Meet Samantha:
My name is Samantha and I currently attend Metropolitan State University, pursuing a Bachelor's in Human Services with a minor in violence prevention. A couple years ago I connected with a student at Metro who said she’d be interning at Sojourner. During my studies at Metro, I became very interested in domestic violence and helping victims of crime and abuse. When I heard about Sojourner I was immediately interested and knew I wanted to intern here. Through my studies and education, I have learned a lot about violence and specifically the statistics behind violence and how to prevent it. So far, my experience at Sojourner has been great! Every day is different, which I enjoy, and being able to connect with the women here at the shelter has been very special to me.
Meet Shantoya:
Hi, my name is Shantoya and I currently attend Metropolitan State University. My major is Human Services with a minor in Family Studies.
What interested me about interning at Sojourner was the outstanding work they do with helping women and children of domestic abuse. Sojourner also provided safe secure spacing and other resources whether it be legal or help with housing and other services to help overcome certain barriers from staying in an abusive situation.
I currently work as an Advocate at a women’s shelter that provides emergency shelter for women who are pregnant or have children. I’ve also worked for the DHS system providing foster care for over 6yrs, which helped me gain a lot of knowledge and experience in helping families. I bring a lot as an intern because I do understand what it means to help people in need. I also am very knowledgeable with other resources and services that may be available and understand how to navigate and help peers with difficult situations. I have enjoyed meeting the new families that have come and gone as well as them allowing me to sit in on some of these difficult moments with explaining their situations and who they are as a person. I know that can be very difficult with strangers and feeling like you may be judged. I’ve also appreciated that a lot of the women I have interacted with feel comfortable with knowing I’m an intern but still want me to assist.
There’s one client that has really caught my attention because she not only had to deal with domestic violence, but she recently lost a family member as well. She is a true epitome of how women are strong and could overcome anything with help and support. She has also been faced with her own health scares and she still has been hanging in there to continue with her life on her own. She also continues to get up every day for work and school, which is very difficult to do when worrying about housing and other challenges.
I would hope to use this experience to educate young youth and families on domestic abuse. I really want them to understand different types of abuse and how it really affects your health and well-being. I also want to use the knowledge I retained to give women hope by referring them here or any place that offers help and support in these areas.