Monday, April 20, 1998
Award honors life of social worker
AWARD: Activist, professor never stops working towards goal
By Katie Sierra
Daily Bruin Contributor
The cartoon depicts a strong, indignant woman. Her blouse falls
from her shoulders and she waves the flag of peace. A table of
horrified and amazed aristocrats sit around the table on which she
stands.
The cartoon is a friend’s depiction of a real event which
occurred in 1990. Mary Brent Wehrli infiltrated a Republican
fund-raiser in Los Angeles and interrupted President Bush’s
speech.
After shouting her protest against U.S. military aid to Central
America, Wehrli was forcefully dragged from the auditorium, ripping
her blouse in the process.
This side of Wehrli is often unknown.
Wehrli, a professor at UCLA, was recently awarded Social Worker
of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers
(NASW).
Wehrli’s life as a teacher and community organizer are supported
by her three basic values of social work: change, power and
vision.
"A social worker has so much to do and so little to work with.
You have to hold on to your vision in order to keep going," Wehrli
said.
Among other things, Wehrli currently co-produces a national
weekly cable TV show called "Lawson Live," and she acts as the
president of the board of the Center for the Study of Political
Graphics.
Wehrli became inspired to do social work in 1971 after
volunteering in Venice with the Neighborhood Youth Association
(NYA). After working with impoverished kids, she questioned how
such an affluent country could have so many homeless, needy
people.
In 1984, Wehrli went back to school to earn her graduate degree
in social work at UCLA.
From 1986-1993, Wehrli became the director of a group called
Southern California Ecumenical Council’s Interfaith Task Force on
Central America (SCITCA). SCITCA was dedicated to curbing the flow
of U.S. government money into the hands of the Central American
military.
The group was active for 13 years before it had to break up for
reasons of declining interest and lack of funds. Wehrli claims that
SCITCA is what made her realize how America is neglecting its own
future.
"We were sending over $2 million a day to El Salvador, to the
military which was at war on its own people. That money was needed
for homeless, for children, for healthcare. It was needed here
desperately," Wehrli said.
Wehrli’s dedication to SCITCA, and other similar organizations,
is what earned her the Social Worker of the Year award. Erleen
Bower, director of NASW for West Los Angeles, said that Wehrli
always takes time out of her schedule to help others.
"Mary Brent has an energizing and catalyzing effect on young
people. She puts her word, money and energy where her mouth is,"
Bower said.
Wehrli hopes that this award will have positive effects on her
profession. She feels that social workers are often
underappreciated and misunderstood.
"It was validating for the field team here at UCLA. It felt that
the NASW had a place for the kind of work that I do," said
Wehrli.
At age forty, Wehrli became a radical. She was married to her
husband Martin and raising two teenage children, Bill and Gail.
She described how she was arrested on a regular basis and what
kind of toll it had on her children.
"Everybody wants their mom to be like everybody else’s mom, and
their mom wasn’t. They were wonderfully supporting and loving
through those times," Wehrli said.
Considering her long list of accomplishments and campaigns,
Wehrli admits that it’s still sometimes hard to find time for
herself. She says that her husband of 35 years is a "saint" for
putting up with her busy schedule.
Co-workers especially appreciate Wehrli’s optimism.
"Social work can be extremely depressing. You have to stay
hopeful. Mary Brent tries to keep all her enthusiasm and ideals,"
said Gerardo P. Lavina, a field education consultant at UCLA.
"Literally and metaphorically, Mary Brent takes stairs two steps
at time. She has more energy than I’ve ever seen in a person," said
Debra Coleman, a social worker and former student.
Despite her twenty-six years in social work, Wehrli has never
felt like giving up. She says that she continues to fight for the
people who are less fortunate in this world because she understands
their struggles.
"We all have common goals, for ourselves, for our families, for
our communities," Wehrli said.
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Mary Brent Wehrli was chosen as the Social Worker of the Year by
the National Association of Social Workers.