Thoughts from Erin, Our 2024 Social Work Intern
This blog post was written by Erin Spake. Erin has served as YWCA Mankato’s social work intern during spring semester of 2024. We are so grateful for Erin’s passionate, insight, and thoughtfulness through out this semester. Erin graduates this month from the University of Northern Iowa with her Bachelor in Social Work. Erin has changed YWCA Mankato, for good! Read below on the projects she worked on and her experience:
This photo shows a potluck held with staff for Erin during her last week of work at YWCA Mankato.
I began my internship at the YWCA in January of this year. I am a Senior in the Undergraduate Social Work program at the University of Northern Iowa. I anticipated the responsibilities of a glorified office assistant. I feared the fate of the intern from any bad rom-com (think about it, any of them) and I wanted to have an impact. From my initial interview with staff to my first day to the projects I helped develop to my very last day, the YWCA Mankato stunned and surprised me.
After meeting everyone and being completely overwhelmed by the warm, welcoming environment of the office, I found a rhythm and flow in the specific projects I would be working on. I spent hours of my internship researching and brainstorming project development for the two main projects I worked on while at the YWCA: MindSet and Furnishings for New Beginnings.
MindSet is a mental wellness summer camp that I had the pleasure of developing alongside Jocelyn Hartman, our youth programming coordinator. The curriculum we created is based on the social work theory: strengths based approach. I was able to use my education in Social Work to build a theory backed and evidence based curriculum that can be used for years to come. My favorite part of working with MindSet was creating a Facilitator’s Guide filled with projects, activities, and discussion points and questions. I loved being able to use my creativity alongside my understanding of mental wellness to make something for young girls.
Furnishings for New Beginnings is a multi-organization coalition made up of local non-profits, to create low barrier access to donated furniture for our community. I created a workable structure for the coalition including intake procedures, cataloging process, and a distribution plan. I was able to collaborate with many amazing non-profit leaders and staff members to create a plan that would be functional for everyone. My favorite part of working with this project was the background work I did creating a catalog of items and showing my work to other organizations.
My internship is coming to my end now and there is so much bittersweet love I have for this place. The YWCA Mankato will always live in a very special place in my heart and on my resume. I cannot wait to graduate, but it means leaving an amazing workplace behind. All of my work at the YWCA is a love letter to this State (my future home), this Community (a beautiful blend of cultures), and this organization. Should you ever have the pleasure of working with the amazing women who work here, you are the lucky one.
