When I was in high school I became interested in Social Work as a potential career. Went I first became interested in social work I had a limited idea of the roles a social worker could have. The types of work they take do ranges from hands on to behind the scenes work and everything in between. There are many societal issues a social worker can focus on: mental health, physical health, poverty, education, homelessness, etc. And the population with which one wants to work also varies: infants, teenagers, adults, and elderly.
My prior internships and volunteer experiences have mainly involved me working directly with individuals. I was eager to intern with Covenant House because I was interested in the behind the scenes work that takes place at a non-profit. Although there are not any social workers in the headquarters office, a lot of the employees started off in a direct care role and eventually transferred over to corporate. I thought that once I experienced “the other side” I would know which path to go on when figuring out a career.
While Covenant House works directly with youth, my work is mainly behind a computer. Within the past month I have worked with three different departments – the database department, telemarketing, and their campaign to combat human trafficking called ACT (Abolish Child Trafficking). Simply meeting the people in each of these departments has shown me the variety of jobs that exist within a non-profit organization.
The second department I worked with was the telemarketing department. When I was first asked to complete a project for Covenant House’s telemarketing department I was not too eager. I did not see how the department overlapped with my interests. However, by the end of the project I became very interested in the research I was doing for my supervisors. The project showed me the important role this department plays in helping Covenant House raise money. Covenant House would not be able to provide the same amount of services without the money raised by their telemarketers. And the role my supervisors play in running this department is more complex than I pictured.
Besides understanding the importance of the telemarketing department, I learned I would want to be in a department that worked closer with the population being served. However, that does not mean I am entirely opposed to working in this business environment.
As I mentioned in the first paragraph, there are different populations a social worker can work with and different issues on which to focus. The age group is not too new to me, however, homelessness and all the obstacles that come with being homeless are. If you are curious and want to learn more about the different issues youth homeless face you can click here.
Originally, I was set on working with an organization that worked solely with kids and families in the foster care system. Foster care has always been a topic that interested me. Many of the youth Covenant House works with have been in the foster care system. However, that wasn’t the reason I wanted to intern with Covenant House. I chose this internship because it was not solely about foster care. I could learn a bit about foster care, Medicaid, mental health services, homelessness, along with countless other obstacles these youth face. How much I have learned and been exposed to in the past five weeks alone is far greater than I could ever imagine.
After I finished my telemarketing project I was reassigned to a new project. My new job was to do research on human trafficking. Youth homelessness and human trafficking are connected (as I recently learned) in several ways, which explains why Covenant House is interested in learning more about the issue. If you would like to learn more about the connection between human trafficking and homeless youth you can click here. My specific task was to research how human trafficking is defined and the history of human trafficking. These topics, along with others, will eventually be added to their website (ACT). To be honest, I was not expecting to be put on this project but I am beyond grateful for having the opportunity to learn more about this issue. I realized as I started researching that I knew very little about human trafficking and although I did a fair amount of research, there is still so much to learn. This project allowed me to get my foot in the door and has raised my own personal awareness.
I realize that this internship has the potential to inspire me and help me realize what it is I would like to do in the future. I am also starting to realize that this internship is an opportunity to learn what careers may not be for me. I have really enjoyed my time with Covenant House. Having a job like the ones HQ would create an incredible career and perhaps one day I will find myself in an office working behind the scene. But I know that first I would like to find a job with more direct care. I would like to talk to people and work with them face to face.
I know many career questions will remain unanswered once I finish this internship. There is one last thing I learned from Covenant House that I know I want in my future. All the employees care a great deal about the work they do and the population they serve. I hope that throughout my career I remain as invested and dedicated to my job as the employees are to the mission and goals of Covenant House.