Sophia Suarez-Friedman, Wayside Multi Program Director, shared her favorite local spot in Watertown, career advice, and what keeps her rooted to Wayside Multi in the latest Wayside Staff Spotlight. See what she said in the Q&A provided by Wayside.
Suarez-Friedman oversees community-based prevention, outreach, resource navigation, and counseling services for Watertown, Waltham, and surrounding communities. In this role, she leads program development, supervises staff, manages grant funding and reporting, and collaborates with city agencies, schools, and community partners to strengthen access to vital resources.
Since joining the Wayside Multi in 2019 as a Clinical Intern, she has held multiple roles, including Program Coordinator, where she expanded case management services, facilitated the internship program, and provided clinical supervision. She also continues to provide therapy and counseling in English and Spanish.
Q: What is your favorite local spot in Watertown?
A: This is hard to say, because I love Watertown. But La Bodega is amazing and the best place to celebrate a special occasion!
Q: What has kept you at Wayside Multi?
A: The community-based approach we use here for both social work and prevention really speaks to me. We create programs in direct response to the needs of the community. It doesn’t hurt that our office itself is an old house.
Q: What value most shapes your approach to social work?
A: My favorite social work value is sustainability; a social worker’s job is to work themselves out of a job. We are doing our best work when, at the end, we are no longer needed because the person or community is empowered to support themselves.
Q: What’s one piece of advice that’s stuck with you throughout your career?
A: That we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Collaboration with people who have done the work is essential and fun.