'Family is always first': Williamsburg resident honored for career helping families as a social worker in Chesapeake

Virginia Gazette - 11/25/2021

Nov. 23—Looking back, Adalay Wilson realizes that she started being a social worker before she was in elementary school.

The oldest of seven siblings born within eight years — including two sets of twins — Wilson helped with child care, cooking, homework and squabble-solving. All along, her working parents preached the importance of family, especially the bonds between brothers and sisters.

"I remember being about 12 or 13 and my mom telling me, 'If anything happens to me and your dad, you have to promise me to fight hard to keep you all together,'" Wilson says. "In my professional life, that's what I've tried to do for children."

Wilson, a Williamsburg resident and licensed clinical social worker, is chief program officer at UMFS, a statewide nonprofit involved in foster care, adoption and therapeutic services. This fall, she was named an Angels in Adoption Honoree by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute for her long career supporting families.

Based in UMFS' Chesapeake office, Wilson, 61, has been with the agency for 32 years, devoting her career to helping children and parents with emotional, behavioral, social or medical needs. She also was a Child Protective Services worker in Chesapeake for four years.

One highlight has been Wilson's advocacy for Black and biracial youth, historically overrepresented in the foster care system. Within her first two years at UMFS, in fact, she had helped place 40 children of color in families by visiting community hubs such as churches, sororities and barber shops to discuss the need for caregivers.

"Adalay has been an unwavering champion for children, teens and families," says Nancy Toscano, president and CEO of UMFS. "She is a leader who passionately serves others every single day."

The national award from CCAI is part of the nonpartisan group's drive to raise awareness about the many children and teenagers in need of permanent and safe homes in the United States. Wilson was among 75 Angels recognized in 40 states in 2021.

Wilson grew up in Norfolk and graduated from Lake Taylor High School. Inspired by an aunt who was a social worker, she earned a social work degree from Virginia State University and a master's of social work from Norfolk State University.

"I always wanted to do something to help people," she relates. "This felt like a calling."

Since arriving at UMFS in 1989, Wilson has held a variety of positions. Now in senior management, she oversees programs across Virginia for the Richmond-based organization, which has 11 sites statewide.

Through the years, Wilson has done all she can to keep children safely with their birth families and never separate siblings, which often happens if foster or adoptive parents are eager to take a baby or young child but not a teenager.

Children placed in adoptive families, meanwhile, have called Wilson as adults to thank her after finding her name on their paperwork. And despite witnessing heartbreaking scenes of abuse and neglect, she has learned about the resilience of families.

"Even when a family was struggling, most of the time it was because of a lack of resources, not a lack of love," she notes. "And no matter what children have gone through, their desire was to be with their family."

Today, Wilson is gratified to see more federal dollars going toward preventive services to help families avoid the need for foster care, as well as to relatives who step up to care for kids who otherwise would have gone into the system.

As for her own family, Wilson is the proud mother of two adult daughters and a grandmother of four. Not surprisingly, she also remains close to her younger siblings.

"Family is always first," she says. "All children deserve to have a lifetime connection to people who will support them."

Alison Johnson, ajohnsondp@yahoo.com

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