On April 11, 2022, Promise Heights was proud to learn that the National Association of Social Workers Maryland Chapter (NASW-MD) announced their selections of Stacey Stephens, MSW, LCSW-C, as its 2022 Social Worker of the Year, as well as Jodi Jacobson Frey, PhD, LCSW-C, CEAP who was named their 2022 Social Work Educator of the Year.
In its news release, NASW-MD stated:
“Stacey Stephens has built a program that successfully eliminated a long-standing health disparity. She is an example of what our profession can do to improve communities, end injustice, and prevent the deaths of infants and children. It is with these achievements in mind, we have chosen Stacey Stephens for 2022 Social Worker of the Year.”
More from the NASW-MD 2022 Social Worker of the Year news release:
Stacey Stephens, MSW, LCSW-C has led a transformative initiative offering individualized education, careful listening to community members, and advocacy for equitable health policies to improve the health of families. The B’more for Healthy Babies Promise Heights (BHB-PH) was the brainchild of Stephens and Promise Heights Founder and Director Bronwyn Mayden, who recently counted Stephens as “the best possible leader for this important initiative.”
Stephens’ energetic team of social workers and community outreach professionals work in collaboration with its community-based peer leaders to provide personalized support to families with children from ages zero to five.
Her dynamic team offers doula support, breastfeeding guidance, and many other supportive programs. When the pandemic struck, BHB-PH’s team pivoted to provide virtual services to families who depended on this vital support. Ms. Stephens’s leadership sets the tone and inspires her staff.
BHB-PH Peer Leader Jameka Henson recently praised Stephens, saying, “I love how much she brings love energy to every meeting — she’s full of life, and you just hear it in her voice. It’s infectious! She seems driven to do whatever she puts her mind to accomplish.
At a press conference last June, Baltimore community leaders celebrated Stephens’s team for BHB’s dramatic success. During the past decade, Upton/Druid Heights’ infant mortality rate dropped by 75% to 3.8 deaths per 1,000 live births—a dramatically lower figure than in 2009, and well beneath the city’s overall White infant mortality rate of 4.4% in 2019.
Mayor Scott lauded Stephens’ team, saying, “The work in Upton/Druid Heights is absolutely incredible! I want to thank Director Stephens and B’more for Healthy Babies for this measurable impact in this community, and subsequently in Baltimore as a whole.”
To learn more about BHB-PH visit facebook.com/PHhealthybabies.