Reflections On A Summer With St. Anthony’s

I am privileged enough to have the opportunity to spend a good bit of my time introducing interns to the Tenderloin. At St. Anthony’s, internships are not about making sending faxes and fetching coffee.  Interns are hands on and instrumental in the services we are able to provide to our guests, clients and patients.  They have the opportunity to provide direct service in one or more of our programs while at the same time learning more about the deeper structural causes of poverty and homelessness.

This past summer, St. Anthony Foundation hosted nine interns from seven different schools across the country.  Below is an excerpt from a reflection written by Taje, a bay area high school student who spent part of her summer working in St. Anthony’s Employment Program / Tech Lab, Clothing Program and Dining Room, while also engaging in educational enrichment sessions to learn more about the issues of poverty and homelessness.  This is what she had to say about her experience:

“This summer I had the privilege of working at St. Anthony’s.  St. Anthony’s is a non-profit organization that helps the underserved people in the community.  During my internship at St. Anthony’s, I was able to work in the many different areas of service.  My first experience was in the Dining Room, I was terrified because I had never been in the Tenderloin area, so I didn’t know what to expect.  As I continued working, I found that it was a joy to work there.

“Another thing I favored about the Dining Room was the simple fact that it was called a Dining Room, instead of a soup kitchen.  Just the name made it feel like it was a family setting, somewhere you could come and feel safe, like at home with your own family.  And as time progressed, I felt like I had joined the St. Anthony’s family because each time I came to volunteer someone always remembered my name.  I don’t recall a day in my experience at St. Anthony’s where I wasn’t smiling.

“Working at St. Anthony’s taught me a lot.  It helped me break down the barrier of being afraid of homeless people.  I gained a new outlook on them and more respect.  I learned that when you’re on the outside looking you can sometimes be quick to judge, but when you’re finally on the inside and taking on the emotions of others you can identify yourself with them and be more understanding,  At first I thought that this internship would feel like community service, but I feel that I have walked away with so much more than that.”

If you would like to learn more about St. Anthony Foundation’s internship program or ways that you can get involved, contact Megan Pippet at mpippet@stanthonysf.org or check us out on St. Anthony’s website!