Anthony Bass’ 20-year career in the social work and mental health field began when he was in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, he said.
“People seemed to gravitate towards me,” said Bass, who is medical social worker at SSM DePaul Health Center and maintains a private counseling practice. “I had the ability to talk to people. A lot of that is just secondary to what the strong matriarchs in my family were doing in the community.”
Growing up, his mother, Yvonne Lee, took in his seven cousins when his aunt passed away. That brought the number of children in the household up to 10, he said. His house would also take in other family members as well. Bass’ stepfather, Frederick L. Lee Sr., was a St. Louis city police officer.
“I was destined for that,” he said. “My parents were that way.”
Bass has served as a social worker at SSM DePaul for more than six years, but prior to that he worked in different medical divisions at the health center for about 12 years.
“Tony has an empowering presence,” said Elin Cogan-Adewunmi, social services team leader at De Paul Health Center. “His experience with diverse patient populations, along with his innate gift to serve, enables him to inspire positive change in the patients he serve, while broadening the perspectives of those around him.”
SSM has been instrumental in his success, Bass said, particularly because it paid for four of his degrees, including two associate degrees and his bachelor’s in social work and master’s degrees in counseling from University of Missouri – St. Louis. He also has a master’s in social work from Saint Louis University and a master’s degree in management and leadership from Webster University.
He laughs that his stepfather is a big reason why he has so many degrees.
“My dad encouraged me to stay in school,” he said. “And every time I got a degree, he would say to go back and get another one. It was a back and forth thing.”
Bass said he is a strong family man and he loves children. He and his wife, Mildred, have three children. And his upbringing has taught him the importance of community.
“Although we didn’t have much, we didn’t know it because there was so much love in the family and community,” he said. “Families were helping to make sure everyone had food.”
He brings this mentality into his volunteer efforts with many community organizations, including the St. Louis Minority Health Coalition, the Self-Help Center and the 27th Ward Infant Mortality Group. He loves to work with groups that ensure children have book bags and other supplies they need.
“That’s important to me,” he said, “because I had a great start in life.”
His greatest achievement was starting his private practice, he said. And he also feels honored to counsel police officers who are injured in line of duty and experience high degrees of stress.
“That is such an honor, because I see them just like our veterans,” he said. “But police officers’ lives are on the line every day.”
Unfortunately, because of the way “the network is set up,” he said seeking counseling as an officer could have a damaging impact on their record. With the conversations that followed the Ferguson unrest, he said more municipalities are trying to change this dynamic. He particularly commends the North County Police Cooperative for understanding the importance of providing preventive services to their officers.
Bass also has volunteered with the St. Louis County Probation and Parole department, providing aggressive offenders with chemical dependency and anger management counseling. Additionally, Bass has been a board member for the local and state chapters of the Missouri Association of Social Welfare for six years.
“I love everything that I do because God has blessed me to do his work,” he said. “I’ve had an insane rate of experience. And only God could have gotten me through that.”
