Internship with Peace Connections

For my junior year practicum, I spent my time at Peace Connections, a local Newton community-based non-profit whose mission is to build relationships, resources, and resilience while maintaining peace and social justice within different social classes. While I was here, I focused mostly on their Summer Enrichment Activities for Kids (SEAK) program and Circles of Hope.

I spent every weekday helping with the SEAK program, which provides free meals and activities for kids 18 and under. My goal was to not only provide the meals to the kids but also to help them with our daily activities and build connections with the parents and offer them resources if asked about them. Many of our activities that we did with the kids had to do with coping skills and building connections with other kids. 

The SEAK program took place in the lowest-income part of town, which also happens to be where a lot of elementary-aged kids live. We did activities with arts and crafts, games, and water activities that helped the kids build relationships that they would be able to continue in school. Other activities included yoga focused on reducing stress and anxiety led by Heart to Heart and local organizations/ agencies coming to teach kids and also handing out flyers to parents. The fan favorite was when puppies were brought in from a local shelter and kids were taught how to behave/ interact with dogs.

The other part of my placement was working with Circles of Hope, which is a weekly meeting that aims to enhance financial education and well-being in Newton, as well as break down financial barriers. Community members that are new to Circles of Hope are partnered with another community member that has already been through the group and the educational classes, as well as a volunteer from the community. This helps break down barriers between financial classes and also allows connections to be built around resources. 

This meeting happened every Tuesday night at a local church and was open to everyone in the community unless it was a night when they were just focusing on educating those in the program. Most that were coming into the program had either just gotten out of rehab or the justice system, or were told by the court to attend. When I first learned this, I thought most people wouldn't want to be there, but to my surprise, everyone in the classes showed up every week and even brought friends and family to the class to help them engage in the learning process as well.

My goal for these meetings varied between helping with the dinner that was provided before the meeting, helping watch the children whose parents were a part of the group, helping bring in local organizations, and also sitting and building connections with those in the program and finding out what they wanted to see the most in the program. 

During my time with the program, the most memorable events were the graduation, having nursing students come in to teach how to read nutrition facts on the back of cans that were commonly found in food pantries, and working with the kids. Each of these events was memorable to me due to the support and relationships that I viewed in front of me. Most of these people came from very different backgrounds, and yet you would have no idea that they were once strangers if you sat in on the meetings. It was amazing to watch their relationships build, how they helped each other through their classes, and how they were so proud of each other when they graduated from the educational process of the program. It was also amazing to work with the kids and watch them come together and make friendships that you could tell were very valuable to them. Not once did I see the kids judge each other based on their background, and they were always quick to comfort each other if something arose.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with Peace Connections, and it helped change the way that I viewed financial statuses and established a passion in me to help provide resources when they are available. When I was growing up, my parents saw someone in need. My mom always felt bad that she couldn’t provide money because we weren't very well off either, but she would often pass out food or water to someone she saw if she had it available. While I was with Peace Connections, I realized how important that is and how important it is to ask someone what they need rather than assume what they need. I feel like this will stick with me throughout my career as a social worker.