Internships

Ministry Internships

The Ministry Internship Program, sponsored by the Office of the College Chaplains, provides students who are considering a vocation in ministry within the churches with an opportunity for hands-on supervised ministry during either the summer break or the academic year in parishes and other faith communities. Some of these students are considering a vocation in ordained ministry or vowed religious life; others are considering ministry as laypersons.

Type of Work
The internship is designed to provide the student intern with hands-on experience in pastoral ministry. Possible areas of work include, but are not limited to, youth ministry, liturgical and music ministry, religious education, sacramental preparation, outreach, community building, visitation to hospitals and homebound parishioners, prison ministry, peace and justice work. While administrative duties are an expected part of any ministerial activity, the internship is not intended to provide the parish with primarily clerical or administrative assistance. 

Examples of work done by previous students in the Ministry Internship Program include: 

• organizing and teaching at Vacation Bible School
• visiting elderly and homebound parishioners
• bringing communion to parishioners and other Catholics in area hospitals
• helping to lead a week-long youth ministry work camp serving the needy in Georgia
• helping parish children to organize a community service organization
• serving as a lector and communion minister at parish Masses
• making house calls to new immigrant families in the parish neighborhood
• serving as a leader on a multi-day Christian Leadership Institute with parish youth
• updating and organizing parish census information
• facilitating sessions and organizing data for a diocesan pastoral planning project
• attending regional gatherings of parish directors of religious education
• participating in bereavement support meetings
• making preparations for fall classes in the religious education program
• producing the worship aid for the dedication of a new parish church
• organizing summer day trips for young and elderly parishioners
• resurrecting a parish youth group
• producing the Spanish bulletin for a bilingual parish
• giving Spanish lessons to a young English speaking priest in a bilingual parish
• organizing activities to help children cope with the closing of their parish

Application Procedure
The internships are open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. Seniors may only apply for the academic year internship, not for the internship in the summer following their graduation from Holy Cross. Interested students must complete the application attached and submit it with a copy of a resume and a recent Holy Cross transcript. After an initial review of the application, potential internship candidates will have an interview. 

SPUD Summer Internship

The Holy Cross Chaplains' SPUD Summer Internship Program is designed to provide exceptional Holy Cross undergraduates with an opportunity to gain meaningful career-related experience in a non-profit social service agency in Worcester.

Internships are for 10 consecutive weeks, 40 hours per week. Agencies will determine the start and end date, although many agencies are flexible. The window period for the internships is between end of school year to mid-August. 

Placements for SPUD Summer Internships
Internships are full-time work during the summer and run up to ten weeks in length. There is some flexibility depending on the needs of the site. Start dates are determined by the site.

Abby’s House 
52 High Street
Worcester, MA 01609 
Job Description: The summer internship at Abby’s House is designed to provide a female student with hands-on experience in our mission of giving housing and services to women, with or without children, who are homeless due to emotional crisis, domestic violence, lack of safe, affordable housing, and/or economic difficulty. Interns will staff our overnight shelter twice per week from approximately 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Additionally, the intern will work with core staff in various areas of the organization to complete the hours necessary for full-time work. Possibilities include working with our grant writer, or our housing advocates; assisting in our food service, thrift shop, and/or women’s center.

Community Legal Aid, Inc.
405 Main Street, 4th Floor
Worcester, MA 01608
Job Description: Community Legal Aid, Inc. (CLA) is the primary provider of free civil legal services to the poor and elderly of Worcester County. Its main office is at 405 Main Street in Worcester. It has satellite offices in Southbridge, Milford, Fitchburg, and Athol. CLA attorneys and paralegals specialize in housing and homelessness work; welfare, disability, and employment rights issues; family law matters; and problems faced by the elderly.

CLA administers several special projects, among them a program for homeless individuals and families; a workers’ rights outreach program; and an intake program at the Goddard School in Worcester. The student intern will have the opportunity to assist various CLA advocates working on one or more of these projects. The intern will also have the opportunity to help the attorneys in CLA’s housing or disability unit on their cases. This work may include interviewing clients, filing and picking up papers in court, and helping prepare cases for hearing. The intern’s hours will be during normal office hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

City of Worcester Division of Public Health
25 Meade Street
Worcester, MA 01610
508-799-8532

Position for one student intern.

The Worcester Division of Public Health (WDPH) is searching for an intern to support community health outreach, coordination, and general research. WDPH intern may work within all aspects of the division including Environmental Health, Emergency Preparedness, Epidemiology, Community Health, and Public Health Nursing. The intern will spend his or her day in the office coordinating projects, working on project specific research, and attending meetings with community partners related to assigned projects. Additionally, evenings and weekends may be required as part of our community health outreach and communication efforts.

Nativity School of Worcester
The Nativity School of Worcester
67 Lincoln St.
Worcester, MA 01605
Positions for two student interns.
Summer Intern
Nativity School of Worcester is an independent, Jesuit middle school that provides a quality, all-scholarship education to underserved boys of all faiths. Drawing upon four pillars — strength, scholarship, character, and service — a Nativity education inspires self-discovery, responsibility, spiritual growth, and a lifelong dedication to learning. In a structured learning environment, including an 11-hour school day, an extended school year, individualized tutoring and less than 15 pupils per class, our students are pushed to higher and higher academic heights while being supported by an unwavering, compassionate staff. One hundred percent of our admitted students qualify for the federal free/reduced lunch program, placing their household incomes at or below the poverty line.
 
