This week marks my second interning with the Urban League of Northwest Indiana through Valpo’s CAPS fellowship program and so far the experience has really been like no other work experience I’ve had so far.  Coming in to this internship I really didn’t understand what the Urban League does, but I’ve since learned a great deal about their work in the Northwest Indiana community. Basically, they have three core areas- education, employment, and diversity and inclusion. They hold several large events like a college fair in the fall, and a diversity and inclusion luncheon, as well as sponsorship events with other community organizations. In addition to these they also work on a smaller scale, by helping connect individual clients with services in the community related to housing, food pantries, and employment.

One aspect of the Urban League that I find really fascinating is that although they only have two paid employees, they perform so many tasks in the community. A lot of this is through the hard work of their employees and board members, but also many volunteers that come in on a regular basis. That is probably the most inspiring thing I’ve witnessed while working with the Urban League so far- that there are so many people coming in to help without compensation but simply because they want to help and find the work important. These volunteers do work that is critical to the agency, and there is also a strong community dynamic between all the staff and volunteers who know each other so well, and that’s been really great to be a part of.

So far a lot of my work has been on the “front lines”- or basically working at one of the four front desks which are accessible to clients that come in and we are all tasked with answering the phones for questions related to different services. One of the most rewarding things I did today was through a phone call as a student called with questions related to a scholarship application and I helped walk him through the process. The greatest independent task I’ve been working on the past couple weeks is organizing a donor list with contact details about all the various donors, and donations the Urban League has received presently and in previous years. I will also be helping to organize the college fair throughout the summer.

Although I’ve learned a lot my first couple weeks at the Urban League, there is so, so much more to learn and I am excited to continue this process and further contribute to the amazing work being done here.

The outside of the Urban League building.

Me at my office for the summer.

The “front lines” seen when walking into the Urban League offices.