Social worker discusses Healthy Start during Monday AAUW meeting

A social worker will discuss Healthy Start, a program that helps children and parents, during a Monday evening meeting of the American Association of University Women’s Oak Ridge Branch.

The talk by Virginia Coleman, who has a master’s degree in social work, is open to the public and starts at 7 p.m. Monday at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

A press release said Coleman worked for years to see the Healthy Start preventive program come to fruition. During Monday’s meeting, she will talk about the reasons for the program and its success.

The press release said Janie Hiserote, nurse practitioner, invited Coleman to join her in learning about what was an effective new program. Coleman, who had worked to get a degree in clinical social work so she could help abused children, jumped at the chance to learn about it, the release said. She and Hiserote followed up on what they learned, and Virginia, in particular, persisted in getting legislative and community support for this program, which has helped many young families in the county, the release said.

Coleman received her master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Tennessee College of Social Work in 1978. She then worked for Child and Family Services for four years in their sex abuse program.

In 1982, she opened a private practice, continuing to work with abused children. She retired from her practice in 1996.

Prior to the talk Coleman will give at 7 p.m., there will be a potluck dinner, provided by members of AAUW. The event starts at 6 p.m.

To make a reservation for the dinner, call Mary Uziel at (865) 483-1043, or Marge Congdon at (865) 483-3120.

There is no charge for the dinner.

The September meeting of AAUW is being held at the Unitarian Universalist Church as usual, but beginning in October, AAUW meetings will be held at noon in Room 102 of the First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Lafayette and Oak Ridge Turnpike.

AAUW is a national organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.

Membership is open to anyone who has attended a university or community college, whether they are women or men.