couple of questions leading more to his reason for why hes involved with social
work.
Q: How do you define Social Work?
A: If youre helping people out its social work.
Q: Why is social work overlooked?
A: Initial view on social work is seen as social workers taking babies from families and
providing food stamps for the poor. That is a very close minded view. Theres micro social work
where you work with people one on one with their individual needs. Then theres Meso social
work where you help the community and what it needs to improve quality of life. Thats a local
view. Finally theres Macro social work which is correlated with a mayor of a town or a governor
of a state. People dont know what social work is.
-

Note I interpreted with this view, Micro is a mayor working with a town, Meso is a
governor working with a state, and Macro is a president with a country.

I didnt ask him anything else for the moment, but he continued to explain to me more about
social work.
Omar: Im always questioning people with a psychology and sociology degrees because theyre
the ones that employers dont look for. Social work is the intersection between your mind and the
world.
Note: He drew me a picture of this image that Ive posted onto my journal entry pictures
of a crossroad with the mind and the world.
Omar: Eventually I would like to teach social work as a professor at a university or run for office
as a senator or governor.
Note: This persuaded me to come up with my next question

Q: Why not do that right after school? Why wait for later?
A: Because 95% of professors have doctor degrees and have done social work through
academics. All theyve done is research. You learn social work with experience just like
everything else. Teaching allows me to share the knowledge of social work especially since
teachers are learned people with field experience. Theory and practice do not coincide.
Q: Who has been your biggest influence?
A: Professor Terry Mathews. She has dealt with 30+ years of sexual assault and rape advocacy.
She is one of the professors where you want to strive to be like, who are extremely humble. I
want to work

Observational Entries
Entry #4: Latin American Coalition with Omar Ramirez
More Q and A
Q: What do you think of the minimum wage in NC for social workers?
A: It depends. There shouldnt be a reason for why people should work 40 hours or more a week
and still not be able to pay their bills. Its still an ongoing issue.
Q: What do you expect to make once you graduate and work in social work?
A: I Expect to get at least $75,000 for the work as a social worker with PTSD.
-

Note he did mention before that he was getting a masters in social work and the
average salary for a social worker with a BSW is about $50,000 in charlotte.

Note from Omar: he got accepted into Columbia and will be moving to Manhattan in the
summer. At Columbia he will seek an MSW.
Omar showed me around the building where I took pictures of the many offices that the Latin
American Coalition holds. He introduced me to the Fundraising coordinator Whitney and the
accounting coordinator and the education office where they help students with immigration
issues. Walking around I could feel the atmosphere that the people working here are excited
about the work they and the people they help. Its strange but when I think of Latin American
help I think of Latin Americans helping other Latin Americans not Caucasian helping Latin
American. To see that Caucasians are here helping the Latin people is really something that the
human experience is all about. Not just seeing but being involved with one race helping another
race. Of course to me the only race is the human race, we are just different species of a race.
The fundraising coordinator explained to me how 60% of the funding for the Latin American
coalition is from fundraisers. This kind of surprised me as I thought most of the funds would be
from government grants.
Aside from the accounting and the fundraising coordinator I was able to meet the program
coordinator, the head of the social work program there, another social worker and I was able to
explore the rest of the building and the many other offices that resided in them. The many times I
came before I wouldve never thought there so many offices and that many people running the
Latin American Coalition. Whats even worse is the position in which the building is placed, its
hidden behind many trees and it basically looks like a mansion not a building. Its also difficult
for me to get to the building because every time I go I have pass the building because it is only
accessible on one street and theres a median that prevents me from turning into the buildings
parking lot. Once youre able to access the building you drive down a road that leads to the back
of the building. Ive mentioned many of these details before but I what I didnt mention is that

the road is covered with giant pot holes and when you get to the parking area, theres enough
space for maybe 30 cars for both clients and workers combined. Its a very small organization.

Observational Entries
Entry #3: Latin American Coalition with Omar Ramirez
Came in, Omar was dealing with a client on phone who had issues with the service they had
provided. She was very upset although the case wasnt about disrespect towards the client but,
about how she never was contacted back about a something she needed to know about.
3 clients have arrived in the past 10 minutes. 1 of them seeking workers comp who was never
given any for his injury, another arrived for an appointment and one who is asking for help
because of issues with her healthcare.
Another client has come and I helped him fill out some paperwork. As Ive noticed the place is
very understaffed and needs more helping hands. Clients are starting to pour in since Ive helped
the man fill out some paperwork. 2 more people have walked in seeking help. The man that I
helped filling with filling out the reception paperwork is illiterate in English and has lived in the
United States for over 30 years. That is insane. How can someone not have the capability to grow
and move forward? What has he done with his life? To make matters worse he had a phone and
he didnt even know his own phone number. I had to find his number in his phone. He was really
open about handing me his phone for me to look into it. Its sad because for 30 years of being
here it honestly seemed like he just arrived to this country in the past year. People who come to
Latin American Coalition are usually impoverished people who just moved here or have been
unable to obtain citizenship or a working permit. It really makes me sad to see people of old age
very uneducated. This man was like 45 years old.
Crazy lady Sylvia. Talked to her about my project and she misunderstood me as to what I was
doing in my human experience project.
Client came in seeking help to pay for rent and another is now talking to Omar.
Omar didnt do much today just sat at the reception desk, but no one really showed up. To make
up for this time I did some research on social work according to the internet.

