By Geoff LoCicero
VCU School of Social Work

A Richmonder for more than 50 years and a 1987 master’s degree recipient from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Social Work, Hedrington-Jones, Ph.D., completed the first year of a two-year term as NABSW president in June. She led its conference’s return to Richmond in April for the first time in more than 30 years, with more than 700 attendees being welcomed to VCU’s home territory.

“I was absolutely ecstatic – I was so happy that we were here,” she said.

NABSW was founded in 1968 and has more than 100 chapters and 30 university and college student chapters in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Hedrington-Jones joined NABSW as a VCU social work graduate student, and the annual gatherings became a family affair.

“We all went to the conferences until my children were probably out of college. I told my husband it was getting too expensive, because when we took our children, our children would bring their roommates, their college friends, and we were footing the bills for like 10 of them. I said, ‘We’ve got to stop. We must be crazy,’” she said with a laugh.

Hedrington-Jones, who previously served as NABSW vice president, has great pride for VCU – even if her colleagues grow tired of her refrain.

“I always talk about my school, my alma mater. And so one of the girls said, ‘Damn, we have to hear about you and that VCU for another whole year?’ And I said, ‘Yes, you’re going to hear it. You’re going to hear everything I have to say about VCU.’”

She discovered only in the past couple of years that the CEO of the National Association of Social Workers, Anthony Estreet, Ph.D., is also a VCU social work alum, having earned his master’s degree in 2007.

“We’ve done a lot of things together, but I guess you never take the opportunity to say, ‘Well, where did you go to school?’ I was just pleased [to learn] about that. So then somebody said, ‘Oh, man, now we have to hear you and Anthony talk about VCU.’“

Hedrington-Jones, a faculty member with Walden University’s online social work program and a former VCU social work adjunct faculty, credits two VCU professors for being mentors during a time when, she said, support for Black students could be lacking. Bob Peay and Claire Wompierski helped create a positive environment that she called “magic.”

“At the time, VCU was the place to go,” Hedrington-Jones said of graduate school. “VCU was the center of social work. Claire was an advocate for students and an independent voice, and she made it all worthwhile.

“I really believe social work is my ministry. VCU was a vehicle for that. Even with the challenges that you had, it didn’t make you stop. You just had to keep going. Along the way, you had people that helped you to get through, and so you knew it wasn’t anything that you couldn’t accomplish.”

The instinct for helping has been a family affair for Hedrington-Jones, whose late husband Lonnie Jones Sr. served as her constant companion at the NABSW conferences and constantly worked to connect her with individuals in the Richmond community seeking help. To honor Lonnie’s contributions, a $5,000 NABSW scholarship was established in his name. Hedrington-Jones called it “one of the most phenomenal things ever for me.”

Hedrington-Jones said social workers are never more vital than in uncertain times, when mental health challenges rise, and policy and systemic government change impacts communities, families and individuals in numerous ways.

“Social workers are the ones who do this sacred work, and helping people get through these hurdles is very intense, and it’s purposeful,” she said. “So we have to meet these needs with skills and knowledge that only we have. We’re talking about emotional healing and hearts hurting, and then people being dismayed, distressed. It’s impacting their families and children. So I think it’s very important for us to prepare social workers for this.”