June 17, 2008
Paula Vivian Atwood
Fisk University, B.A. '71
School of Applied Social Sciences, '73
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Current home: Twinsburg, Ohio
Paula Vivian Atwood has amassed 33 years of experience in social work and mental health, working her way up from caseworker to her current post as vice president of community-based service cluster with Beech Brook, a Cleveland-area agency that offers family, health, education, and mental health services to children, teens, and their families. She joined Beech Brook in 1999 as director of programs and in two years, received a promotion to vice president, family-based cluster.
She is a licensed independent social worker, an internationally certified alcohol and drug counselor, and a licensed chemical dependency counselor. Early in her career, she worked in all aspects of counseling—individual, marital, family, and group—helping clients sort through issues ranging from child depression to divorce.
She believes her quick rise into the top levels of social work administration is a direct result of her education at the School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. The curriculum prepared students to be practitioners as well as administrators. "I was young when I finished grad school. In five years, I went from caseworker one up to caseworker five into supervision. I'm not sure I would have gotten that kind of advancement opportunity had it not been for the preparation I received at SASS. That school and that curriculum at the time were ideal."
Born in Philadelphia, she always wanted to work on behalf of children. She attributes her passion for the profession to her mother (now deceased), a social worker, who proved a dynamic mentor and role model. Mrs. Atwood also wanted to be able to influence the systems that helped children or to protect children when the systems failed them. Her mother wanted her to go to Fisk to encounter the academic life and culture of a historically black college. Fisk also offered a safe, close-knit, and nurturing environment. "From the start it felt like an extended family. I needed that; I had just turned 17."
She went from the Northeast to a South in the throes of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. She recalls the time she and several classmates were arrested. At the time, Angela Davis, the noted scholar, feminist, and activist, was on the run. Officials heard she was in Nashville. "The white police were rounding up everyone who looked like her—light-skinned with a big Afro. Many of us landed in jail."
What she recalls most is not the night spent in jail but the fact the president of Fisk came to get them released. Faculty capitalized on the experience by having students write poems and essays. Fisk alumna and poet Nikki Giovanni came to offer encouragement as well as read her work.
From Fisk, she enrolled in the social work program because of a generous scholarship and the school's reputation. When she completed her master's degree, she went into direct service—counselor, caseworker—but soon learned it was not her niche. She wanted to be a change agent. Administration provided that opportunity.
Her efforts have been recognized: She was nominated the Outstanding Program Director for a Youth Orientated Service by the Cuyahoga County Drug Abuse Service Board and was named "One of the Most Interesting People in Cleveland" by Cleveland Magazine. In 2006, she received the Hearts of Hope Award in recognition of her longtime contributions to children of Greater Cleveland.
Mrs. Atwood recently celebrated her 33rd anniversary with husband William, also a social worker and a 1978 alumnus of what is now the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. Their daughter, Quiana, has kept the professional legacy alive as she, too, is a social work professional.
"I am thrilled to learn about the connection and the legacy between Fisk and Case," Mrs. Atwood says. "Based on my own experiences, it is an absolutely wonderful combination."
Posted by: Heidi Cool June 17, 2008 03:50 PM
Category: Alumni
, Legacy
, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences