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Philadelphia Area Social Justice Internship (PASJI)

Colorful row homes in south Philadelphia

Overview

The Philadelphia Area Social Justice Internship (PASJI) is sponsored by the Center for Peace and Justice Education and the St. Thomas of Villanova Center for the Common Good.  The program provides Villanova undergraduates a funded opportunity to do social justice work in the greater Philadelphia region over the summer, accompanied by opportunities for shared reflection among the student cohort. 

  • This will be an 8-week internship for 20-25 hours/week from June 3-July 26, 2024.
  • Stipend is $3,000.  
  • Cohort gatherings and formational opportunities will take place throughout the process.  
  • Each gathering or opportunity will include a short reading or media content to enhance learning and discussion.

Internship Details

Internship responsibilities can include but must extend beyond basic administrative support. Students should be engaged in either content-driven work fundamental to the organization’s social justice mission and/or direct contact with the communities served by the organization.

There are four designated internship opportunities for 2024 and five internship positions. Each site will host one or two interns. Alternatively, one position could be allotted to a student who secures a social justice internship with an organization outside the four listed. 

To search for social justice internships, students may wish to consult Handshake and consider the suggested Peace and Justice search criteria.  Students may then present a proposal for inclusion in the summer program with their own internship.

Integral to the internship community is a commitment to spend time with other interns discussing social justice topics and engaging in reflection and community sharing.

Applications are now open for the Summer 2024 Internship Program. 

Check out a reflection by 2019 Intern, Lailany!

If you have questions, reach out to Josh Kammerer

INTERNSHIP PLACEMENTS

OVERVIEW

Through the VU/CRS Partnership Internship for Advocacy students will learn about and work on advocacy campaigns, awareness-raising efforts, and community mobilization around global social justice issues. Drawing on resources developed through the CRS University program and Catholics Confront Global Poverty Initiative, students will design promotional and advocacy campaigns for use by the Villanova CRS Ambassadors, a student group on campus promoting an engagement with the work of Catholic Relief Services. Currently the central themes of the CRS Ambassadors are migration, climate change, and human trafficking.

SOCIAL JUSTICE CONNECTION

The student will gain exposure to global advocacy and partnerships, migration issues, climate change, etc.

POSSIBLE WORK ASSIGNMENTS

The intern will work from the VU/CRS Partnership office at Villanova in developing advocacy resources and may work with the CRS Regional Office for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in Media, PA; as well as with the CRS Advocacy Office in Washington, DC. The intern will be required to attend the CRS National Conference in the Washington, DC area, likely held during June--exact dates TBA.

CRS Partnership at Villanova Website

OVERVIEW

The Augustinian Defenders of the Rights of the Poor (ADROP) was founded in 2004 by Jack Deegan, O.S.A.  Fr. Deegan brought leaders, service providers, and volunteers together to assess the needs of the poor in South Philadelphia and began to match those needs with known resources.  Since that time our 150 volunteers and leaders have affected the lives of over 1,000 families living in the South Philadelphia Area.

SOCIAL JUSTICE CONNECTION

The work will focus on a number of social justice issues.  The focus can be tailored to suit the interest of the intern.  The ministries of ADROP mainly circle around immigration, mass incarceration, and access to healthcare.

POSSIBLE WORK ASSIGNMENTS

There are two possible internships at ADROP, one focusing on ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and one on accessible healthcare. The healthcare position could either be for a student more interested in general public health issues or for a nursing student more interested in direct healthcare experience. If you choose to apply, please indicate which of the two possible internship positions you are applying for. If you apply for the healthcare position, please indicate whether you are a nursing student.

Position 1: ESOL Position Description.

Position 2: General Healthcare Clinic Position, Nursing Healthcare Clinic Position.

ADROP's Website

 

OVERVIEW

At CCATE (Centro de Cultura, Arte, Trabajo y Educación), our internships, virtual and/or in person, center around the strengths, skills, and areas of interest of students who come to work with us. Two of the main requirements we have for our interns are motivation and initiative, especially in the current context of virtual communication and online operations.

SOCIAL JUSTICE CONNECTION

CCATE is a non-profit community center whose mission is to ignite social transformation by developing the talents and empowering the Latinx community through education, culture, art, technology, health, and science.  CCATE is composed of and operated by the community that it aims to impact. Community insights and assets are valuable inputs for the organization as members are the masters and curators of creative solutions. They believe that the lack of hierarchical structure at CCATE enables everyone to be a leader. This is rooted in the understanding that every member of the organization has something to offer and is a valuable addition to the team.

POSSIBLE WORK ASSIGNMENTS

Starting June 3rd and ending July 26, CCATE seeks 1-2 intern coordinators to work with the CCATE staff and community to support the 2024 High School Leadership Institute and Summer Camp. See details about the CCATE Summer Camp Coordinator Position and the CCATE Summer Intern Guide.

CCATE’s Website

OVERVIEW

The Bethel Community Life Center and Ardmore Victory Gardens are a ministries of Bethel African-Methodist Episcopal Church in Ardmore, PA. Founded in 1895 by Black residents of the Mainline, Bethel AME is heavily involved in the local community, hosting social justice programs that address food insecurity, educational inequality, public health, and many other needs in the community. The current pastor Rev. Carolyn C. Cavaness has been instrumental in leading the congregation in founding the the Ardmore Victory Gardens, a community garden that grows fresh produce to supply food banks throughout the area.

SOCIAL JUSTICE CONNECTION

The work will focus on a number of social justice issues. The community garden work addresses both sustainability and creation-care, as well as access increasing food security and access to healthy produce. The vaccine clinics create opportunities to address public health concerns. The Juneteenth celebration invites the community into the liberating work of anti-racism and the cause of social equity, and the music series focuses on building community partnerships and highlighting local artists.

POSSIBLE WORK ASSIGNMENTS

The specifics of the internship can be worked out between the needs of Bethel AME Church and the interests of the intern. If the intern is more heavily interested in the community garden, the intern could support the work of the community garden, which will be relocated for Summer 2024 to Haverford College. The Community Garden will host tea workshops, "How to Harvest" workshops, and tactile and thematic site visits for the community. The intern could assist in making site visits to multiple home-based gardens to those who need assistance for accessibility reasons. The intern might meet with local youth once a week to share about some aspect of the work of the community garden.

If the intern is more drawn to other aspects of community outreach, the intern might be involved in the planning and execution of the vaccine clinic, the Juneteenth celebration, and the community music series. A combination of foci may be worked out with the site.

Driving around may be a part of this internship, so the ability to become a vehicle-certified driver with Villanova would be a requirement. Regardless of the intern's emphasis, participation and assistance at the Juneteenth celebration will be required.

Bethel AME's Website

Students may propose another internship which would be reviewed for approval by the program coordinators. One to two spots in the PASJI program have been reserved for this purpose.

Any internship should provide the opportunity to do social justice work in the greater Philadelphia area.

To search for social justice internships, students may wish to consult Handshake and consider the suggested Peace and Justice search criteria.  

Tips on Searching on Handshake are found in this document

Students may then present a proposal for inclusion in the summer program with their own internship. 

 

Other locations where previous PASJI Students have interned: