Week 1 with CrossRoads (blog 2)

This past week I began my internship! Since beginning I have learned that this job will include a great deal of reaching out and engaging with the community. So far, I have attended a few different events in the community which connect with agency leaders throughout the community CrossRoads serves and works with. I have had the opportunity to meet with police officers and detectives, as well as city council members and other local leaders, I also attended an event with elementary school guidance counselors. I was a little surprised at how connected in the community CrossRoads is, although since arriving here and seeing their work, this makes total sense. The organization regularly works with many facets of the community such as Department of Social Services, Child Protective Services, Family Abuse Center, the Police Department, and the Hospital and engages in the community to make sure to promote awareness of the different resources available.
For my internship, I am expected to be able to take over the front, reception area whenever the staff is unable to be there. I have staffed the front area twice since starting, once for a short period of time and then again for a full day. This week I was also taught how to make intake packets for the clients who come in for CrossRoads services and help the other staff with any printing needs if required. I also go with Julie (my supervisor and Community Outreach and Volunteer Director) into the community to represent CrossRoads. So far, I have been shadowing Julie at events, as I proceed into my internship there will be times when I will be the one representing CrossRoads alone. I will also be attending trainings when they occur throughout the summer, such as how to attend to 50+ year old clients who need CrossRoads’ services, a training I will attend next week.
Based on this past week I expect the summer to be very full and to receive lots of information on the ways in which CrossRoads works. I expect for some of the work to be easier than other areas but I believe that learning about this work will allow me to understand how to interact with all people better not just people who experience a sexual abuse. My highlight from this week was getting to know everyone in the office and beginning to understand how the office works and the process of taking in clients. Although my favorite thing this week was getting to attend a screening of a film called Resilience which discussed the ways in which children’s body physically changes and is more susceptible to health issues when they have certain traumas or adverse events happen to them. This was just an extremely informative and fascinating film and I would recommend it to anyone who works with children or is in the medical field. I am excited to continue my work next week and to see what the rest of the summer will bring!