By Amber Gordon, Social Worker
A social worker’s day rarely begins as planned. In social work, especially in a community as complex as ours, no two days are ever the same. The days are always unpredictable and that is both a challenge and the purpose of social work.
The day starts with the phones already ringing with a concerned family member, a client in crisis or a hospital discharge that wasn’t communicated.
The morning progresses with follow-ups, returning emails and checking WhatsApps and which inevitably includes reports to complete, tiles to update and progress reports to write. Behind each file and report there is a person, someone needing food assistance or transport, medical assistance, assistance with care home applications, financial forms or simply a check in to ensure that there is some stability in their lives.
As the day continues…
Home visits and client appointments are conducted. A home visit takes you to a place filled with memories but with a person that doesn’t have the ability to leave their house due to age or financial constraints. Some clients living alone struggle with their basic daily tasks and are assisted by the JCS care team. For many of our aged clients loneliness is their constant companion and a home visit isn’t only about rendering services but also about being present and just having a conversation.
The more complex cases take up more time in the day of a social worker, these cases are about survival, and families being stretched beyond capacity. These cases require more than companionship, they require empathy, they demand advocacy and coordination and often very difficult conversations about care, finances, parenting and long-term planning.
At any time of day or night, an emergency call will come in from a family member or CSO. These calls require immediate action and often take many hours to ensure that the community member receives the care they need and that the family members are communicated with. In between, other unexpected emergencies may come up – a client who hasn’t eaten in days, somebody not showing for an appointment that took months to book and a situation you thought was stable suddenly starts to unravel, reminding you just how really fragile an individual can be.
Afternoons are to complete the admin of your day s work, following up with hospitals, care facilities and family members. They are filled with phone calls to care facilities for clients that do not nearly meet the criteria of Jewish Community organisations.
And then there’s the emotional weight.
Social workers carry stories of loss, resilience, trauma and hope. Some stay with you longer than others. The ethical dilemmas, the systems that fall short, the moments where you question whether you’ve done enough. It’s a profession that asks you to hold space for others, even when your own capacity feels stretched.
Although Social Work has many hardships, there are also the wins – a client who finally receives the medical care they need, a successful job placement with Staffwise, giving the client a glimmer of hope, a small shift in mindset that changes a client’s trajectory in life. These small moments are what make it all worth it.
By the end of the day, the to-do list is never fully complete. There is always more to follow up on, more people to help. But there is also a quiet understanding: this work matters.
Being a Social Worker in the Cape Town Jewish Community means navigating a city of complex needs, wealth and poverty, hope and hopelessness, it is all about working in an imperfect system while still believing that change is possible.
And tomorrow, the phone will ring again.
If you require assistance, please contact JCS on 021 462 5520 or email info@jcs.org.za
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