Stories
An Intern’s Notes: Part 3
I have been all over the city this week and I love it. I do not like to sit in one place for long periods of time, and with this internship I couldn’t sit around if I wanted to. I am able to move travel but still stay focused because everything I do ties back into my goals. For example, everywhere I went this week I learned more about Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF), which I have to familiarize myself with in order to give a presentation on it at the next staff meeting.
I spend a lot of time traveling around DC because my internship requires me to go to various places in the city. This week I did not spend a single day sitting around, and I never stayed in the same place very long. On Monday I worked in the office outlining a speech for when I facilitate Help the Homeless walks. Later that day I attended a meeting at the welcome center. Tuesday I started off the day by calling different veteran organizations to do a Help the Homeless walk, and then I went to a meeting with my supervisors at the Woodner. On Wednesday I went to a meeting with the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH). On Thursday I saw Invisible War, a moving and informative movie about women veterans who come home and have to struggle with military sexual trauma. Now, Friday morning, I am back at the development office writing this blog.
As I get further into my internship, I am feeling more swept up into the inner workings of this and other organizations, and that’s a good thing. Veteran homelessness is a complex issue, to say the least, and there are different ways people are trying to solve it. For my next seven weeks here my co-intern, Marc, and I will be traveling to organizations and talking to people about Veterans First and SSVF. On top of that I will be organizing mini-walks, a No Wrong Doors event, and a pocket guide for homeless veterans and caseworkers. I am so glad that I am staying busy during this internship, and I cannot wait to see the people I will meet and the sites I will see next week.
