ABOUT

The Social Welfare Action Alliance (SWAA) is a national organization of progressive workers in human services. Founded in 1985, the Alliance is based on key principles that reflect a concern for social justice, peace and coalition building with progressive social movements. These principles articulate a need by social service workers for a practice and theory that responds to progressive concerns.

The Houston Chapter is organized by students in the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Our agenda and projects are dictated by the passions of the members and we strive to partner with local initiatives as well as create our own initiatives to improve social welfare and promote social justice.

Goals of the Organization

  • To promote the study and practice of the progressive tradition in social welfare policy by critiquing the nature of social services, social work and social change.
  • To foster communication, support and collaboration among human service workers, activists, scholars and the people who receive the services, thereby reducing the gap between theory and practice to build a base for unified action.
  • To develop collaborative agendas for alternative social policies aimed at both incremental and fundamental social change.
  • To understand the requirements and methods of humanistic direct practice that supports individual, community and broad social changes.
  • To promote the participation of social service workers, educators and students in the struggles of low income and other oppressed peoples.
  • To further coalitions with all social movements whose objectives are integral to the achievement of a just, caring and humanistic society through community-based activisim.
  • To combat discrimination in all its forms.
  • To promote the tradition, mission and methods of progressive social work by facilitating the presentation, publication and distribution of progressive literature as well as stimulating research and contributions to progressive publications.

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For general questions about the organization, please contact swaahouston at gmail dot com.

SWAA Houston Chapter Leadership:

Nadia Kalinchuk – Amy Sugeno – Erin Allison 

Faculty Advisor:

Dr. Susan P. Robbins