| Volunteer Profile | Anna and Olivia |
Remote Interns Succeed During a Pandemic Summer
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark unanimously agrees: we hit the jackpot with our summer 2020 interns! At the beginning of the summer, our office questioned, “How does a remote internship even work?” Anna and Olivia not only showed us the way, but also put in truly outstanding work during summer 2020.
Olivia, our high school intern, sourced photos and wrote text to create Instagram Stories for our Instagram page. One, “Eligibility,” helps people understand who is eligible for our programs and another one, “About HFHGN,” showcases our work.
Anna, our college intern, analyzed data from our weekly food pantry at the West & Central Village Community Resource Hub. She created a Google map allowing us to understand the geographical concentrations of needy families in the West & Central Village, and broke the data down by age, disability, and veteran status. Through her work, we discovered that 28.5% of the food pantry’s clients during summer 2020 were under 18, 8.94% were disabled, and 7.38% were seniors.
Anna was “really impressed with how the team uses both data and communication to make informed decisions about where help is most needed, and what kind of help is most effective. I wasn’t aware of the community that is maintained with home repairs; the long-term, comprehensive investment into the community extends far beyond a one-and-done home repair.”
“Overall, the remote internship experience worked well,” says Olivia. “The work that I was doing was fairly independent and involved using online databases and programs, I could get my projects done without needing to be in person. As well, with the power of technology, I was able to contact Ms. Urry and Ms. Davis whenever I needed to through emails or calls. I wish I could have seen everyone’s faces and met everyone in person, however even with COVID safety restrictions, I felt I was able to complete my work. I would totally consider doing remote again (though if there was an in-person option available, I would take that in a heartbeat!)”
Interested in making an important contribution to Habitat’s mission to build homes in partnership with families in need? Our volunteering calendar has year-round opportunities for you to support Habitat of Greater Newark’s work. Learn more about volunteering with us.