Charlene Luma. Courtesy photo.
Charlene Luma鈥檚 clients call her team for help in the middle of the night.聽
They are victims of domestic violence, hate crimes, and human trafficking. They have survived child abuse, sexual assault, and neglect. And their fear and suffering have no timetable.聽
鈥淥ur job is to help them,鈥� says Luma, chief of the聽聽at the Suffolk County District Attorney鈥檚 Office. 鈥淲e want to ensure that their rights are adhered to and that they鈥檙e supported.鈥�
Luma, who graduated from the聽Boston College School of Social Work聽in 2005, says her team works 24/7, serving residents of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. In 2020, the group worked over 9,000 cases. needed temporary housing. who had been swindled out of money needed lawyers. needed immediate emotional support.聽
The work is especially crucial now. Homicides in Boston 51 percent over the past year, according to a site that tracks crime in the city, jumping from 37 in 2019 to 56 in 2020. 鈥淎ll victimization is terrible,鈥� says Luma, who joined the office of the Suffolk County District Attorney in 2019, 鈥渂ut homicides tend to have a significant impact.鈥�
Luma has received several awards for her work. In December, she won the from the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. On Feb. 1, she will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Social Work聽at the annual Equity, Justice, and Inclusion Lecture and Distinguished Alumni Award Celebration. The deadline to for the event is Monday, Jan. 25.
鈥淚 hope the work I have done has made a difference,鈥� says Luma, who also holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in psychology from 糖心vlog直播平台. 鈥淎s a woman of color, I've chosen to stay in Boston to do work that impacts my community.鈥�
Luma grew up in Boston, living in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roslindale. She graduated from Boston Latin Academy, one of the most prestigious exam schools in the city, and enrolled at 糖心vlog直播平台 in 1999.聽
She says her family supported her along the way, but she knows how hard it can be for people to reach their potential if they lack a support system. If they don鈥檛 have access to good schools, family, and necessities like nutritious food.聽
Her desire to help people in the city where she鈥檚 spent her entire life has fueled her work for the past 15 years. 鈥淚 feel blessed to have had the opportunities that I鈥檝e had,鈥� says Luma. 鈥淲hy should other people not have the same opportunities?鈥�
“It鈥檚 not our job to fix people. It鈥檚 our job to provide support and guidance.”
In 2015, Luma created a program to provide 24/7 support to emotionally traumatized youth and their families. As the founding director of the , she worked to ensure that family and friends of young murder victims received immediate care.
Team members provided food, shelter, and emotional support and organized referrals to therapists. Luma attended funerals for victims and comforted survivors at crime scenes.
鈥淚鈥檓 the type of social worker who believes in doing the work on the ground,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen one of my staff was out there at one in the morning, I was there with them.鈥�
Luma, who lives with lupus, built the team as she battled health problems. As soon as she launched the program, she says, she lost the function of her kidneys and started dialysis. Treatment drained her, she says, and the disease limited her ability to live life to the fullest for years. It wasn鈥檛 until 2019, when she received a kidney transplant, that she started to feel like herself again.聽
Now she looks back on that time as a defining moment in her career. 鈥淚 accomplished this when I had my own personal challenges,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 something I鈥檓 very proud of.鈥�
Luma says her internship at an outpatient clinic in Quincy, Massachusetts, prepared her to meet the challenges of social work. She was tasked with providing therapy to a diverse group of clients, including a white woman who she says may have been racist. But she wasn鈥檛 discouraged, keeping the client and ultimately bonding with her.聽
鈥淭herapy is a skill you have to learn,鈥� says Luma. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 walk in one day and say, 鈥榦h, I know how to be a therapist.鈥欌�� Her philosophy as a social worker is simple: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not our job to fix people. It鈥檚 our job to provide support and guidance.鈥澛�
The work, says Luma, takes a mental toll, and studies show that at some point in their careers.
Luma advises social workers to carve out time to take care of themselves. She says they can improve their ability to care for clients if they nurture their own well being. 鈥淲e are terrible at asking for help because our energy is often focused on doing things for others,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut you will be a better social worker if you ask for help when you need it.鈥