Interns are a win-win

Internships are a win-win situation for employers and students.  Forbes notes that employers who host interns benefit from:

• New perspective on organizational issues
• The expertise of “Gen Y tech-savvy” students and professionals
• Help with projects or tasks that staff is struggling to complete
• The opportunity to cultivate young people as new brand advocates

According to Creighton University, these unique work opportunities also provide employers with early exposure to future corporate leadership, great public relations and training and development opportunities for managers and mentors.   

Creighton goes on to outline what students can gain from their experience:

• Meaningful work experience related to field of study and major
• Exposure to real-world scenarios in the workplace
• Experience that complements theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom
• Academic credit
• Enhanced resumes

Students and recent graduates told Monster.com that they gained invaluable industry knowledge, critical professional contacts and improved self-confidence from their internships.   

H.O.M.E. is lucky to be hosting three “winning” interns this fall!

Shefy Alexander is a first-year student in the graduate Social Work program at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Her field placement is in H.O.M.E.’s shared living settings at Pat Crowley House and Nathalie Salmon House and she is relishing her interactions with the seniors living in those buildings. Prior to starting graduate school, Shefy was the Social Services Director at a long-term care facility for three years. That experience, along with work in Egypt and India, pointed her to a social work career. Shefy says that she was “ecstatic inside” when she learned she would be placed at H.O.M.E. because working with older adults is her passion and she “never knew what happened after [a patient’s] discharge” from long-term care. On home visits to clients served by H.O.M.E. under the city of Chicago’s Intensive Case Advocacy and Support program, Shefy was struck by the extreme poverty of the clients and by the proximity of poor neighborhoods to the more economically-secure areas of the city. Shefy will be with us until June 2015.

Miranda Crane is a senior majoring in Marketing at North Park University. She is working with H.O.M.E.’s Development staff on marketing and social media. Miranda chose H.O.M.E. for her placement because it is a “truly transparent” organization serving “an amazing cause”.  Miranda speaks with enthusiasm about interviews she conducted with two residents of Pat Crowley House. She was amazed to hear the history they have experienced first-hand and moved by the help and friendships H.O.M.E. has provided to them. Miranda hopes to work in the creative marketing sector after graduation. She shares this fun fact about herself: “I grew up doing musical theatre. In high school I played the Lion in the Wizard of Oz. Apparently it was good? People still mention my New York accent to this day.” Perhaps we should schedule a performance before Miranda completes her program with us in December!

Mike Deelstra came to H.O.M.E. from Dordt College in Iowa, where he is a senior majoring in Social Work. He is participating in Chicago Semester, an off-campus program that provides students the opportunity to live, learn, and work in Chicago. Mike credits classes he took in his first two years of college with “opening [his] eyes to the hurts of the world” and leading him to a service-oriented career. He describes H.O.M.E. as a “unique” internship site, due to the agency’s variety of programs and because he has been exposed to all areas of the organization. Mike’s assignments at H.O.M.E. have included development of a sliding-fee scale for the Moving program and direct service with residents of our buildings. One of those residents is a hoarder whom Mike assisted with preparations to move to an assisted-living facility. He found this experience particularly compelling because it raised issues of self-determination and other ethical dilemmas. Like Miranda, Mike will be with us until December.

We are proud to provide internships in Chicago to share our expertise and experience in social work, nonprofit management, and community services. To learn more about internships at H.O.M.E., click the link below.

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