Karla Neufeld
Calgary,AB
Summary
Compassionate and service-oriented registered Social Worker with extensive experience in case-management, teen issues, parenting, and financial literacy. Passionately serving clients facing serious disruptions or dysfunction to life and helping build coping skills and support systems. Culturally sensitive and trauma informed proven to quickly develop trust and rapport with clients.
Value the importance of human connection. Enormously invested in the value of a team to provide solutions to problems, as well as to brainstorm strategies. Strongly influenced by professional frameworks built around critical disabilities and systems theories and natural supports framework, especially when applied to anti-oppressive practice.
Understand the need to use various interventions in individual situations. Have seen how important this is in work with youth and training group leaders. Strengths include being a team player while working independently. Highly motivated and independent person with an unshakable loyalty to something important, and problem solve rather than abandoning difficult situations.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Outreach Case Manager/Parent Support Worker
Kindred Connections Society
05.2022 - Current
- Provide support to parents in housing, life skills, natural support, mental and physical health, post-secondary, finances, parenting, attachment, relationships, and basic needs
- Advocate or teach self-advocacy to help parents navigate many systems to move their family forward
- Work through lenses of natural support framework, trauma informed, and infant mental health
- Offered community resource guidance to clients to meet family needs for assistance
- Part of development of collaboration with resource line to start Reaching Home Project
- Represented organization to local agencies to establish relationships to support referrals to program
- Highly organized to completed administrative tasks such as making phone calls, answering emails and inputting data into Apricot database
ATTACH Facilitator
University Of Calgary
07.2022 - Current
- Teach skill of reflective functioning to support attachment for caregiver and child
- Collected data for research data analysis
- Speaker at infant mental health workshop with founders of ATTACH program to explain impact of program on frontline work and clients
Financial Literacy Facilitator
Momentum
02.2021 - Current
- Delivered financial literacy through six modules, which include, assets, consumerism, budgeting, credit, RESPs, and banking, within match saving program to young parents
High School Case Manager
Kindred Connections Society
12.2020 - 06.2022
- Collaborate between partnership with Calgary Board of Education and Alberta Health Services to offer wrap around service to teen parents
- Provide support to teen parents in housing, life skills, natural support, mental and physical health, post-secondary, finances, parenting, attachment, relationships, and basic needs
- Monitored student progress and implemented intervention strategies to support student success.
Youth Group Coordinator
Manifest Church
09.2016 - 03.2022
- Develop youth program for students, grades 6-12.
- Organize, plan and implement bi-weekly group meetings.
- Develop relationships with parents to promote communication and trouble-shooting.
Social Worker Practicum
Kindred Connections Society
09.2020 - 11.2020
- Supported clients and families with empathy and compassion during difficult times.
- Advocated for clients to assure respected rights and wishes.
- Completed intake process with clients
- Social worker support for three pregnant teens through assessment, referrals, emotional support, advocacy in school, support preparing for baby and basic need support
- Lead mental health initiative to give clients strategies for mental health through Christmas break
Community Volunteer
Northern Hills Community Association
06.2016 - 04.2020
- Greeting, networking and serving low-income families at community events such as The Gift of Joy, community store at Christmas for low-income families, and Break a Lego at Vivo for Healthier Generations.
Print Production Manager/Communications Assistant
Centre Street Church
04.2007 - 04.2020
- Identified and planned for resources needed to accomplish production objectives of 60-80 thousand copies per month.
- Implemented performance, quality and efficiency measures to achieve aggressive production goals.
- Successfully managed production activities to achieve on-time shipment of orders.
- Train staff and volunteers on communication request system; data entry; first point of contact for organization's email communication; facilitating response management to time sensitive issues; upload and maintain current web content and video.
Social Work Practicum
Rocky View Family & Community Resource Centre
05.2016 - 06.2016
- Supervised team member providing client consultation and community resource referral to walk-in service users in Cochrane catchment area.
- Provided supportive input in client meetings.
- Collaborated with family and youth support worker, giving input into program development and client meetings.
- Special interest and research into problems of youth homelessness and at-risk family violence.
- Used program Outcome Tracker for data management
Social Work Practicum
Jewish Family Services
05.2015 - 06.2015
- Supervised team member for agency that focuses on basic need provision, family violence counseling, Holocaust survivor help and older adult outreach for their catchment area.
- Assisted older adult outreach worker on home visits.
- Operated Basic Needs phone line and referred requests to appropriate services within agency or broader Calgary system.
- Familiarity with building food hampers and special kosher dietary needs.
Volunteer Phone Operator
Distress Centre
09.2013 - 08.2014
- Provided support to callers in areas of suicide, self-harm, mental illness, domestic violence, addiction, grief and loss, behavioral and relationship issues.
- Presented appropriate information and referrals while assessing for risk to public or self.
Northwest Community Leader
Centre Street Church
09.2008 - 06.2011
- Led and trained volunteers in communication and relational skill building relating to small groups and young adults.
- Planned, organized and implemented events focused on building community.
Young Adults Group Leader
Centre Street Church
09.2007 - 06.2009
- Organized volunteers with one-on-one meetings and facilitated groups for young adults.
Education
Bachelor of Social Work -
University of Calgary
Calgary, AB12.2020
Social Work Diploma -
Mount Royal University
Calgary, AB04.2017
Bachelor of Biblical Studies -
Peace River Bible Institute
Sexsmith, AB06.2006
Skills
- Community Outreach
- Organized
- Reliable
- Cooperative
- Crisis intervention
- Compassionate
- Referrals and networking
- Emphatic
Activities & Accomplishments
- Hiker – enjoy the physical challenge of outdoor experiences.
- Artist – wrote and illustrated a children's book. (Sophia the Spoon, self-published 2017); graphite and watercolor artist.
Timeline
ATTACH Facilitator
University Of Calgary
07.2022 - Current
Outreach Case Manager/Parent Support Worker
Kindred Connections Society
05.2022 - Current
Financial Literacy Facilitator
Momentum
02.2021 - Current
High School Case Manager
Kindred Connections Society
12.2020 - 06.2022
Social Worker Practicum
Kindred Connections Society
09.2020 - 11.2020
Youth Group Coordinator
Manifest Church
09.2016 - 03.2022
Community Volunteer
Northern Hills Community Association
06.2016 - 04.2020
Social Work Practicum
Rocky View Family & Community Resource Centre
05.2016 - 06.2016
Social Work Practicum
Jewish Family Services
05.2015 - 06.2015
Volunteer Phone Operator
Distress Centre
09.2013 - 08.2014
Northwest Community Leader
Centre Street Church
09.2008 - 06.2011
Young Adults Group Leader
Centre Street Church
09.2007 - 06.2009
Print Production Manager/Communications Assistant
Centre Street Church
04.2007 - 04.2020
Bachelor of Social Work -
University of Calgary
Social Work Diploma -
Mount Royal University
Bachelor of Biblical Studies -
Peace River Bible Institute
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