Safe Haven Internship

Safe Haven Internship (Academic Yea 2024-25)

Overview of On The Rise, Inc.

On The Rise, Inc. (OTR) is a dynamic Cambridge, MA-based non-profit founded in 1995 that serves women, trans people, and non-binary people currently/formerly experiencing homelessness throughout the region. Our Safe Haven day program provides a space where participants can meet some of their tangible needs, such as taking a shower, receiving their mail, or doing laundry, as well as meet one-on-one with advocates to work on longer-term goals. The Keep The Keys program supports our participants as they transition into stable housing and the opportunities and challenges that presents. Our innovative approach supports our participants’ initiative and core strengths to help them find safety and discover new possibilities. OTR is committed to social justice, dismantling oppression, and striving to be an anti-racist organization.

At On The Rise, the core of our work is building authentic, long-term relationships with program participants. Through these relationships we foster the trust and belonging that is foundational to people’s feelings of agency, empowerment, and safety in community. Program participants display enormous strength and ingenuity in coping with challenges such as homelessness, domestic violence, mental illness, the after-effects of childhood abuse, involvement in the legal system, systemic oppression, and intergenerational trauma. We work to meet people where they are and follow their self-determined visions of success as they navigate structural barriers and challenges. We strive to create a low-threshold environment where people can bring their whole selves, while also holding each individual accountable to the community.

For more information, please visit our website:  www.ontherise.org

Description of Position

OTR’s Safe Haven Interns provide direct service in OTR’s flagship program, helping to deliver the goods and services available through the Safe Haven and fostering a supportive community in which program participants can progress beyond their immediate tangible needs and begin to gain access to the broader social service network through OTR’s team of Advocates.  In the Safe Haven, interns begin to develop hands-on experience with the population OTR serves, learning about the variety and complexity of participants’ challenges, and the cumulative impact of trauma in their lives.  Working with OTR’s Community Advocates, interns learn effective techniques and practices of providing holistic services, using a relational model informed by the philosophy of harm reduction.

OTR’s internships are compensated by a stipend of $17/hour for 16 hours per week.

Qualifications:  

The Safe Haven Internship requires a minimum commitment of 16 hours per week for the academic year.  College juniors, seniors or graduates are preferred.  Interns are supervised by OTR’s Safe Haven Advocates.

Interns will have interest in the mission of On The Rise and a desire to further this mission through direct service to women, trans people, and non-binary people.  Coursework in or personal lived experience with trauma, substance abuse, mental health, homelessness, etc. are a plus.  Excellent active listening skills are needed as well as an empathetic non-judgmental perspective, ability to work well with a wide range of populations, good problem-solving skills and a sense of humor!

Responsibilities:  

• Direct service:
• Provide general support for program participants through nonjudgmental, empathic active listening.
• Provide referrals and advocacy to help program participant gain access to resources offered by other providers
• Be a liaison between individuals in the Safe Haven and the goods and services available through the program.  Answer questions, give access to secured goods as directed by Advocates, maintain generally available supplies.
• Facilitate the daily offering of breakfast and lunch in the Safe Haven, helping with set-up, breakdown, and other logistics of meals.
• Assist with Safe Haven communications – create and post informational signs and sign-up sheets, 
• Work with staff to plan and execute occasional special activities and trips
• Other programmatic services
• Participate in organization’s data collection and performance measurement and evaluation activities.
• Attend Advocates Team meetings and all-staff meetings to develop responses to individual cases, and develop understanding of program participants’ challenges.
• Attend occasional trainings on specific topics, as recommended by staff.
• Accompany staff on visits and appointments with program participants.
• Fundraising, Administrative and Other:
• Support staff in supplying, organizing and maintaining program needs, offices and facility:  food and supplies, files, tools, donations, etc.
• Assist with occasional Development projects – publications, mailings, volunteer events, fundraisers, etc.
• Like all OTR employees, Interns will be flexible and open to “pitching in” as needed with other duties that arise in the course of a small organization’s day-to-day operations

On The Rise is partially supported by MOVA through the 1984 VOCA grant from the Office of Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

On The Rise recognizes the importance and benefits of diversity in the workplace and the community. We are an AA/EOE, and we strongly encourage people who are bilingual/bicultural, people of color, people with disabilities, members of LGBTQIA2+ communities, trans, and non-binary people to apply. OTR is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation, contact nora.allenwiles@ontherise.org

How to Apply:  

Please address these questions in a cover letter:

1. What excites you about On The Rise's mission?

2. What are your strongest skills and qualifications that will help you in this internship?

3. What do you hope to learn?

Apply by submitting your résumé and cover letter as attachments to: maria.rodriguez@ontherise.org and jasmin.jeanlouis@ontherise.org  with "Academic Year Internship" in the subject line.