Abby Accettura, ’15
Abby Accettura is a rising junior at Valparaiso University, triple-majoring in English, French and the Humanities. She is proud to be a summer CAPS Fellow as well as a Valparaiso University Christ College student and Founders Scholar. She is serving this summer as the intern for EMPOWER Porter County, an anti-substance abuse campaign through the Porter County Community Foundation that focuses on preventing substance abuse by strengthening family relationships and providing programming to build protective assets in developing children. In her free time this summer, Abby is working as a babysitter, a tutor, and a copyeditor in the Valpo area, and is so excited to see all that this summer will bring.
Caprice Balleweg, ’16
Caprice Balleweg is a rising junior and International Economics and Cultural Affairs and French double major. She is originally from Omaha, Nebraska and is currently interning at Lutheran World Relief in Baltimore, Maryland. At LWR, Caprice works in New Business Development on positioning efforts for grant acquisition. Et parle un peu de français, aussi!
Kristine Gordon, ’15
Kristine Gordon is a senior English and Humanities double major with a minor in Music from Buchanan, MI. This summer she is doing archival work and research for the Federation of State Humanities Councils in Arlington, VA. When she’s not working or doing homework, she’s probably playing the piano, reading, or watching TedTalks!
Nate King, ’15
Nate is a senior Digital Media major with a Theology minor from Parker, CO. He is passionate about faith, social justice, baseball and taking sweet Instagram photos. This summer, Nate is serving at Lutheran Services in America, as the Public Policy and Advocacy Fellow. He will be assisting with LSA’s general policy and advocacy work, while doing policy research on two topics important to LSA’s members – child, youth and family issues & senior services. He will also be helping to craft a social media strategy for LSA’s advocacy work, as well as doing legislative tracking on a human trafficking bill.
Grace Leuck, ’15
Grace is a senior at Valpo double majoring in Political Science and Global Service with a minor in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). This summer, Grace is working with the United Way of LaPorte County. After graduation, she plans on volunteering with the Peace Corps to work in community development.
Aaron Meihak, ’15
Aaron is a senior Psychology major and Business minor. This summer he will be working with the Center of Workforce Innovations in Valpo. The organization is non-profit organization dedicated to improving upon local workforce and economic conditions, as part of a nationwide effort. He will be assisting with their Ready NWI initiative, meant to support local schools in preparing their students for college and eventual entrance into the workforce.
Emily Powers, ’15
Caleb Rollins, ’15
Caleb is a senior at Valparaiso University studying Global Service and Philanthropic Leadership and Service. He likes Jesus, the outdoors, and talking about everything. He is working as the Development Intern with Lutheran Services in America in Washington, D.C., helping with research on foundation and corporate development opportunities.
Rachel Shore, ’14
Rachel just graduated from Valparaiso University with an English major and Spanish minor. In the fall, she will be attending the Graduate School for Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois. This summer she is serving at Housing Opportunities where she will job shadow and assist all employees. In addition, she will help plan and implement the organization’s largest fundraiser.
Kaitlyn Spaudie, ’15
Kaitlyn is a senior Health Care Leadership major from the western suburbs of Cleveland. This summer she is interning with National Lutheran Communities and Services in Rockville, Maryland. Kaitlyn will spend her time in Maryland as both a Strategic Outreach and Health Care Administration intern at NLCS. Kaitlyn will be doing work on the administration side at one of NLCS’s senior living communities, working with NLCS leadership on various strategic outreach projects, and going on various field trips along the way. Kaitlyn is looking forward to spending the summer learning about how she can use her degree to work with the elderly after she graduates.
Maria Wagenhofer, ’14
Maria’s placement is at the Urban League of Northwest Indiana, which is an organization that serves Lake, Porter, and LaPorte Counties in the areas of financial literacy, education, and health/wellness. Maria will be a Program Development Specialist, serving as the coordinator of the Urban League’s LEAD initiative, which aims to prevent and reduce alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among Indiana youth through peer-lead prevention activities and the coordinator of the Health and Wellness Seminar for seniors and youth. She will also assist with their Diversity and Inclusion Conference.
Garrett Warren, ’15
Garrett is a senior English and Economics double major from Milwaukee, WI. He will be facilitating and analyzing a grassroots re-evaluation of the United Way of Laporte County‘s philanthropic efforts. He will be working with the United Way as they survey the population’s needs, as well as the most effective resources to meet those needs. He is very excited to be involved in such an ambitious and critical undertaking.