Author: schneisb

I had an incredibly meaningful and informative summer thanks to my internship experience, and I already miss all of the colleagues and guests that I worked with during my time at St. Francis House. Because I learned so much from and so enjoyed my work this summer, I am now planning to continue work in the social service arena by applying to graduate schools of social work. At the beginning of the summer I was hoping that my internship experience would help focus my career search, and, sure enough, I was exposed to a career that I wish to pursue in the future. The work I completed in my final weeks solidified this career interest after I interacted with more guests and shadowed social workers.

In addition to gaining exposure to services that St. Francis House offers that I had not observed earlier in the summer, the second half of my internship involved a great deal of interesting meetings and off-site trips. The meetings that I attended with my supervisor included meeting a representative for Spare Change News (part of the Cambridge Homeless Empowerment Project), a professor from Northeastern, a woman who teaches people to make their own shoes, and individuals in the Massachusetts Treatment Center. These experiences taught me a great deal about networking and collaboration in a professional setting. The meetings also expanded my understanding of homelessness and the challenges that people who are homeless face, and my knowledge about the criminal justice system was also deepened by the direct, unique experience of meeting with individuals at the Massachusetts Treatment Center.

I also helped organize a free legal clinic for criminal cases, and setting up appointments for guests taught me a great deal about how the criminal justice system both furthers and prevents what I conceptualize as “justice.” My views of social justice were challenged this summer in that I now see people less as “criminals” and “victims” and more as simply individuals. Working with people who had been incarcerated demonstrated for me how complex criminal actions are, and I began to examine the ways the media and dominant discourse often present issues of criminality.

Meeting with homeless and formerly incarcerated individuals taught me about social justice in a way that built upon my learning at Brandeis but was much fuller due to the face-to-face and “real world” experiences I had interacting with these issues. In the fall I will be taking several courses that discuss social justice issues, issues including poverty, evidence in the criminal justice system, and alternative methods of handling conflict. I think that taking these courses will be a perfect way for me to continue my education on these issues, and I imagine that these courses will be more meaningful after my experiences this summer. If I end up in graduate school for social work, I will also be able to learn much more about these subjects both inside and outside of the classroom, and I look forward to expanding my knowledge on topics of criminal justice, homelessness, poverty, and the distribution of social services.

For anyone interested in a similar internship, I would suggest taking advantage of all that a host organization has to offer. St. Francis House in particular is a large non-profit with a variety of services and programs occurring simultaneously, and it was very helpful to me to learn about and observe the different services offered within the building. I gained a much more complete view of homelessness after spending time on different floors of the building. Meetings, both inside and outside of the building, taught me a great deal about how non-profits are run and how people in different organizations connect to best serve people. Therefore, taking advantage of these meetings and hearing the perspectives of many different people, whether in the lunchroom or outside of the building, is very enlightening. Interacting with guests was the part of my experience that was the most moving and educational for me, and I suggest that future interns take time to get to know the wide variety of people that enter the St. Francis House building. I had an incredible internship experience and look forward to continued work in the social service sector in the future.

– Sarah Schneider ’13

The first several weeks of my internship at Boston’s St. Francis House have flown by, and in this short period of time I have learned volumes about homelessness and the criminal justice system. Going into the internship, I was hoping to connect classroom learning about social justice issues to a work setting. Now that I am several weeks into my internship, I feel that I have connected my past knowledge to a “real world” setting, but what I underestimated was the amount to which seeing issues play out in people’s lives would be a form of education for me. My background knowledge has simply been a jumping off point for me to continually explore how individuals experience homelessness and how their experiences are related to a variety of policies. The experiences at my internship have demonstrated the complexities of social justice issues in ways that classroom learning could not have fully conveyed; meeting with individuals who have experienced homelessness and, often times, incarceration and hearing their stories is endlessly informative regarding social policy questions.

This summer I hoped to gain greater direction in my own life in regards to career interests and understanding what skills I possess that could be useful for the workplace. While I am still unsure of what career path might be the best option for me, I have learned that I enjoy working with people and particularly hearing their stories. As a result, I might pursue a field such as counseling or social work, or at least find work that incorporates interaction with people in some capacity. While I enjoy working with people, I also have gained a deeper understanding of policy changes that could greatly impact individuals. Later in the summer I will have an opportunity to take action regarding specific policies through work with the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, so this work should help me discover if activism surrounding policy change is the direction I wish to take in the future.

Conducting a great deal of research at my internship has honed my research skills and grant-seeking skills, which could be applicable to a wide range of non-profit work that I may pursue in the future. My interpersonal skills have also improved this summer; observing my supervisor and counselors interact with St. Francis House guests has enhanced my ability to communicate with and assist populations that I previously had no experience working with. I am proud of my ability to actively listen to others and affirm their experiences while also keeping in mind what guidance they might need. Many of the guests we serve simply need someone to talk to, and I feel that one of my most important roles this summer has been to be a source of support through listening and engaging with people. This could be invaluable experience for any kind of future work I might do, whether it be directly counseling people or simply communicating with others in the workplace.

I have also learned about what it takes to start and run a social enterprise. The bag-making business that I am assisting my supervisor with entails attention to a wide variety of details and logistics. The work takes brainstorming to come up with ideas, and then a great deal of networking, paperwork, meetings, and planning to execute the ins and outs of a business. I have never had exposure to the business world and what it takes to produce, market, and sell a product, so this experience has been eye-opening for me. Here is a photo of what our bag workshop looks like, a workshop that only came together after much planning.

In future weeks I imagine that I will expand upon the skills I am developing and gain more clarity on what careers might be of interest to me in the future. With several weeks left I look forward to working with people and working on policy change, as well as observing the various services and programs contained within St. Francis House.

– Sarah Schneider ’13