Assistant (poverty)

COMMUNITY PARTNER

ICM Food and Clothing Bank

ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP

Duties

We are seeking interns to help in several areas: interviewing clients for their needs, (using laptop computers to collect family information and track visits); providing limited case management services to clients, (with the help of available materials, talking with clients about other needs they might have and finding referrals for them.)

Interns will learn information about very low income working poor families, the elderly and disabled, and mentally ill.  It is a very good place for an entry level education in  social work, sociology, philosophy, criminal justice, and family dynamics.

Population served

ICM is located in the "zone," the area where the highest concentration of homeless live in Phoenix.  Surrounding that area is low income housing where many of our client families come from.  They are frequently without work, between jobs, working several part-time jobs and almost always do not have healthcare benefits.  Others we serve are elderly on fixed incomes, and the mentally and/or physically disabled.  Some might have recently gotten out of prison.

Community need/impact

The community has limited resources for these individuals, and without the nonprofit sector, they might not survive.  Clients come from all over the Valley - so the factor linking them is poverty and hunger.

ICM is volunteer-driven.  We have a very small staff, and still manage to serve all the individuals mentioned.  We need extra hands here to do the work.  Interns will bring fresh faces, a youthful outlook and enthusiasm, and maybe optimism to some of our clients who have no reason to be optimistic.  We love students and enjoy mentoring them (the Executive Director has 28 years in Valley nonprofit administration.)