Interns

Samaritan Ministry Next Step Program Internships: Where Transformation Begins

The Next Step Program is the truest expression of Samaritan Ministry's values and mission. Everyday, across the city of Washington, D.C., through sustained community initiatives, Samaritan Ministry is working to improve the lives of individuals by helping them examine and take the next steps to finding training, a job or a home. We offer here three perspectives of the Next Step Program- one from the experience of a participant, one from the viewpoint of an intern caseworker and through the lens of our program statistics. Combined, these glimpses speak to the power of the Next Step Program to transform people- changing staff and participants alike.

Each year Samaritan Ministry employs three interns as part of our full-time staff. Our internship program is intensely hands-on, engaging and transformational. Samaritan Ministry's intern caseworkers engage with real problems, and the real needs of people who are homeless and in need.

The qualities we look for in our interns are not surprising. We look for people who are intensely compassionate; exhibit a love of doing good work and have skills to contribute in many meaningful and immediate ways. The interns we hire are not intimidated by the size nor complexity of the problem placed in front of them.

The greatest value of internship is the active participation in the vibrancy and challenges of Samaritan Ministry's Next Step Program. Samaritan Ministry's Next Step Program provides what an academic setting cannot. Our interns learn how to be engaged with people who are in crisis, demonstrate compassion, help and advocacy for the participants they are working with and an understanding for all dimensions of the problems our participants face.


We're All Not So Different- Amanda Good

My internship here was a short eight-week period, but one that I will remember and grow from. The people that work here are the true embodiment of Christian values, and motivate each other with their hard work and kind words. But it was the participants that I worked with that have truly awakened me to a whole new level of awareness of the issues going on in my own city. Before working at Samaritan Ministry, poverty and homelessness were merely concepts to me. When I saw beggars on the street or heard statistics about unemployment, I could feel sympathy for the immense number of Americans who are much less fortunate than I am. But sympathy does not mean understanding, and it certainly doesn't help the people who are in need. At this internship, I matched faces with the concepts, and learned the stories behind the faces.

During my first week at work, I met a man whose house had just burned down with everything in it, leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back. I looked up his file and learned his story from the past few years - searching for jobs, finding temporary employment, and finally finding permanent employment and a home for himself and his fiancé this year. He spoke eloquently and intelligently, and with such calm that I would never have guessed that such a tragedy struck him only last week-and yet there we were; I who have never experienced the feeling of such loss or needing, next to a man who had just lost everything. Our experiences couldn't be more different, yet I felt such a strong connection to what he was going through. That connection is what I found within myself during my time here; it is not sympathy, but rather it is something much more important - humanity.

What has really struck me during my work here is how alike we all are - the staff, the volunteers, and the participants - we really aren't that different. My place behind the desk separates me from the participants I meet with, but everything I have learned here has narrowed the divide that I thought existed before. We are all learning from our mistakes and striving towards our own next steps, regardless of our pasts or our status. When I leave this internship, my next step is to return to Richmond for my junior year of college. As I go on towards my goals, I will always remember the people I have worked with at Samaritan, and the feeling of humanity and connectedness I developed here.
 

Halftime - Catherine Rodman

When I applied to work as a caseworker at Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington through the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, I knew my year as an intern would be full of new experiences. What I did not know was that I would become extremely attached to all of the people I am working with. Not only am I learning to love and serve a population I have never worked with before, but I am also experiencing what it is like to work side by side with people who care deeply about helping others.

When I first came to my station at Samaritan Ministry’s Northern Virginia office, I will admit I wanted to hide in my cubicle because I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing for the program participants. Although I was given thorough training by the staff, there were many resources to learn and several things I felt very unqualified to do. Over time however, I am learning that many of the participants, although in need of many resources, mainly need a listening ear and a friend to come to when they are feeling down.

One person in particular comes to mind when I think about my growing relationships with the participants. When I first met this man, he seemed very distant
and nervous around me and many other people in the office. We would have conversations about his mental illness and his other various problems in life, but it seemed to stay on a very business/impersonal level. After a few weeks of daily conversations between the two of us, we became very comfortable around each other and soon it was common for him to be reminiscing about his family, reciting his favorite jokes, teaching me about his hobbies and even confiding in me about his personal relationships. While this participant was taking enormous and productive Next Steps to better himself and his difficult situation, he and I were also forming a very unique relationship. This individual, along with many other participants, has helped me to understand the importance of getting to know people on many levels.

While I am growing close to nearly all of the participants, I am also growing to love and appreciate my co-workers more than anything. Everyone working for Samaritan Ministry is extremely dedicated to serving others and, in many instances, I feel as though they are serving me. For example, Maria Thestrup, lead caseworker in my office here in Northern Virginia, has been nothing but supportive of me and the work I am doing here. Whether it be an excellent piece of advice on how to deal with a particularly difficult person, a listening ear when I need to get something off my chest or a burst of laughter when something really isn’t all that funny, she has been there for me everyday, teaching, supporting and serving me. She has taught me everything I know so far about this work and has provided me with a support that I do not want to imagine myself without. In the same way, the rest of the staff dedicate themselves to serving the participants and their co-workers alike. I am extremely thankful to have the experience working with such wonderful participants and staff. While I hope the participants and my co-workers are gaining something from me, I know I am gaining and learning much more from all of them.