Social Work definition: Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline
that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and
liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and
respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social
sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to
address life challenges and enhance wellbeing.
The above definition may be amplified at national and/or regional levels.
This definition came from isfw.org. It seems that social work is supposed to help people on a
much bigger scale than seen. This is the global definition. The problem is when people hear
the words social work they cringe and try to steer clear from the person who said these words.
At least when I hear the words social work I think about how much I dont even want to
associated with that term. One issue for why social work is viewed so poorly is because of its
poor salary and negative ties towards it.

Observational Entries
Entry #2: Latin American Coalition with Omar Ramirez
As of today, there isnt much work in the office, but I took this opportunity to ask Omar a few
questions.
Q: What can you gain from this internship? How long have you been here and how long do you
plan on staying?
A: Wants experience in non-profit work with direct impact on Latinos. Has been working here
since August of 2014 and will cease to in April of 2015.
Q: Whats your next step? How does this help you in your next step?
A: This has allowed him insight on non-profit work and how to develop from it. Next step wont
be non-profit FOR SURE. Nothing is ever concrete in non-profit, as in nothing is ever funded
properly. Too insecure. His next step will be with Veteran Affairs.
Q: Why veteran affairs?
A: Currently hes in the Army reserves and has a family history with military background. Wants
to specifically help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Hes seen this as a very serious
issue. Has family with PTSD. Has 3 cousins with this medical condition that have working lives
and families. This is all about community and he wants to give back to those who give so much
to us.
Q: Where do you want to do this?
A: First of all hes going to seek a Masters in Social work. So hes going to graduate school
either in Columbia, NYU, or UNC Charlotte. He would prefer to stay in this area. I asked him if
would look into pursuing a social work degree on a global scale and he said that if he had the
opportunity to work in Africa or in a tropical country he would take it. He only wants to work
with U.S veterans and currently serving personnel.

Q: When did you decide to pursue this career? Why did you decide for this career? What
influenced you to do social work?
A: He decided his sophomore year of college. He was originally pursuing a degree in nursing
and was already a certified nursing assistant. Had been doing well in all of the intensive nursing
classes. He talked to his advisor one day and his advisor noticed that he had many hours of
community service and asked if he would consider social work. Hes always been a helper and
always seeks to help people. Decided for veteran affairs because he is in the army reserves. And
has family in in the army. Also has family members with PTSD. Realized he wasnt being true to
himself by pursuing a nursing degree. Also not everyone can do social work, not everyone is cut
out for it. If youre going to do social work, you definitely wont do it for the money. The salary
for a social worker is horrible. Wants to do social work in the military because the military has
many job benefits, job security, and its paid better than at other locations.
Q: Does anyone in your family do social work? What is social work? What is your cultural
background?
A: No one in his family has ever done social work. The closest to a social worker is his sister
whos a Bonds woman which is a person who bails people out of jail, but also hunts them back
down if they dont pay her back. His other sister is a nurse with a 2 year degree. His mother is
from Mexico and his biological father is a 3rd generation Mexican American from Texas. Also
has a brother whos a chemical engineer that he doesnt keep in contact with. Hasnt talked to his
biological father in years.

Observational Entries
Entry #1: Latin American Coalition with Omar Ramirez
I am observing Omar Ramirez, senior at UNC Charlotte, Intern at the Latin American Coalition,
Vice President of Lambda Theta Phi. Fraternity Inc. and an acquaintance of mine.
I arrived around 10:25 am and stayed until their lunch break at 12:00. When I first arrived I was
skeptical about the environment because the building did not look professional and it was barely
noticeable because of all the trees surrounding it. I had to drive on a path that lead to the back of
the building where clients had to park. I went into the building into the front office. I was
welcomed and Omar gave me a quick tour of the building. The building has a clinic with other
offices for different types of social cases. I was taken upstairs to sign a confidentiality statement
and returned back downstairs afterwards. I was unable to attend to Omar as he had received a
client as soon as I had begun signing the documents. Now I am sitting in the waiting room, and
have been sitting here for a good 30 minutes observing the different kinds of people that come in
and out. One man walked in asking for a lawyer to help him stay with his young child here in the
United States. He was undocumented, and an illegal immigrant. A lady walked asking for a
dentist. Another lady walked in, but the strange thing was that she was American and she was
seeking employment opportunity. As of right now an older woman of maybe fifty five years old,
a very eccentric, strange, and loud woman, came in wearing a hat with buttons all over it. The hat
is white with colored flowers on it.
Now encountering a one to one observation where Omar is dealing with a client. Strangely
enough the client is the strange loud lady I had observed earlier. Shes asking for help on her
passport. She wants to make sure she filled out her application properly to renew her passport.
She cant write and read English properly. The papers ended up being filled out incorrectly. After
the client left Omar explained to me what he had encountered with the previous client, and it
turns out the client was not paid for a trucking job he was supposed to get paid for. The company
owed him over $6000 and Omar helped him fill out some paper work so he could go help
represent him in court.

Afterwards I asked Omar a few simple questions to clarify on a few things.

Q: Why intern here? A: It was his best opportunity to directly impact the community in his
undergraduate career. He also explained how there arent many social workers in the Latino
community and he sees that as something that needs representation.
Q: Why social work? When did you become interested? He was in pre-nursing but, he realized
he was selling himself. At first he was pessimistic towards social work, but he eventually found
out that he can directly impact the community through social work. Through nursing he only
helps one person in a different sense than with social work where he can leave an impact in the
community and in the lives of others.