Fall 2009 Dartmouth Partners in Community Service Interns

This fall, Angelica, a Women and Gender Studies and Latin American Studies double major, will to travel south of Dartmouth to work as an intern at Rosie’s Place, a women’s homeless shelter in Boston, MA. Through various initiatives, Rosie’s Place fights for the social justice of women, while at the same time offering women a place to eat, sleep, seek companionship and support, and fair treatment. The women that the shelter helps come from various backgrounds, many of whom do not speak English. Angelica will spend most of her internship assistant teaching English as a Second Language in the Adult Education Program. She will also be given the opportunity to work with guests who visit the food pantry by preparing and serving meals. Angelica’s past work experience with the California Women’s Law Center and Dartmouth Dining Services will be useful for her internship at Rosie’s Place. Angelica’s background and values make her appreciate what the founders of Rosie’s Place accomplished. “I want to learn the stories of the women who don’t always get heard, and look further into the bigger problem in order to find a solution.”

This fall, Oliver plans to return to his native California to work at the non-profit organization One Voice, which aids families living at or below the poverty level in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Programs available at One Voice include emergency relief services for families in immediate crises to a scholars program, which prepares inner city Los Angeles high school students for colleges all over the country. Oliver’s work with the scholars program will involve him tutoring students, facilitating education workshops, and helping students with SAT preparations. Oliver’s motivation in becoming an intern is to be able to better understand the impact that social economics can have on the development of youths. Oliver, a History major, has participated in previous volunteer work related to elementary school-aged children. His bilingual abilities will help him communicate with students’ parents, many of whom only speak Spanish. “I believe that my experiences growing up in similar conditions and being able to succeed academically considering the social and economical restrictions that I inherited is something that these future college students can learn from.”

Marielle will venture beyond her New England roots to intern with Frontier Nursing Services, Inc. in the fall. Its mission has been to provide family-centered health care to low-income rural areas in Leslie and Clay counties in southeastern Kentucky for over eighty years. FNS is dedicated to providing affordable health care services to areas that are remote, rural, and distinctly underprivileged. Marielle responsibilities will include transporting patients and supplies, tutoring at the Adult Learning Center, and assisting with buildings and grounds maintenance. She will also volunteer at the rape crisis center and domestic violence shelter. Marielle plans to spend some time learning the obstacles of delivering health care to impoverished communities. Marielle, a French major, has traveled abroad to Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, Niger, Spain, and Switzerland, and will use these experiences to help her cope with living in this remote area of Appalachia. “I understand the tension and prejudice that arise as a result of historical, religious, and cultural influences, and I have always tried to be open-minded towards ideas that are contrary to my own to bridge the cultural gaps.”

This fall, Anya will return to her native Washington to intern with the International Rescue Committee. The IRC is an international nonprofit that advocates on behalf of refugees, supports the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in providing immediate aid to displaced populations in forty-two countries, and provides thousands of refugees with funding and support so that they can resettle in the United States and United Kingdom. Anya’s specific duties will focus on providing educational and social programming for both children and adults through tutoring English, reading, writing, standardized test and college education preparation. She will also mentor children to help them better adjust to their new American lives and customs. Anya, a Government and History double major, has work experience as a research associate in the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy. “I hope that I will gain an understanding of what it is like to work for an organization like the IRC, which combines political advocacy and service. Although I will do mostly service work, I will be exposed to the advocacy aspect and am excited to see what it is like.”

Kimberly will explore life beyond her North Carolina home to intern this fall at Esperanza Community Services in Chicago. Esperanza Community Services is a center for people with disabilities located in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Pilsen in Chicago. Esperanza’s clients are people with autism, cognitive disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, traumatic brain injury, and other impairments. Ninety-four percent of Esperanza’s clients live below the poverty line, and without its services, many of their clients would not have the means to get the special attention and support they need. Kimberly, a Studio Art major, will apply her knowledge of art and experience working with Student Teachers in the Arts (START) to her roles as art assistant and mentor at Esperanza. She will work one-on-one with youths to help develop the skills they need for life. The activities will help them develop their vocational and social skills while also helping them grow as individuals to give back to their community. “My role will not be to control what the students make. My role will be to give them inspiration and the necessary tools to express themselves.”