Every day the nation’s 650,000 social workers act as advocates, champions and leaders who make our society a better place to live.

Social workers are trained to look at situations in a holistic way, bringing people together with others and their communities to find ways to address pressing individual, group and societal problems such as hunger, affordable housing, equal rights for all and making organizations and government accountable.

Social workers also follow the NASW Code of Ethics, which calls on members of the profession to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.

As the nation commemorates Social Work Month in March, it is important for the public to recognize that the need for social workers to be strong advocates, champions and leaders is more important than ever.

Federal and state governments may roll back funding for services that help vulnerable Americans get back on their feet financially.

The Affordable Care Act, a law that has enabled millions of Americans to gain health care coverage for the first time, is under continuous threat and needs to be fixed so that it works more effectively.

Some of the recently hard-fought rights of people who are LGBTQ are under threat. And the Justice Department is seeking to restore draconian policing and sentencing guidelines that unfairly and disproportionately harm people who are African American or Latino.