March is National Social Work Month: Sheri Colonna

Sheri Colonna was born in Atlanta but mostly grew up in Southern California. She graduated from the University of West Florida and has been in child welfare for 20 years.  There were two reasons Sheri wanted to be a social worker. The first being, her mom and her aunt both worked in child welfare when she was young, so you could say it is the family business! However the main reason was when Sheri was in high school, a good friend of hers was removed from her mother’s care for physical abuse. “Just seeing her go through the system and visiting her in her group home, made me want to be there for other children who maybe didn’t have someone in their corner.”

If Sheri could give any rising social workers advice, it would be to “rely on your unit if you need help with anything.  We cannot do this job alone, it takes a team approach. I have worked in this field for a long time and have worked with many great people and without them, I would not have made it this long.  Your team will be there to lift you up and give you motivation to keep doing what you do.  As Earvin Magic Johnson once said, ‘TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More’, this is what my unit strives for every day.”

In her spare time, Sheri and her husband love to travel, go camping, and go on cruises. Sheri and her husband are big sports fans and are known to attend a variety of sporting events.

Thank you for your dedication to NWF, Sheri!