Youth Homeless Response Team – Gypsy Alvarado, Peer Navigator Intern
From the YHRT placement site: “You are an amazing individual, in the 10 weeks you made a huge difference in our youth’s lives. We cannot thank you enough for all of your hard work and dedication. We are rooting for you, we know you will be doing big things in life! Remember to always go out and make your dreams come true. Thank you for everything you will be missed at YHRT.”
Second Harvest Food Bank – Lisa Pham, Volunteer Coordinator
From the SHFB placement site: “It’s sad that Lisa’s time with us has come to an end! We are very grateful to have had her. She is very quick to learn and dives into a project when given. She is very detailed oriented and is always open to feedback. I really appreciated her work and final products, she always understood the assignment and if not she asked questions!”
Homeless Garden Project – Aubury Freed, Growing The Table
From the HGP placement site: “I can’t believe the summer internship has come to an end already! Building upon the feedback from the mid-point check in, Aubury has continued to be reliable, flexible and a warm and positive addition to the farm team. She took an interest in getting to know the organizations that we work with, and has conducted interviews with their staff to write a small piece about the Growing The Table program. I’m really looking forward to reading it! Working with all of you at the Blum Center has been a wonderful experience also – we have felt supported throughout the whole internship.”
Community Action Board – Jennifer Martinez, Administrative Asst.
From the CAB placement site: “It’s amazing how quickly our time with the interns has gone! And we’ve so appreciated them! I’d like to convey my deep appreciation for the skill, creativity, dedication, and commitment of both of our interns this session! They’ve both been such a pleasure to work with. As you know, administration work can be a little bit of everything. We’ve had them work on social media, outreach documents, community action plan components, human resources and equity documents and more. They’ve really embraced everything we’ve had them work on, and we’ve seen them continue to grow in skills and understanding of the work. I truly wish we could keep them as interns beyond August, they’ve become part of our team, and have added so much. And thanks to you all at Blum for making this wonderful intern program happen this summer – it’s been a valuable experience!”
Community Action Board – Paulina Gonzalez, Administrative Asst.
From the CAB placement site: “It’s amazing how quickly our time with the interns has gone! And we’ve so appreciated them! I’d like to convey my deep appreciation for the skill, creativity, dedication, and commitment of both of our interns this session! They’ve both been such a pleasure to work with. As you know, administration work can be a little bit of everything. We’ve had them work on social media, outreach documents, community action plan components, human resources and equity documents and more. They’ve really embraced everything we’ve had them work on, and we’ve seen them continue to grow in skills and understanding of the work. I truly wish we could keep them as interns beyond August, they’ve become part of our team, and have added so much. And thanks to you all at Blum for making this wonderful intern program happen this summer – it’s been a valuable experience!”
Davenport Resource Service Center – Keily Romero, Immigration Services
From the DRSC placement site: Our immigration department is growing and with the help of Keily along with another intern, they were able to move 16 immigration cases forward this summer! Twice a week, Keily would work on various paperwork ranging from naturalization cases, DACA renewals, initial consultations and more. This type of work required attention to detail, constant follow up, and some direct client assistance which Keily handled very well. She was eager to learn and was able to make a positive impact during her time here. DRSC is grateful for the time and dedication Keily invested to support our immigration clients!
Davenport Resource Service Center – Guneet Hora, Immigration Services
From the DRSC placement site: Our immigration intern Guneet along with another intern, worked diligently this summer and were able to move 16 immigration cases forward. Guneet was continuously learning and improving her work which required attention to detail, knowledge of the immigration filing system, and direct client assistance. Through her time here, we saw Guneet grow more confident in the immigration work she did especially during the in person consultations with clients. Each paper scanned, document filed, and envelope mailed made a positive impact in our community and for that we are grateful, thank you Guneet! Thank you to the Blum Center for including us in this wonderful internship opportunity for UCSC students.
Davenport Resource Service Center – Alexis Eproson, Summer Recreation
From the DRSC placement site: Offering our first fully in-person summer youth program since 2019 was no small task and Alexis met this challenge with optimism and flexibility daily. She made connections with our participants and helped to ensure that our summer ran smoothly. We value her team spirit and her willingness to step in and support with any task that was needed. Thank you Alexis for being a positive role model for our youth this summer!
Davenport Resource Service Center – Mishell Garcia Lopez, Farmworker/Family Casework Intern
From the DRSC placement site: During this 10-week internship, Mishell demonstrated clear judgment, detailed office skills, and strong customer services. Her go-getter attitude did not go unnoticed as she worked hands on in our weekly food distributions alongside Davenport Resource Center staff. Mishell worked diligently restocking and organizing our food pantry, distributing food to clients, and assisting with end of day clean up during each of our Tuesday distributions. Mishell also supported our tracking system for farmworkers to help improve the services we provide. Through this internship, Mishell was able to get a real experience as she got to meet over 50 clients every week and see the direct impact from her work. We are very grateful we had the opportunity to have her as an intern this summer!