It is Monday of my final week here at the JCRC and I am between making my final calls and wrapping up my projects. I cannot believe how quickly this time has gone! It seems like just yesterday it was the beginning of the semester and I was new here. I wanted to take a moment to write one final entry, summarizing my time here. Rereading my first blog, there are many parts of my role at the JCRC that have remained the same and there are other parts that have evolved and changed throughout the semester.
To begin with, I have continued to develop and gain experience in communicating with others in a professional sense. I have spent numerous mornings and afternoons on the phone, contacting organizations and individuals. I have come to detect when a simple email will be sufficient in communicating my objectives or the instances in which a phone call is much more appropriate. My typing skills have also improved greatly throughout the semester and I am writing faster and with more proficiency that ever before.
The JCRC Poverty Internship has given me a phenomenal insight into the organization, operation, and function of non-profit work. I have been touched by the dozens of non-profits in the area that are making life better for the poor, underprivileged, disabled, and suffering as well as by the community of people that support them. From the large crowd that gathered for the Coalition on Human Needs Community Forum that Gail and I attended in September to the JFHN Committee Members that went on numerous site visits, there is a great deal of passion for social justice supporting the JCRC and similar types of organizations.
One of my favorite projects has been assisting with the organization of the Jewish and Muslim Day of Service. The excitement I heard in the volunteer coordinators' voices when I asked them if they were interested in participating in the event again this year was contagious and convinced me of the importance of such an event. I am very lucky to have not only gotten to witness the planning and allocation of such an event but also to be a part of the actual preparation.
The time I have spent at the JCRC has reaffirmed my desire to work in the non-profit/advocacy sector. As a Public Health major, I recognize the importance of non-profits in aiding to accomplish change among a large group of people. The JCRC was an especially unique opportunity because I feel like I got the best of both worlds. I experienced an insider's interpretation of a non-profit through working with the Jewish Fund for Human Needs and I was able to understand the positive changes an umbrella organization like the JCRC can make for a non-profit. I am sad to go but also ready and excited to take the skills I have learned and the experiences I have had to my future endeavors.
