School Alumni Associations

IU School of Social Work Alumni Association

Alumni Profiles

Leah Cody

Leah Cody attended Purdue University in West Lafayette where she earned her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology in 1968.  She then went to work in Chicago for the United Charities Family Service Bureau where she was hired as a casework assistant in the services to the aged division. She noted that she and another recent graduate were the first bachelor level people to be hired by this agency. United Charities was a very old family service agency and many of its older MSWs were students of such social worker notables as Helen Harris Perlman.  Leah stated she had excellent supervision and learned a great deal about working with aged clients and their families and also about the field of social work. She worked in Chicago for about four and a half years and then returned to Indiana and worked at Logansport State Hospital as a family care worker and later as the social worker for the addictions unit.  While employed by the state hospital  she also had a part time position as a social worker for the Fulton County Family Service Association in Rochester, IN,    She was working in Rochester in the early 1970's when a wave of tornadoes hit in that area causing a great deal of damage.  She volunteered her services at the local hospital to help the storm victims cope with the effects of the aftermath of the disaster. After this experience, she pays close attention to tornado warnings. 
 
After working at the state hospital, Leah moved to Lafayette and took a position directing and coordinating services to clients of the Tippecanoe County Senior Center. While there, she took a course at the IU School of Social Work and applied to their part time program and was accepted.  She moved to Indianapolis and was hired by the Midtown Mental Health Center for their newly formed crisis unit as one of the first clinicians hired for the night shift. In looking back,  Leah  says she was  part of many firsts: the first non MSW to be hired by an old and venerable  family service  agency; the first night shift clinician at the first  mental health center  in Indiana at one of the first crisis units; and finally, she was  in the first  part time program at the IUSSW.   At that time, the School was located in Cavanaugh Hall on the IUPUI Campus.  She earned her MSW degree in May, 1978.  Her field work placements while in school were at the Family Service Association of Indianapolis and the Veterans Administration Hospital Outpatient Mental Health Clinic in Indianapolis. She was in the midst of her field placement during the famous blizzard of 1978. 

With regard to her graduate school years, Leah recalls:  she was really dreading taking the statistics class but actually wound up really enjoying the course and appreciating her professor who was very kind and encouraging; she enjoyed both field work placements; she remembers enjoying and bonding with a number of her classmates; and she first became acquainted with Cathy Mendel son, a fellow student. Leah has remained very close friends with Cathy and her husband throughout the years, sharing the many joys and sorrows in their lives.  
 
Following graduation, Leah went to work at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis providing social work services on the intensive care unit.  Then wanting to return to mental health work, she worked at the Adult and Child Mental Health Center in outpatient services to adults, doing intakes and ongoing counseling.  However, in 1982, wanting to return to crisis work, she took  a newly created position with the Midtown Crisis Unit  as the  Coordinator for  Crises Services to the  Wizard Hospital Emergency Room. In this position,
She provided direct psychiatric crisis services and general social services to the emergency room and she supervised other clinicians providing the same services.

After school Leah married and in 1981 gave birth to her daughter, Brie.  When Brie started school, Leah decided to job share so she would have more time to attend to her daughter's school activities, etc.  She did this until she was widowed in 1987 and then she continued part time and also did work in several retirement homes and nursing services, rekindling her interest in work with the elderly.   
   
 During her career, Leah supervised students from the IUSSW.  She received a VA stipend during her field work placement at the VA.  She is a member of the NASW and the ACSW and in the early 80s she served on the NASW Committee on Inquiry for several years.  She has also served on the Marion County Task Force on Aging, the Adult Abuse Committee for the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, and the Board of the Indiana Crisis Resource Federation.
 
 Leah continued to work for Midtown throughout the years and after 23+ years with Midtown and 35+ years in social work, she retired in 2006.  Since retiring from Midtown,   she has volunteered for various organizations such as Global Gifts and Historic Landmarks. In her work with Landmarks she gives tours of the city to school children and various other groups.  She was recently appointed to the advisory board of Historic Landmarks.  She also works on several committees with her neighborhood organization, The Lockerbie People's Club and she is also involved with I cart which keeps her in touch with her interest in crisis work. She also hopes to do more work with seniors now that she is retired and “is one”.
 
Leah was born in Logansport, IN and her family later moved to South Bend, IN.  She has now married again.  Her daughter, Brie graduated from college 5 years ago and is currently in a post back medical program in Baltimore.  Brie was a competitive figure skater when she was growing up.  Leah's interests include art museums, dance, theatre and music.  She particularly likes classical music and early jazz.  When she lived in Chicago, she was involved in theatre work.
 
Finally, Leah told me a story that I think is indicative of her wonderfully dry sense of humor.  With a smile and a twinkle in her eye, she related that she once attended a workshop at the Federal Prison in Terre Haute, IN.  Now, when she has occasion to drive by the prison, she always remarks to others or herself, "I've spent time in there!"

As told to me by Leah Cody, 
Irene Weinberg         

Note:  Leah and I became acquainted at the NASW Conference in October, 2007.  She agreed to be the subject of an article in the Alumni News, as long as she didn't have to write it.  Since I love to write, we struck up a deal right then and there. 

See the IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations Calendar of Events for upcoming School of Social Work alumni programs.

School of Social Work web site 

IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations contact:
Karen Deery, (317) 274-8959 or kdeery@iupui.edu