Zimmerman tributes identify social work values

Gabe Zimmerman, the social worker killed in the Tucson shootings (see my story on 10th January), is collecting tributes in the press, which aside from a credit to him, demonstrates some of the values associated with social work:

National Public Radio says:

Gabe Zimmerman was known "as a conciliator with a deft touch when it came to working with difficult or angry people," Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep noted earlier. Zimmerman, who was engaged to be married, "devoted his life to social work and public service and helping people," a high school friend tells NPR.Giffords' spokesman, C.J. Karamargin, tells the Los Angeles Times that Zimmerman "put his all into his work, he put his all into his life." "Gabe was unfailingly patient with people. He presided over thousands of constituent cases," Karamargin tells the Times. "He was helping World War II vets get medals, people with Medicare benefits, veterans with benefits issues. These are the types of things day-in and day-out he did, and he was determined to just do the best he could. He worked hard, he really worked hard."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/01/10/132804391/arizona-victim-gabe-zimmerman-devoted-his-life-to-social-work

The Arizona Star says:

He offered an example of how to live a life of public service. "He would go out of his way to help people in trouble," recalled Daniel Graver, who worked with him in Giffords' office. "People would come into the congressional office, he would listen to them and give them money for a cab home. Some days during a campaign I would harass him to take a weekend off from his job to work on the campaign. He said to me that if I didn't work, people wouldn't make phone calls but if he didn't work, people didn't eat."

http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_06f98f89-343f-597f-82ba-0c9c7591eaa4.html 

The headline in the Examiner, Tucson, is:

Loss of aide Gabe Zimmerman leaves Giffords office lacking vital humanitarian

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Loss of aide Gabe Zimmerman leaves Giffords office lacking vital humanitarian - Tucson Places & Faces | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/places-faces-in-tucson/loss-of-aide-gabe-zimmerman-leaves-giffords-office-lacking-vital-humanitarian#ixzz1BHmN2DM6

Zimmerman Tucson shooting victim was a social worker

One of the people profiled by whdh TV as a victim of the Tucson shooting was a social worker:

GABE ZIMMERMAN, 30:
Gabe Zimmerman, the director of community outreach for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, handled thousands of issues raised by constituents out of the congresswoman's offices in Tucson and Sierra Vista. Zimmerman was one of the Giffords staffers who organized many public events where voters could meet Giffords and talk to her about issues. Co-workers say Zimmerman, who had a master's degree in social work, cared passionately about helping people. Zimmerman's mother, Emily Nottingham, said politics was a good fit for him because it combined policy and making a difference for others. "He had a real interest in helping people and had a real caring for social justice," Nottingham said. Zimmerman, who was engaged, had set a wedding date for 2012.

On the web:http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/national/12003232492888/sketches-of-victims-in-tucson-shooting

My comment: Sorry to hear of Mr Zimmerman's death. It's often said that the constituency work of Members of Parliament in the UK is like social work. I wonder how many MPs actually employ a social worker to to it, like US Representative Giffords? And Ms Nottingham makes another important point about Zimmerman's job, how personal help connects with social justice.