Help young refugees (ages 8-15) explore Chicago! (Internship Opportunity)

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This is an internship opportunity like no other: have fun hanging out with newly-arrived refugee youth, develop rewarding relationships, and learn about other cultures while working with an experienced team of Youth Case Managers and learning all about best practices in direct service social work.

Heartland's Refugee & Immigrant Community Services (RICS) resettles more than 300 refugees every year from countries like Afghanistan, Burma, Congo, Iraq, and Syria, providing comprehensive services to help new refugees adapt to the culture, learn English, find employment, and maintain their health and wellness.

Youth & Family Services (YFS) is our youth team and during the summer we provide a six-week summer program for 8-15 year old refugee youth to provide recreational activities, engaging learning opportunities, and community. Summer Program runs from the beginning of June to the middle of August. Program activities take place Monday through Thursday, starting at 1:00pm and ending around 6:00pm. Start date is flexible, any time between 5/1 and 6/24 is possible.

We are looking for enthusiastic interns who want to learn about social work best practices, work closely with an experienced team, take ownership over tasks, build healthy relationships with young refugees, and demonstrate flexibility by working in both an office environment and in the field. Specific responsibilities include:

• Plan recreational and academic activities for 8-15 year old refugee youth
• Contact potential field trip locations, soliciting donations or reduced prices where possible
• Help conduct outreach to recruit youth for the program in May/June before program begins
• Collaborate effectively with the team while dividing up various tasks during the preparation phase, then to provide a consistent experience for the youth once program begins
• Help collect, document and report on quantitative attendance data as well as qualitative assessments of how youth are doing
• With guidance, help manage youth behaviors, proactively intervening to redirect behaviors such as name-calling, horseplay, or non-participation
• Commit to interning at least 24 hours per week up to full-time if able
• Language skills (particularly Arabic, Burmese and Farsi) are a huge bonus, but not required.

To apply, send a resume to Soren Larsen-Ravenfeather at sravenfeather@heartlandalliance.org. You can also email me or call me at 773-336-6076 to get more information.