Social worker whose ‘heart beat strongest for those who were struggling’ dies from COVID

In almost every picture, South Florida social worker Helen Gutierrez-Zwick is wearing a different, colorful pair of glasses.

In the photos, she is joyful and joking around — on her own, with her coworkers, and with those persons she helped in more than 30 years of dedicated work.

“Helen loved laughing and helping the most vulnerable,” said her longtime friend and former coworker Shelly Baer, director of Leadership Training Initiatives at the University of Miami’s School of Medicine’s Mailman Center for Child Development.

Helen died July 17 of COVID-19. She was 62.

The two friends were part of each other’s life through work, weddings and Halloween parties. They gave presentations together at national conferences.

“She was easy to love because she loved so easily and genuinely. Her big heart beat strongest for those who were struggling to hang on,” Baer said. “She will be dearly missed. I miss her.”

Helen’s passionate social work reached into hospice, behavioral health, disabilities, child abuse and chronic illness including HIV and AIDS.

When she died unexpectedly, Helen was the clinical director at Infinite Ways Network., a social service agency that offers family counseling and mental health resources in Miami.

“Her service was rooted in devotion, not ambition,” said Rose Homicile, executive director of Infinite Ways.

“She always lit up the room,” said her daughter Iris O’Connor, a website manager in Boston. “She had the gift of being both discreetly tender and charmingly boisterous. She often saved some of her best zingers for folks who took themselves too seriously — and she never took herself too seriously either.”

O’Connor said her mother tested positive for COVID posthumously, after testing negative about a week prior to her death.

“She was continuing to work despite her illness, misdiagnosed, in my view, as a cold.”

In 1999, Helen was featured in a Miami Herald story that recognized her as a member of the Social Work Team of the Year when she worked at the South Florida AIDS Network.

In a strange coincidence, not lost on Helen’s daughter and friends, that story was written by my own mother, longtime Herald columnist Bea Moss, who died in 2010.

“I know I may be biased, but I have to admit that I was always struck by the breadth of my mother’s work in the Miami community across many, many populations,” O’Connor said. “I strongly felt that her work in helping people, getting them resources, being there for them when others could not, deserves to be highlighted.”

Helen received degrees from the University of Florida and Barry University. She was a 1976 Silver Knight nominee in Art for Miami Jackson Senior High.

She also was a social worker in jobs at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, Ryder Trauma Center Jackson Memorial, Aventura Hospital & Medical Center, and the Institute for Child and Family Health among others.

In addition to Infinite Ways Network, she was working at HospiceCare of Southeast Florida when she became sick.

“COVID-19 is not going away for a long time and the loss was extremely unexpected,” her daughter said. “A month later, we are still in shock.” O’Connor said she is working on her mother’s obituary.

“My mother was very humble about her work. I’m sure she would balk at the fact we’re having this exchange. But the more I reflected, the more I believed that she likely touched thousands of lives over her tenure as a clinical social worker. Stories like this, it’s not about the death, it’s the life lived.”

Youth symphony parents need help

When the pandemic hit, parents of young musicians in the Gold Medal-winning South Florida Youth Symphony lost $30,000 ($800 per student), in fees when the group’s South American concert trip was canceled in March.

Organizers said the travel company that was coordinating the trip refused to fully refund the cost for “expenses.” Many of the parents have also lost jobs and the funds are needed more than ever.

“Many of these parents, whose kids are with the SFYS on full or partial scholarship, had to scrape and save to send their kids on the South America trip,” said Marjorie Hahn, executive and creative director of the SFYS, who has been with the organization since it was founded by her stepfather, Carmen Nappo, in 1964.

“Now those same parents, many of whom are unemployed because of COVID, are hurting and that $800 is vital to buy groceries and pay rent.”

She said for many of the talented youth, it would have been their first time on an airplane or out of the country. A Go Fund Me page is at https://gf.me/u/yttfkv if you can help.

“At this time when there’s so much unrest and distress in our country, it is important for diverse and inclusive organizations such as ours to continue to work with underserved communities because our music program benefits all families and all children,” Hahn said.

You can also contact MakeMusic@sfys.net or call 305-238-2729.

Science toys donated to Chapman Partnership

Alan Rosenberg of Markowitz Ringel Trusty + Hartog and Michael Dunn of Dunn Law stepped up to help the numerous homeless children and families in Miami with toy donations.

On Aug. 27, the two bankruptcy attorneys, who are colleagues and friends, filled a truck with new, unused toys from the ‘I Know Science’ store bankruptcy and delivered them to Chapman Partnership, the private sector partner of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust.

The toys are valued by the debtor at more than $10,000 and include children’s tables, chairs, scooters, science-related toys and eco-experiments. They will be used by child residents and families at the Homeless Assistance Centers and shared with everyone.

Rosenberg has been active with Chapman Partnership for years. He has served on numerous committees and is a member of its NextGen Executive Council.

“We are grateful to have Alan Rosenberg and NextGen in our network of champions who are always looking for opportunities to secure much needed donations. These toys will be put to good use with the 1,285 families we serve every year,” said President and CEO Symeria T. Hudson, Chapman Partnership.

If you have news for this column, write to ChristinaMMayo@gmail.com.