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Internship Information

The following provides detailed information on internships that have been available most recently.  Sites often change in response to the needs of local organizations and the specific interests of students participating in the program where possible.  

All Parks Alliance for Change
www.allparksallianceforchange.org
APAC works to improve the quality of life in manufactured (mobile) home parks through grassroots organizing, and to protect the rights of residents with a philosophy of helping people help themselves.  In Minnesota, Latinos are rapidly approaching half of the mobile home park population. A recent survey of park closings found that Latinos make up 38 percent of those displaced by closures in addition to the other disparities in infrastructure problems and park amenities.  The MUST student conducted outreach into new mobile park home communities, and worked on a policy report on the disparities in mobile park closings that will be a vital tool in APAC’s resident advocacy as they seek relocation compensation and fight housing discrimination in mobile home parks.

Center for Democracy and Citizenship
www.publicwork.org
The Center for Democracy and Citizenship (CDC) contributes to democratic renewal through the development of practice-based lessons and concepts about “what works” to engage people in public life. The CDC is a research, teaching and outreach center of the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. The MUST student conducted a series of discussions with religious leaders in the community exploring the connections between religious communities and civic engagement and the idea of “third spaces” as places for public dialogue and civic engagement. Her internship culminated with town hall forum at Schneider’s Drug Store on University Avenue, which opens the store monthly for public discussions on public affairs topics. The CDC indicates that the student’s work paved the way for their involvement in shaping future discussions at the store.

Interact Center for Visual and Performing Arts
Interact Center’s mission is to create art and challenge society’s view of disability. Interact Center is a licensed day care provider, serving up to 80 actors and artists who have physical and/or mental and emotional disabilities. Interact has two main departments, visual art and performing arts. The MUST intern worked in the performing arts department as a stage manager, improv workshop instructor, ran writing workshops, and led their volunteer program.

Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
www.mnhomelesscoalition.org
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless is a statewide coalition committed to ending homelessness. A primary mission of MCH is to inform public policy-makers on local, state, and federal efforts that will address the housing needs of low-income individuals, prevent homelessness, promote long-term economic stability, and respect clients’ needs. We had two MUST students here this fall. The students gathered information about candidate positions on the Housing Solutions Act by connecting members with candidate forums and conducting site visits. MCH members will use this information as they move into the legislative session to lobby legislators for the Act.

Neighborhood House
www.neighb.org
The Neighborhood House’s mission is to “build doorways of opportunity to vibrant, diverse, communities.” Neighborhood House is a multicultural, multilingual community center with programming for all people and is often a first stop for new immigrants.  The MUST student worked in the Health Access program helping to develop a program for teen parents. Her work included outreach, collecting constituent input on the program, and helping to develop program curriculum. The student also planned a one-day program for neighborhood Latino youth called Uniendo Fronteras.

Patrick Henry High School
henry.mpls.k12.mn.us
Patrick Henry High School is an inner city public high school located in North Minneapolis. In December 2003 the third wave of Hmong immigrants came to the Twin Cities from the Wat Thamkrabok refugee camp in Thailand. When the Hmong Academy school moved from North Minneapolis to Saint Paul, many of the recent Hmong immigrant students chose to go to Patrick Henry High School due to their already large Hmong American student population. The high school now has one of the largest Hmong student populations in the Twin Cities. The MUST student worked with the New Arrival Program at the High School. She acted as a facilitator between the recently arrived Hmong students and their families and the school administration. She also assisted the students in their ESL classes and created a computer literacy class for the newly arrived refugees.

Resource Center of the Americas
www.americas.org
The Resource Center of the Americas informs, educates, and organizes to promote human rights, democratic participation, economic justice, and cross cultural understanding in the context of globalization in the Americas. The MUST student worked in the News and Information Department posting stories and links to news sources on the Americas for the web site and newsletter. The student also took on a project documenting the history of the 2006 immigrant rallies and organizing in the Twin Cities, culminating in a printed booklet with text and photos translated in English and Spanish to be distributed to the immigrant community and their allies in the Twin Cities.

Saint Paul Area Council of Churches: Department of Indian Work
www.spacc.org and www.gmcc.org/diw
The Saint Paul Area Council of Churches is a nonprofit organization composed of 700 member congregations from 22 Christian denominations in the East metro Area of the Twin Cities. Their mission is to build a more just and compassionate society by connecting congregations, faith communities and civic organizations to overcome poverty, promote peace, and dismantle racism and other barriers that divide our community.  The MUST student worked within the Department of Indian Work (DIW) on the Anti-Hunger Mobilization Project to teach and engage congregation members about the families served by the DIW Emergency Services food shelves.

Saint Stephen’s Human Services
www.ststephensmpls.org
The Mission of St. Stephen’s is to end homelessness through effective partnerships, programs and advocacy. In addition to their three homeless shelters located in the Twin Cities metro area, St Stephen’s also has various programs for people experiencing homelessness including employment and housing services and the Homeless Against Homeless (HAH) Committee, an advocacy group led by people experiencing homelessness. They also conduct “A Day In The Life” a homelessness simulation workshop for groups interested in learning more about the realities of people experiencing homelessness in the Twin Cities. The student worked as a program assistant for the Human Rights Program which included helping with the HAH committee and organizing a session of “A Day In The Life”.

The Sanctuary Community Development Corporation
www.sanctuarycdc.org
The Sanctuary CDC is a nonprofit organization founded by and now separate from the Sanctuary Covenant Church, a multi ethnic congregation in North Minneapolis. They collaborate with others in North Minneapolis to address concerns related to health, economic and workforce development and youth development. The MUST student worked with the Momentum job-training program as a mentor and tutor for the adult women in the program. She also provided program support to the youth programs conducting an internal evaluation, and created a community resource guide of organizations in North Minneapolis.

Southside Family Charter School (SFCS)
www.southsidefamilyschool.org
SFCS is a small elementary school, which educates children to become independently minded citizens who respect themselves and others.  The school teaches a social justice curriculum and their work in the community challenges the way people think about education. We had three MUST students working here this semester as teaching aids in the classrooms. They also provided individual homework tutoring to students where they developed relationships with the students from week to week. All three reflected that they saw a difference in the academic performance of the students that they were paired with over the course of their internship.

West Broadway Area Coalition
wbac.charrettecenter.com/wbac.asp?a=spf&pfk=1
The West Broadway Area Coalition (WBAC) is a coalition of commercial, social service, and community organizations focused on revitalizing West Broadway in North Minneapolis.  WBAC is an emerging organization providing business assistance, marketing and promotions, and coordination of development activities. The student conducted property inventories and outreach to businesses along West Broadway as part of the WB Alive project to involve more area business owners in the mission and goals of WBAC.

Workers Interfaith Network
(Formerly the Twin Cities Religion and Labor Network)
www.tcrln.org
Formed in 1999, The Workers Interfaith Network  (WIN) unites clergy, people of faith and local unions to speak out together for justice for workers. WIN clergy have been a familiar presence at picket lines and vigils and have met with management to voice community support for workers' rights. The MUST student worked as a congregational and campaign organizer. She coordinated the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice, and organized a public event with workers, community organizers, religious leaders, and labor leaders to discuss workers’ rights.

Additional MUST Internships and community partners:

 

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Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs
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