Personal Narrative: My Internship At St. Agnes Home

By the way of introduction, I am Aleem Punja's cousin and he suggested I reach out to you to explore possible opportunities at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto.

The process of finding an internship was very stressful for me. I honestly had no idea where to start or even what I was interested in. It took me many weeks to do research into different facilities that had internships available. After calling tons of organizations I finally interviewed at one that felt right for me. The interview took place with Laura Crain, who I also interviewed for this essay. The internship is at the McHenry County Substance Abuse Coalition.

| Conflict sociologists, such as Marxist and feminists, argue that society is based on conflict between different social groups such as classes and genders. They say that there are inequalities among children in terms of their opportunities and risks, and that many children are unprotected and badly cared for.

The Starfish Family Services internship is a perfect fit for me. Their mission “Strengthening families to create brighter futures for children” compliments my belief that all kids should be given as much support, resources and love as possible in order for them to reach their highest potential. Working for Starfish Family Services would allow me to apply the skills I have learned at Wayne State University into real world applications, while being a part of something that supports the community around me. As a parent of two children, ages 3 and under, it’s a great opportunity for me to showcase to them the importance of giving back and hopefully become a role model to them when they’re

In the Fall of 2014 I became an RA, Resident Assistant, a position longed for since I entered as a student at Landmark College, a college for students with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. I went into the job aspiring to help other students and build upon the close knit and friendly community that was already in place. My job was to ensure the safety and security of all residents, refer students to appropriate services on campus, and run and plan programs alongside two other RA’s and a Resident Dean.

CPS Region 3 (Denton): Implementing a program based home for adolescent mothers in the child welfare system

For my internship, I served under the Allegheny County Health Department in Pittsburgh, PA. I served as the National Health Corps Member for the Women, Infants, and Children Program as their Care Coordinator for all nine offices. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a supplemental nutrition agency that targets pregnant and postpartum women and young children ages 5 and under who are at risk of malnutrition. My supervisor Annie Nagy along with my mentors in the office made sure I was able to receive all of the materials and resources I would need to have a complete and successful internship.

The fall of 2014 was the absolute worst few months of my life. It started in the middle of September. My dad suddenly one day had a sharp pain in his side. He said he was fine, but my mom was not having that and got him to go to the hospital. The pain passed but that week they set up all kinds of scans to find out what was wrong. They figured out the pain was just gallstones. They thought they could just remove it, but that did not happen. In the same scan they found a mass in his chest. The doctors did not know what it was, so they came up with a few possibilities. A few weeks later, in the middle of October, they scheduled a surgical biopsy. Dr. Wallace, the surgeon, told us there were a few different outcomes from the surgery. I do not remember it all exactly, but I know there was one bad outcome and three others that were curable and they could fix right then and there. If it was one of the three things they could do a whole nother operation right there that day and remove it. The fourth was cancer.

My current resident assistant was unavailable to interview because he is usually a very busy and had a deadline coming up tomorrow, so instead I interviewed an RA that was working at the Willkie. His name was Vasu and he was super open with me about being an RA. He was really honest too, he said that the process of becoming an RA was and is hard and that it is a very competitive process.

Volunteer work has always been a prominent activity that occurred within my life. Growing up with a father that was involved in the community so much that it felt like it was his job, I was always surrounded by community service and helping others. At the young age of six years old, I decided to do my part as well, feeding the homeless in a local church in New Bedford, Massachusetts. From that year on, I believe a majority of my most valuable characteristics derived directly from my volunteer work. Now, almost thirteen years later, I am involved in over 100 hours of community service per year and am ready to apply it into a new field- as a Resident Assistant.

I completed a summer Internship at Britton Christian Church. The Church is over Eighty years old, and is located in Oklahoma City Oklahoma. I discovered the availability of this internship through one of their new pastors Irvin Rodriguez. Over the past few years I had a growing interest in youth Ministry. My time at Dallas Christian College helped me to realize my passion for the youth. I then began to look for an internship position relating to youth Ministry.

On Wednesday, February 7th 2018 it was my first time volunteering with Martha's Table. I signed up to volunteer at the clothing store, known as Martha's Outlet, but the volunteer coördinator directed me to the kitchen because they needed more staff. I was quite excited to work in the kitchen because I love cooking and organizing. When I got to the kitchen, I put on an apron, gloves, and hair net to make sure a sanitary place. My first task was to organize the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that organizations such as law firms, schools, and churches. I organized hundreds of sandwiches that were given out for free at dinner as well as in the lobby of Martha's Table. Another task I did while at dinner and the dishes was to go outside and

My internship is currently at a community agency that is a part of the Community Service Board of Fairfax County, Virginia called Intensive Case Management. The Intensive Case Management program is located in Reston, Virginia. The population that this community agency serves are chronically homeless adults that have a co-occurring disorder of serious mental illness and substance abuse. This agency has seven case managers with a caseload of fifty-two clients. The purpose of this program is to find housing for clients and stabilize their co-occurring disorder so that they can function independently in the community.

The agency where I am completing my internship is called Center for Family Services. This organization provides a wide range of services. I am working in their Family First program. This program is a substance abuse program just for mothers who must attend drug court or have an open case with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency. These women are ordered to complete a substance abuse program. This program serves a diverse cultural and ethnic population who may have experienced trauma in their life. Many times, trauma and post traumatic stress can lead to substance abuse.

My placement is at Gateway Youth in Elmont. Gateway is a prevention program specializing in working with youth between the ages of 5-17 who are in conflict with their family, in need of academic or emotional support, or who are involved in the juvenile court system. Services provided include case management, crisis intervention, and advocacy with the schools, court, and community. As a social work intern, I am placed at Gotham Ave Elementary School working with third graders. At this school, Gateway Youth provides an after-school program for students that need supervision with their homework and inclusion in activities before their parents can pick them up.