March was National Social Work Month and April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, so we sat down with our very own case manager Eliana Loveluck to talk more about her roots in social work.

Eliana comes from a legacy of Latin American dreamers who sought a profound social and economic change in the 1970s, both in her native country Chile and in the United States. Eliana said she first became interested in social work when she was working in DC. She was the assistant to Isabel Letelier, the widow of Orlando Letelier, Chile’s former ambassador to the United States, who was assassinated in Washington DC in 1976. 

Eliana was motivated to build a career in social work because of the disparities and inequalities many Latinos faced when attempting to access health and human services.

LSF is incredibly fortunate to have Eliana in our Manatee County Case Management Organization. She brings a wealth of knowledge in social services and child abuse prevention. She’s held a wide range of positions from a Health and Human Services Advisor in the Office of Latino Affairs, Community Schools Coordinator at the Latin American Youth Center in D.C. to working in specialized programs for children who were exposed to violence.

Eliana has been with LSF for just under two years, and she told us that serving as a case manager is a privilege because she gets to work with children and families every day. Her passion has always been fighting for equality and she said if there is one thing she will always be committed to, no matter what her job title is—“I remain committed to fighting to create profound social, racial, and economic justice.” Thank you, Eliana, for working towards healing, hope, and help for all. You are living our compassion value!