The three main projects I worked on at NNP were filling in our referral database, creating a handbook for client interactions and communications, and a case for support. These projects were critical for NNP, which is a young organization. NNP's main program is the clothing hand-me-down partnership. It matches refugee, asylee, and asylum-seeking families with local NYC families who can provide hand-me-down clothing on a regular basis. I was happy to be able to create some tools for NNP to use as they continue to grow. Although NNP's main program is the clothing hand-me-down program, clients would reach out for guidance on legal, financial, and social aid. Therefore creating partnerships to add to the referral database had become an essential part of their work and needed to be expanded. Over the course of my internship, the partnerships I was most excited to create were with Misfits Market and Remix Market. The case for support was equally as important because it is an essential communication tool for donors. In having this, donors are able to see the impact of the NNPs mission and how it has been beneficial to the community as a whole. The client interactions handbook created a uniform way to communicate with clients, donors, and families based on their various needs and questions.

The curriculum of Columbia School of Social Work's Advanced Clinical Social Work program gave me the tools I needed to successfully complete the projects I took on at NNP. The ability to understand the inner workings of nonprofit and social agencies did not exist before my time at Columbia. I found I was able to use the skills from my former field placement as a case manager at a refugee shelter and knowledge from many of my classes to propel me through this experience. The classes that I drew the most information from were Advocacy in Social Work, Social Welfare Policy, and Social Work Research. While I have had many other internships in the nonprofit sector, I feel I learned the most from my advocacy class because we spoke about the types of workplace interventions and the benefits of each. I was able to see the “target system” of nonprofit management in real time after learning about it in class.

My internship was virtual, so many of the challenges I faced were technical. Aside from the additional wifi problem and poorly timed Windows 11 update, I felt challenged by grant writing. I was tasked with writing two grants through Neighborshare, an online platform where community members can be connected to donors. Since I was not doing client-facing work, I was writing grants for people I didn’t know and had never met. My second biggest challenge was not knowing much about the culture of the largest refugee group we serve, Afghanis. I was able to take online training and classes on trauma and culture-informed case management for Afghani refugees, which helped me learn about their history, culture, and struggles. This brought me to a more existential point where I faced the brutal reality of Americans' selective empathy towards refugees, asylum seekers, and asylees. Much of the news has been dominated by the Ukrainian refugee crisis. So much so that people have forgotten about the ongoing refugee crisis following the evacuation of Afghanistan. People were more supportive and encouraging of Ukrainian refugees coming through the Southern border than they were of African, Mexican, and Afghani refugees who crossed the border for the same reason. Many people in America are only here because their ancestors arrived through Ellis Island from Europe, and are proud of their distant, immigrant heritage. Yet that supportiveness and pride disappear when the people coming to the Untied States are not white Christian Europeans. But the work being done by NNP works to create a community where new Americans are welcomed and supported regardless of background, and I hope to see their work expanded nationwide.

Being an intern at NNP was a rewarding and inspiring experience. Being able to work with the executive director Shoshana Akabas was motivating as she gave me meaningful projects, guidance, and feedback. Additionally, almost all of the staff were refugees, asylum seekers, and asylees and they had great insight and understanding of the first-hand experiences of our clients. I learned a lot from them as well. I was really happy to work at a place that didn’t depict refugees as destitute and hopeless. The moment you open the NNP website you see happy, smiling people who exude positivity. The organization focuses on empowerment, sustainability, and self-sufficiency. This taught me to understand the extent to which you can help people without creating a reliance on a system or structure, something the United States does with many of its social safety net programs. The sustainability and empowerment model used at NNP is something I would like to use in the next organization I work at. Overall, this experience was extremely rewarding and something I would not have been able to do without SESF support. I will continue to support NNP as an alumna of CSSW, and hope that future fellows have the incredible opportunity to work here as I did.