MEET ALEXIS JAMES
Major: Nonprofit Administration
Anticipated Graduation: 2020
Where did you Intern?
Laura's Home Women's Crisis Center (The City Mission); I worked in the resource center. I interned there for a little over 3 months.
Tell us about Laura’s Home.
Laura's Home Women's Crisis Center is part of The City Mission. Laura's Home houses women and children that have undergone some sort of crisis. Once a woman enters, they undergo orientation and will be individually placed in programming based on their needs. Every week, they have the responsibility of attending classes, completing service hours, attending chapel, and visiting the resource center.
What did you do at Laura’s Home?
During my time at Laura's Home, I was working in the resource center where women had the ability to come in and use the computers. I was there to assist them with finding housing, finding employment, looking up their credit score, creating an email account, etc. I was also responsible for tracking their weekly service hours. For my intern project, I created a resource fair where I had numerous local organizations set up tables to promote resources they provide. The women had the ability to go through and collect information on banking, housing, food assistance, legal help, and more. Rather than them struggle with finding transportation to go to each of these organizations individually, the resource fair gave them the opportunity to find everything they needed in one place.
What did you learn as an intern?
During my internship, I learned that I am capable of more than I thought. Before I would wait to be told what to do next or what to work on, but during my time there, I realized that I have the skills to be independent. I gained a lot of confidence and I have my supervisor to thank for that. Rather than feel like I was an assistant to someone, I had the opportunity to do a lot on my own which I think is uncommon in most intern situations.
This internship was extremely valuable. Personally, I gain knowledge way more from experiencing something rather than reading about it. I learned so much during my time at Laura's Home and gained skills that will help me in my future endeavors.
Any other thoughts?
If you have a passion for helping others, I highly recommend interning at The City Mission!