Rivera 5

Samy RiveraUNIV 39015 Apr 2015Social Justice Internship: The Privilege to ServeOver the course of 8 months interning at Catholic Charities Madonna House interim housing site, I have worked with 14 staff members and approximately 30 families (80 clients) to assist single mothers towards self-sufficiency. In that span of time I can summarize what I learned as arming me with the tools to become an effective servant leader that creates a supportive and collaborative environment for change. This is something I did not anticipate. When I first started the internship I approached it as an opportunity to learn practical skills to run a nonprofit at an organizational level and be satisfied. This formulaic approach, however, missed the whole point of direct service: connection with other human beings. My philosophy and approach towards the internship shifted through our class discussions and reflections about leadership theory and community development, and continued to evolve through my interactions with people at Madonna House. As a result, this internship challenged me in my personal, professional, intellectual, and civic capacities so that I could mold into the right leader for the work I want to pursue.In my personal life, the internship asked me to reconsider my prejudices, my strengths, and my cultural background. Starting at Madonna House I experienced an intense culture clash. To begin with, I did not expect all of the staff members to be so open with me about their life experiences and thoughts. But on the other hand, I noticed that many of the staff members were much older than me and came from different cultural experiences than I did. Moreover, I expected to transition into a more administrative role as an indirect resource for the clients and, thus, avoided direct contact with them. However, a few months into the internship, I had become an expert at staying in my artificial comfort zone, and this was causing problems with the rest of the staff. One day, Sharita, the site supervisor, called me into her office and told me that in social justice work, the real service lies in human connections, especially with the group you are called to serve. I made a shift then to interact more closely with the clients. I created programs for them to build community, to laugh, and feel a little bit more normal. Looking back on it now, I realize that during the first portion of my internship, xenophobia and doubt in my capabilities kept me from developing my full potential and giving all of myself to the clients and staff at Madonna House. My obvious strengths were in planning, strategizing, and researching resources for the clients. And I did help the case manager create an affordable housing database and a nearby resource database for the clients, however anyone can do that. It is when I started experimenting, making mistakes, and daring that I discovered other strengths. I am a great listener and I used that to my advantage when I started to get to know the clients and their children. This helped me see the world from their perspective and understand their frustrations and the kinds of fun programs that would help them relax and feel validated. I discovered another strength when it comes to encouraging others. Getting to know the people at Madonna House, I started learning and asking about what was important to them and verbalizing my appreciation for them. Not only did my relationships with the staff improve, but I also learned how make a stuffed and fried cabbage thanks to Ms. Bessie, one of the service aid staff members. Although I still have trouble opening up sometimes, a fresh attitude of humility and compassion and a supportive staff have helped me come out of my shell personally and professionally.Within a professional context, the biggest lesson I learned was how to navigate professional relationships. The first barrier I encountered was in task assignment. At first I expected my supervisor to assign me tasks for the week and to have clear learning objectives for me. This was not the case. Sharita wanted to give me freedom in designing my internship and she did not know where to place me since she did not know my strengths. Thus, it was my job to figure out where I could add the most value without stepping on anyones toes. My first instinct was to ask all of the staff members what they thought was missing from Madonna Houses services. They all noted the lack of support for youth programs and childrens psychological and socio-emotional development. Some of them remarked that there should be a more effective screening process for clients placed at Madonna House and a more thorough orientation process. I then researched community organizations in the surrounding neighborhood that could send representatives to Madonna House and fill in that void. However, I had no influence in this matter and many organizations did not have the necessary staff themselves to help out. When I approached my supervisor with the idea, she made a subtle comment that partnering with other organizations was part of her role. I realized, then, that I was too eager to change Madonna House without gaining trust or credibility. Through consistent attempts to learn Sharitas leadership style, I soon learned how I could collaborate with her and where I could add value and not distract her from her necessary tasks. Learning that there is a time and place for employee initiatives was a helpful lesson in organizational structure and hierarchy. Furthermore, I learned about peoples unspoken roles in an organization. For example, there are four staff members who have been working at Madonna House the longest. As a result, they have more responsibilities and authority than the rest of the staff. One of the staff members likes to take over creative decorations and bulletin boards for the building. It is something she is proud of, and if anyone interferes with this, she becomes upset. Not knowing then what I know now, I wanted to take on more creative projects at Madonna House, but she disapproved of my work. I then overcame the next professional obstacle: conflict management. I found that a healthy work environment is fueled through open and understanding communication, and I realized that I should be more direct when I am working with other team members. Finally, my commitment to improvement impressed Sharita and it helped me acquire a summer internship with Catholic Charities in their Communication department. It is an honor for me to continue supporting an organization I believe in and expand my experience with social justice work in another dimension. Since communication fundamentally distributes power, I believe that the internship will further my career goals to empower others through education and storytelling. On an intellectual basis, I grew through informing myself about homelessness in Chicago and the resources available to people experiencing homelessness. When I first started my internship, I was excited and nervous to enter a new environment and to engage directly with clients facing issues of homelessness. The only experience I had with people who are homeless was seeing people on street corners and I knew that was not the whole picture. According to Chicagos Coalition for the Homeless, as of August 2014 approximately 138,575 Chicagoans were homeless (http://www.chicagohomeless.org/faq-studies/). As I started to hear the clients stories, many of them had been misplaced due to arguments with family members, domestic violence situations, or simply loss of employment. All of those situations could happen to anyone. One client I met was a college student with a two-year-old daughter and she lived at Madonna House for two months while she found an apartment. As a college student myself, her story helped me deconstruct and shatter the label of otherness that is cast on people who are homeless. The class readings about leadership theory and asset-based community development also engaged my intellectual pursuit for an accurate social justice framework. We spoke of the Two Feet of Love in Action approach to find the policy and immediate relief initiatives in place to address an issue. I acknowledge the need for both institutional and direct service approaches to eradicate injustice, but it would not be possible without loving leaders who value their team members. This servant leadership philosophy also coincided with the asset community maps our class created because they depend on looking at people as valuable in and of themselves and for what they bring to the table. Not as liabilities that must be replaced or fixed.Through this experience, I also had the opportunity to take what we learned in the classroom and apply it in the civic sphere. My first experience of this was at a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) hearing in the fall. I connected with Chicagos Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) Womens Empowerment Project coordinator and met her there to support the fight for a living minimum wage. That experience opened a window to community organizing for me. Although I am privileged by my parents socioeconomic status and I have always felt financially secure, it was empowering for me to form part of a crowd who felt strong enough to reclaim their right to live a life of dignity. They turned their anger into action and I was excited to support a movement that meant so much to often disempowered people. One of my goals was to travel with CCH to Springfield to lobby for a living wage, but the date is still to be determined. However, I decided to start a newsletter for Madonna House residents to stay up to date with policies that impact their income. Recently, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner has cut public aid programs that will limit low-income familys access to childcare and health care. On the Illinois Action for Children website there were instructions about how to write to a state elected official and share a personal story about the impact that these program cuts will mean for millions of families that depend on them. Although a slightly passive approach, I figured that informing the residents is the first step for them to become self-advocates for the rights they deserve.Although the journey was not what I expected, I am prepared to continue social justice work with Catholic Charities in the summer and in my future endeavors. After this internship, I understand that creating a cohesive team and remaining committed to service requires a constant focus on the larger purpose at stake within the daily mundane tasks. I will carry the leadership theories, tools, and skillset I acquired through this internship experience into the new projects awaiting me. I am excited to strengthen my community outreach and communication skills so that I can further influence the redistribution of resources towards those who need them. In the end, I discovered the privilege of serving others and connecting with the common pulse of our global community to live a life of dignity.