Dr. Laurie Dahley, associate professor emeritus of social work, has been selected as one of the honorees in AARP Minnesota’s 50 Over 50 program, which recognizes and celebrates individuals over the age of 50 across the state of Minnesota who are making a positive impact in their communities.
The program’s goal is to prove that aging doesn’t diminish an individual’s potential or value to the state and communities. Nominations are made in one of five categories: Arts, Business, Community, Disruptor, and Nonprofit. Dahley was recognized in the Nonprofit category.
Winners in the Nonprofit category
Dahley felt she needed a transition into retirement instead of an abrupt ending, so she’s working with the Graduate & Continuing Studies office at Concordia and reaching out into rural areas of Minnesota.
“I still have things I want to accomplish,” Dahley said. “I’m a gerontologist. That’s what my degree is in, and all my work from before I joined the faculty was with aging. That's one of the things I'm working on right now for Continuing Studies is the issue of ageism. I’ve always felt that people at end of life get such a bad rap. Those are really sacred moments. The end of people’s lives is right up there with a baby being born.”
Dahley will be involved with the Spring Social Work Conference: Grief & Loss — Supporting Others & Ourselves. Part of the focus will be on the effects of the pandemic.
“We have a lot of traditions revolving around end of life — the funeral, the visitation, the food being brought over by the neighbors — all those traditions really have meaning. And the pandemic just stripped those from us,” Dahley said. “I always tell people grief is like a credit card. You’re going to pay it now, or you’ll pay it later.”
Her 50 Over 50 award certificate noted that “Dahley has been serving communities in rural Minnesota as a social worker for more than 40 years and that social workers who are carrying the load are burning out at record high rates. So Dahley realized that part of her mission was not just to serve her clients, but to make sure there would be someone there to serve their children.”