Samy Rivera

UNIV 390
15 Apr 2015
Social Justice Internship: The Privilege to Serve
Over 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

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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

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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.

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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

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(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 assetbased 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

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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.