The Nativity Intern will assist the Assistant Principal and Summer Session Coordinator in the running of the three major components of the school: programming, development and finances over a 10-week period.
 
Reports to: Assistant Principal and Summer Session Coordinator
 
Essential Responsibilities:
The internship will comprise of both long-term and short-term projects. Some of the projects include the following:

• Pre-Camp Support Person - helping Staff members organize the materials and resources necessary for a successful summer camp
• Summer Camp Counselor - serving in a variety of capacities (mentor/coach/chaperone) as a Summer Semester Counselor at our three-week summer camp
• Development Assistant - assisting with the fundraising database and working on projects geared to raise awareness of the school in the local community
• Programming Assistant - helping the principal and staff prepare for the start of the school year
• Graduate Support Assistant - assisting the graduate support staff member create a database of resources for secondary schools

Dates: We ask that interns work from the week of June 2-6 through the week of Aug. 4-8. We have some limited flexibility with those dates, but ask that you inform us of any need in advance of accepting the position so schedules can be worked out.
 
Qualifications: 

1. Positive, enthusiastic mindset.
2. Grit.
3. Initiative.
4. Organized.

To Apply: Submit a resume and cover letter to the above named contact person.

Application & Acceptance Procedures
The internships are open only to sophomores and juniors. Students interested in an internship are encouraged to attend the Chaplains' Office Summer Internship Information Meeting. By applying to the internship program, the student gives permission to the director of the SPUD Summer Internship Program to access his or her transcript and student records. Selected applicants will then be contacted by the Chaplains' Office to schedule an interview with the director of the SPUD Summer Internship Program.

Following the round of interviews students are conditionally accepted into the internship program pending successful placement at an internship site. Students will submit their applications and cover letters to the sites. Each agency will review student candidates' applications and interview them. The agency will select the student that would best meet the agency's needs. Students will then have the opportunity to accept or decline a specific offer.

SPUD Academic Year Internship

SPUD Academic Year Internships provide students with paid opportunities for leadership in SPUD (Student Programs for Urban Development), a community service organization sponsored by the Chaplains' Office. Consisting of more than 40 different outreach programs and more than 600 active members, SPUD is the largest student organization at Holy Cross. Each intern serves as a SPUD program director or assistant program director, overseeing six to seven SPUD programs and helping to support students in those programs.

Program Goals

• To teach students how to think critically using the tools of social analysis to assess the structural issues that underlie the needs that our SPUD programs address.
• To provide opportunities for students to reflect on the meaning of the phrase "the service of faith and the promotion of justice."
• To encourage students to reflect on their future hopes and goals in light of both their own gifts and talents as well as the "world's deep hungers."
• To provide support to the SPUD program that will enable all students who participate in SPUD to begin to see the connections between service and work for social justice. 

Eligibility and Characteristics of Interns

• Prior leadership experience in the SPUD program and prior experience volunteering at a SPUD site.
• Desire to serve both the College community as well as the Worcester community.
• Desire to explore their own future goals in light of the call in the College's Mission Statement to consider our relationship to the world's poor and powerless.
• Desire to explore the connection between service and social justice.
• Desire to explore the connection between spirituality and social justice.
• Desire to work closely with other students including fellow interns, program directors and SPUD volunteers in raising awareness of the connections between service, social justice and spirituality.
• Strong leadership ability.
• Willingness to pitch in generously to enable the SPUD program to continue to grow and flourish.
• Sense of humor.

Description of Internship Responsibilities

• Oversee 6-7 SPUD programs which includes: (6-8 hours)
• having weekly contact with program directors - this can be done over lunch or dinner as a group 
• checking to make sure time sheets are submitted for all of your programs each week - contact directors if they are missing 
• distributing and collecting end of semester evaluations from program directors 
• assist directors in planning their reflection meetings (1-2 per semester)
• visiting each site once per semester 
• working with other campus groups and your program directors to sponsor or co-sponsor one social justice awareness event that involves SPUD volunteers each year (e.g., hunger banquet, visions of peace week with Pax Christi, etc.) - to encourage SPUD volunteers to make the connections between the work they are doing and the larger social injustices 
• volunteering weekly at one of your sites (2 hours).
• Meet weekly with your chaplain advisor for supervision (1 hour).
• Meet weekly with other interns for reflection, continuing education and support (1 hour).
• Maintain weekly office hours in the SPUD office (2 hours - this can overlap with other duties described).
• Work with other SPUD interns and program directors to plan the SPUD recruiting days and volunteer orientation day.
• In addition to these weekly duties each intern is expected to participate in either the Manresa Retreat or the Spiritual Exercises.

Final Assessment
Interns will be expected to submit a five-page reflection paper that addresses questions of vocation in light of the experiences they have had over the course of the year. They will also have a final reflection session with fellow interns to process the experience and a final individual supervision meeting as well.