Hi! My name is Samy Rivera and I was a Social Justice Intern with Catholic Charities Madonna House from Fall 2014-Spring 2015.

I am majoring in Communications with a focus on Advocacy and Social Change and minoring in Educational Policy and Spanish.

Let me tell you a little bit about Madonnna House and the opportunities I received through this internship.

Madonna House provides safe shelter, food, and support services for mothers and their children to create an avenue towards self-sufficiency. Through this internship program, I served as a resource for clients and put educational opportunities and employment related tools within their reach. I immersed myself in social justice topics surrounding homelessness and housing disparities. This led to exploring various advocacy platforms such as community organizing.

The most important part of the internship for me was interacting with the clients and facilitating youth and community building programs. It was in getting to know the clients and the staff that I understood the lives that are affected by oppression and my responsibility to listen, understand, and stand in solidarity with them. This page hosts several highlight experiences and reflections from my internship. I hope it inspires you to find a problem you are passionate about solving and that you put your heart into the work you do.

About the Internship

The Social Justice Internship Grant is a year-long, 275-300 hour internship experience. Students have the opportunity to engage in significant work at one of three Chicago area non-profits: Catholic Charities, LIFT-Chicago, and Misericordia. Through a competitive application process, 10 students are selected and move through the internship experience in a cohort model. In the first (fall) semester, students participate in trainings on campus and at their site. The cohort meets monthly for community building, reflection, and continued training. In the second spring) semester, students enroll in a section of UNIV 390, gaining 3 hours of academic credit for their internship experience.