What do we know about Nathan Bierwirth? What was his educational background and his work experience? What significant experiences in his life played key roles in his decision to work at Pathfinders?

Question

Nathan Bierwirth, BSW, worked as an employment counselor for Pathfinders Social Services, a nonprofit agency serving the Minneapolis metropolitan area. Pathfinders provided employment services for people leaving welfare, persons with disabilities, the homeless, and immigrants, refugees, and asylees. Part of Nathan’s caseload consisted of newly arrived refugees enrolled in Minnesota’s time-limited Refugee Cash Assistance–Employment Services (RCA-ES) program. Individualized Employment Plans (EPs) helped refugees transition from welfare to employment and self-sufficiency. EPs required a minimum of 35 hours per week of RCA-ES–approved activities, including employment services and formal education (limited to 20 hours per week). Nathan’s client, Ayana Tuma, a refugee from Ethiopia, had no educational or work experience and knew no English. This prevented her from effectively participating in employment service classes, so she enrolled in a full-time English as a Second Language (ESL) program. When Hennepin County audited Pathfinders, clients like Ayana, who exceeded the 20 hour instruction limit, could be sanctioned and even terminated from the program. As the audit approached, Nathan wondered if he should report Ayana’s ESL hours accurately or falsify her Employment Plan.

Answer 1

Nathan Bierwirth worked as an employment counselor at Pathfinders. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in social work from Goshen College, a small, liberal arts, Christian college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite peace tradition. Working at Pathfinders was Nathan’s first professional social work position, although he had extensive volunteer experience in a variety of social services. Two of these volunteer experiences were particularly formative for Nathan– articipating in community service trips to Native North American Indian reservations and renovating housing in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in his hometown of Gary, Indiana. These two experiences in high school led him to volunteer with a local Habitat for Humanity chapter and a local refugee resettlement program during college. Because of Nathan’s rewarding experiences working with refugees, their families, and their sponsors, Nathan looked for job opportunities working with refugee resettlement programs. Shortly after graduating from Goshen College in December 2001, he eagerly accepted a position at Pathfinders as an employment counselor. Another important thing to note about Nathan was his commitment to Christianity and the connection he discerned between his religious faith and his social work practice. Nathan understood social work as the expression of “a keen vocational vision,” or calling. His religious faith informed and energized his social work practice.