Before sunrise Wednesday, students from Touro College Graduate School of Social Work boarded a bus to Albany for the 2018 Social Work Student Legislative Education Advocacy Day, an event in which New York social work groups join their counterparts in states around the country in visiting their state capitals.
LEAD Day is an annual journey Touro students await eagerly every year, and this trip they were joined on their bus by students and faculty from the NYU Silver School of Social Work.
“I love it,” said Veronique Green, who is embarking on her third tour. “We are a team fighting for justice for ourselves and for others, being loud and proud.” An activist in the Bronx who is eyeing a seat on her local community board, Green hopes eventually to combine policy work with launching a community center to provide resources to people in need. “I’m excited about making my voice heard when it comes to loan forgiveness, licensure if we need it … anything we need to become employable citizens.”
Like others in her class, Green will be graduating with nearly $90,000 debt. “That’s been the biggest challenge,” said Green, whose family hails from the Caribbean. “Being able to be financially independent. That’s why we’re going to fight for loan forgiveness.”