jtwilson’s Articles at WOW Fellowship Blog

The End to an Amazing Journey

It is so crazy to think that I have finally completed my internship with Massachusetts Survivors Outreach. This will have to go down as one of the hardest summers of my life because of the high expectations and short turn around time to get all the work done. I met so many incredible people this summer who I will continue to connect with even though we are all leaving back to school. Within the span of three months, M.A.S.O has taken huge strides. We have become a non profit organization, fundraised over $5,000, and even secured an office space in Quincy. M.A.S.O has gone from a small organization into a huge Non-Profit organization that is recognized by other organizations such as Dove.

This experience will help me throughout my Brandeis career because M.A.S.O has showed me first hand how hard work can trump over all other factors. Brandeis has taught me to question all things, even how straight forward the concept and this has made my experience with M.A.S.O much more fulfilling. Combining these two life long lessons, I feel, is an ideal that people strive to learn but never get the chance to learn first hand but I have.

After completing this internship however, there is so much more I want to look into and learn. I want to become more familiar with the court proceeding process in all kinds of courts. Since I spent all my time in family court and working with victims of domestic violence, my experience with with diverse kinds of victims and proceedings is limited. I want to know how criminal and juvenile court proceeding work as well. I also want to try and complete my research that I started with M.A.S.O on the Economic Strain Within the Family Court System and maybe even write a thesis. All of the knowledge that I have soaked-up through out the summer makes me want to write it all down. I guess all of these Brandeis courses have drilled that kind of process in my head so where I actually want to write a long paper. HA HA!

The best advice that I would give a perspective intern is to be open to new ideas and get as many jobs you can handle during your internship. It will make the experience so much more fulfilling at the end of it all. I was hired as the pre-health intern but I did not only do research. I worked with the Business and Law students and helped them out as much as I could and from that experience, I was able to utilize not only my pre-health knowledge but also work on other areas that I could be interested in.

One of the main things that I have learned this summer is that action, even for a good cause, starts with one person. Just because you do not have the big following or the recognition that you expected, you must keep moving forward. I did not understand the concept of good organizations that help fight for great causes failing before it gets started. No matter how good your cause, you must keep fighting for it even when you think everything is going to be okay.

– Johnny Wilson ’13

Little over with Massachusetts Survivors Outreach!

It is crazy to think that I am over half way with my summer internship. This summer has been a whirlwind of fun, stress and accomplishment. Starting a Non-Profit Organization from the ground up is definitely an experience of its own. The time and effort collecting paper work took over a month to complete but the end result was so satisfying. I can finally say “I helped and created and Non-Profit Organization in Massachusetts.” We are still applying for the 501c3 so that M.A.S.O can be recognized all throughout the United Sates. In order for that to happen, however, we need funding. In my last post, I discussed the fundraisers that we had inline during the summer to help us achieve our full Non-Profit status. “Psychics, Reiki, Massage OH MY!: An Evening of Fun and Healing for a Cause” was a complete success. We raised over $2,000 which pushes us so much closer to our goal.

The next fundraiser is this Saturday, which I am in charge of. MASO will be hosting a Dance party in Quincy and all proceeds will go towards our Non-Profit status. I have worked late nights to get all of the details finalized in order for this event to be ready. The event will be held at Cagney’s Restaurant in Quincy. The bar has recently been completely renovated and they have a free function room available for charity events. Now that it is only a few days away, I can only sit back and wait for it to finally arrive. I am nervous but I know that I tied all of the loose ends and the night is going to be a great success.

As of recently, I have been put in charge of the hiring process for the fall and spring. My boss told me that I have complete control of the whole process, which even includes hiring the prospective interns. I have only been apart of a this process once before at Brandeis University but, even then, I did not have this much control. I have been reading over countless resumes/cover letters and have finally been able to finalize interview slots for 20 candidates. From that 20, I can only select 9. This has been a very important process for me because it has been the first time ever that I have been put into an area that I have not been fully comfortable and confident in, but have been doing a great job. I guess I can give myself a pat on the back for that.

The summer is almost over and I have only about a month left with my internship. We have many other fundraisers planned like, Volley 4 Victims, but we have also been making headway with our cause. We have been compiling information on the economic strain within the family court system. I am not allowed to farther discuss the information that we have compiled but overall, the information is crucial and will help victims of domestic violence throughout the United States. This summer has completely flown by. I can’t believe there is only a month left until I am back at Brandeis!

– Johnny Wilson ’13

Massachusetts Survivors Outreach: “Alone We Are Weak…Together We Are Strong”

Hi! My name is Johnny Wilson, a rising senior double majoring in Health: Science, Society Policy and Women and Gender Studies. It has been a week since I started my internship at Massachusetts Survivors Outreach in Quincy Massachusetts. M.A.S.O. is a grass roots organization what specializes in research and holistic healing for victims of domestic violence. Our mission is to aid victims in the healing process by providing holistic services such as Reiki, coaching,and meditation, while blogging about domestic violence in health care. This past week, we have solidified an office space in Quincy on Federal Avenue. M.A.S.O. is working hard on becoming a non-profit organization, but donor funding is currently the main obstacle. So this past week, my fellow interns and I have been working on promoting our first fundraising event of the summer – Psychics, Reiki, Massage OH MY!: An Evening of Fun and Healing for a Cause.

M.A.S.O's First Fundraiser Banner That I Created

My job responsibilities to this point have been to promote this upcoming event, but once the event is over my responsibilities will consist on doing research, court watching and coaching. M.A.S.O. has a large case load (the actual numbers are confidential), of parents and children who survived the flawed judicial system, designed to protect all victims of abuse.

I found M.A.S.O. through a close friend who was also looking for internships online. She told me about their mission statement and how it correlates with my majors/goals. One aspect of M.A.S.O. that interests me is that it focuses on health policy and women’s rights within a legal atmosphere, to advocate and support women. Working for M.A.S.O will help me employ all the tools that I have learned in my classes to assist low income victims of domestic violence, which is ideal because my career goals are forced on both law and supporting low-income families within the Boston area.

This past week was also a catch up week for me. I met with the other interns for three days from 2-6pm. During these meetings, we discussed the work each of us has completed, and the goals that we would like to achieve as a group. Some of these goals are to better organize and manage the case load, and find other ways to fundraise to help us to qualify to be a non-profit. I have also been reading court proceedings to get familiar with legal terms and been researching new health care issues affecting victims of domestic violence.

During this past week I realized that I am helping M.A.S.O. build its foundation; I am a part of something bigger than myself. Major non-profit organizations such as the Red Cross and Mayo both started somewhere. I feel that this summer I will be contributing to a evolving organization that will push for better laws and rights for victims of domestic violence.

– Johnny Wilson ’13