UNC-Greensboro Student Named 2021 NASW-NC Toby Brown Award Winner!

(RALEIGH, NC) – The National Association of Social Workers North Carolina Chapter (NASW-NC) has named Benjamin Fraifeld as the recipient of the 2021 NASW-NC Toby Brown Award for Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) undergraduate students for the 2020-2021 academic year. Benjamin is an outstanding student at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro (UNCG) and within his community.

The award recognizes a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) student in North Carolina who best reflects and represents the ethics, values, and passion in the field of social work through exemplary performance in social work coursework, field placement, student social work associations, and community organizations.

Benjamin has been an active member of the UNCG campus community, serving as co-President of the Phi Alpha-Iota Nu Social Work Honor Society, senior-class representative to the Department of Social Work Advisory Committee, and is actively involved in both UNCG’s Hillel and Spartan Recovery Program. Benjamin’s participation in student organizations, as well as his work academically, has not gone unnoticed. As Michael Thull, UNCG Director of BSW Field Education and Assistant Professor of Social Work, says: “Ben excels in the classroom and holds himself to the highest of standards. The ways in which he models leadership, perseverance, and service have made it a true honor to have worked with him throughout his undergraduate experience.”

Benjamin’s BSW internship was at the Guilford County Solution to the Opioid Problem (GCSTOP), a harm reduction agency that offers compassionate care to people who inject drugs in Guilford County through a variety of services, including a syringe services program, naloxone distribution, case management, clinical counseling, post-overdose response, and more. Benjamin quickly proved himself to be a valuable addition to the GCSTOP team. His field instructor, GCSTOP Program Director Chase Holleman, says that as his internship progressed, “Ben encountered numerous challenging situations that forced him to dive deep into social work values and ethics, each time growing more confident and with a deepening understanding of the multitudes people carry.”

His time at GCSTOP also had a profound effect on Benjamin. “The passion I have developed around these issues at GCSTOP has helped me realize that I want to focus my professional career on helping achieve meaningful policy change to increase access to programs like GCSTOP and other evidence-based practices. There is much stigma that works against people living with substance-use disorders, and I believe that every overdose death at this point is a policy failure.” Benjamin will soon move to Washington, DC to begin the next phase of his education, as a member of the first cohort at Georgetown University’s new Master’s Program in Addiction Policy and Practice.

The National Association of Social Workers North Carolina Chapter (NASW-NC) is a membership organization of professional social workers with over 4,800 members in North Carolina. NASW promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW-NC also seeks to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.

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