Humanities for Life Summer 2022: Health & Human Service (Peer) Interns
**IMPORTANT** - This is a Humanities for Life Internship offered by a grant-funded program through the Humanities Center. It pays a $5000 stipend for each cohort intern. Find application deadlines, information, updates & details on this Informational link here. Also through the HFL website here.
About Center for Community Alternatives
The Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), founded in 1981, is a leader in community-based alternatives to incarceration and policy advocacy to reduce reliance on incarceration. We provide direct services to communities in New York City, Syracuse, and Rochester, engaging approximately 3,500 youth and adults annually who would otherwise be incarcerated.
Services include gender-based substance treatment and recovery communities, sentence mitigation, court advocacy, workforce readiness, civic restoration services, emergency/transitional housing, student advocacy, violence prevention, and youth mentoring as well as afterschool programming and career exploration for justice-involved youth. The majority of our participants are Black or Latino/a and come from poor or low-income communities.
Intern Description
Position Title: Health & Human Service (Peer) Interns
Job Summary:
Work to instill a sense of hope and optimism for persons in recovery. If the Human Service Peer Intern has personal experience with recovery, they will be provided opportunities to begin to use it as a tool to support others. The Human Service Peer Intern will demonstrate a personal belief in recovery, supported employment best practices, and a sincere interest in the welfare of persons in recovery at the CORE Center. Provide emotional, instrumental, informational, & affiliation support, as well as operational support for the CORE Center office and peer-led recovery groups and pro-social activities, including supporting the voluntary fellowship of individuals looking to attain and maintain their recovery.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Greet visitors, answer phones, & assist with contact tracking
- Engage in the membership process to learn about the process & become fully acclimated to the Community Center.
- Support participants through the membership process
- Assist with project data collection & documentation. Complete required paperwork in a timely manner and implement required protocols for the handling of confidential information.
- Help facilitate peer support groups to assist persons to realize their personal goals in employment, education, wellness, and volunteer opportunities
- Foster supportive peer relationships with and among the persons enrolled as members of the CORE Center
- Encourage and help support the training of volunteers
- Assist the Coordinator and other staff in finding, organizing, scheduling, and facilitating recovery-oriented, pro-social activities. Assist program staff with other outreach, as needed.
- Conduct active outreach efforts to encourage attendance and participation in recovery-oriented, self-help, and pro-social groups.
- Participate in recovery and pro-social activities
- Assist with coordinating the CORE Center program calendar.
Support program functions within the office including:
- answering phones, scheduling, collating information packets/minutes, note-taking, meeting set up/breakdown for all recovery-group and pro-social activities including peer support, and sober-social activities, etc.
- Ensure that all program rules are followed during all peer recovery-group and pro-social activities (on or off-site), and that all CORE Center materials, supplies, and facilities used for peer functions are clean, organized, and returned to appropriate storage following use.
- Participate in Advisory Committee meetings.
- Attend staff meetings.
- Attend training programs as assigned
- Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor.
Your day-to-day responsibilities will include the following:
· Greet visitors at the front desk, answer the phone, & assist with day-to-day program coordination
· Enter information, collect data, & develop reports, esp. in preparation for the advisory & community partners meetings
· Learn what is important to local recovery community and partner to amplify their voice.
· Assist in developing stakeholder relationships, promoting clear & effective communication, educating on policy, and participating in direct action.
· Facilitate computer skills development
· Support involvement and engagement of other college students and interns
· Explore & reach out to community resources to encourage involvement at the CORE Center
· Support quality & process improvement activities
· Assist with social media presence & other promotional activities
· Learn about the process of developing a non-profit, including fundraising, budgets, communications/PR, volunteer/participant coordination, and more.
· Understand peer-run and peer-driven program dynamics, supporting consensus development of people in recovery from SUD, & ensuring all work is grounded in recovery principles and peer values.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Knowledge of recovery process and community and recovery resources in Rochester, NY with an understanding of the “Peer-Led/Peer Driven” model and proven cultural competency and commitment to recovery, choice, and empowerment with the ability to establish a trusting relationship with peers.
Strong written/oral communication and interpersonal skills. Basic computer skills and willingness to learn protocol and communication in an office-based setting.
Preferred - Personal experience with recovery and/or criminal justice issues