Reflection of Public Health Internship

Alexis Griffis
KINS 4306- Internships in Public Health
June 11, 2021
 Griffis 2

Introduction

My name is Alexis Griffis, and I had the opportunity to intern at a private non-profit

corporation called Ninth District Opportunity this summer for 12 weeks. Ninth District

Opportunity, or NDO, is a community action agency that advocates for families in need and

promotes access to opportunities which facilitate movement towards self-development, self-

reliance, and self-determination. Examples of these partnerships in practice is helping clients

sign up for food stamps and medicare, providing funds for energy bills, and helping alleviate rent

payments as a preventative measure to avoid homelessness. This corporation was founded in

1967 to work in partnership with low-income people and has grown to a staff of over 600

persons. The reason it was originally founded was to carry out the mandate of the Economic

Opportunity Act of 1964. It is currently under the leadership of Executive Director, Patsy

Thomas and Board Chairman, Garrison Baker. The agency serves over 20 counties but has a core

group of 13 counties that all of NDO’s services are offered in.

Michael Fisher, my supervisor for the summer, is responsible for grant writing as well as

communicating with the clients. Since the funds come from the government, the grant writing is

very detailed so he has to maintain accurate records and keep up to date his reports. The

Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), and

Energy Assistance Program (EAP) all fund the housing programs that provide hotel/motel stays,

energy bill payments, rent, and more. I also work alongside Chrystal Coker and her housing team

who advise clients and pay the bills if clients are following all protocols to stay in the program.

NDO also provides numerous services including Head Start, Georgia Pre-K, Community

Services, Housing Programs, Heating Assistance, and Weatherization. The three services I have
 Griffis 3

worked with during my time at NDO are the Housing Programs, Community services, and

Heating Assistance.

During my time here, I have gotten to work with many different clients. The HOPWA

program, Housing Opportunities for People With Aids, has allowed me to work with individuals

diagnosed with HIV. The Street Outreach program allows me to go out in the Gainesville

community and meet clients that are currently without a house. I have also gotten to work with

families that are currently in a home but due to current hardships, are in risk of eviction as well

as the elderly population that require help with their energy bills. I feel incredibly blessed for

getting to work with so many kind, caring, good people. Their social determinants have a major

impact on their current positions, but NDO helps to improve their social, physical, and economic

environments.

Description of Experiences

I did not have a specific role for my internship since I was their very first intern. I instead

did whatever was needed to be done which made my days look different each day. Some days, I

would only do administrative tasks like filing and dating documents. Other days, I would go

grocery shopping so that we could disperse groceries to the local homeless camps later that day.

Sometimes I would take crisis assessments of people who called asking for assistance. Crisis

assessments, or CAs, is when you ask clients about their demographics, their history, and their

story of why they are where they are now and what assistance they require. Once all this

information was taken, I would put it in a overwhelmingly thick binder with others so that when

the housing team had the time and funds, they could offer help.
 Griffis 4

My favorite days were when I assisted in EAP, or energy assistance program. On these

days I got to greet each individual/ family who were signed up and take all their information

required for the program. These would take place all over Georgia like in Athens’s community

center, local churches, and offices. Getting to talk to so many people in one day is something I

really enjoy so I would always look forward to these days. The most challenging days for me

were when I did not feel useful. Somedays there was really nothing for me to do but I hated

feeling like I was in the way and not accomplishing anything. It also made the day go by slow so

if my boss did not have anything for me to do, I would always ask the offices around us if they

needed anything done that I could help with. I wish I did more talking to clients and

administrative work and less waiting around and feeling unhelpful to the organization. This was

no one’s fault in particular so I’m not sure what the solution would have been.

Perception and Evaluation of the Internship

The time I spent in the Gainesville location of Ninth District Opportunity completely met

my personal expectations. The reason for this is because I had multiple phone calls with my

supervisor before my start date that prepared me well for the summer. He explained that they

have not had an intern in the past so I would not have set tasks but that I will learn the processes

through out my time there. By week 6, I felt like I had a fairly firm grasp on the policies and

procedures of what goes on at NDO. With the organization being as old as it is, they had set

ways of doing things, so I did not have any new ideas or contributions.

I saw my supervisor daily and worked with him for the majority of my summer, so his

supervision was fairly effective. Mike often would check in with me to see if I were doing okay

and enjoying my experience at NDO. My experience at the non-profit was a great opportunity

and I learned a lot. However, I would say my experience could have improved if I had more
 Griffis 5

tasks to do. If I had daily tasks or even random tasks assigned to me every day, I could have been

a much more productive intern. This was not the case for me because, as I mentioned previously,

there were days and part of days where I was unsure what to do. Additionally, I believe a short

training period would be beneficial so that it would not take multiple weeks to figure out what all

NDO does. The non-profit does so much for 20 counties in Georgia that I feel like I only saw the

tip of the iceberg.

If future Public Health majors ask if I recommend this internship, I will say certainly! I

have had such great coworkers that I hope to stay in touch with once I leave and I also have

learned so much on how nonprofits are run. I had the best four years I could have asked for at

Georgia College and State University, however, I always felt like I was in a college bubble. By

this I mean that I mostly surrounded myself with my college peers. This summer, it was great to

leave my college bubble and meet so many incredible people from all different backgrounds and

a variety of ages. Even though I truly did have a great experience, I would not consider this as a

career path. I am still unsure how I may use my degree, but I know it will not be at Ninth

District. I believe I would be better suited with kids which is why I am considering getting my

masters for Child Life Specialist.

Internship Preparedness

Determining how well I was prepared academically for my placement at Ninth district

Opportunity is hard considering that most of it you had to learn in the office rather than in the

classroom. However, my degree gave me a firm foundation going into the summer because I

understood the social determinants of health and knew that there are so many different reasons

a person may be struggling. Health Promotion and Programing prepared me well for this.

Public Health Policy & Systems prepared me for all of the policies and procedures that follow
 Griffis 6

program planning and Community Health made me excited to serve a community again. I had

such a great experience from volunteering at Baldwin Highschool’s garden that I was excited

to do something similar again. I also felt that Community gave me the tools to go into the

community confidently and understand that there are a multitude of ways to get involved.

Internship Performance 

During my time at Ninth District, I developed my skills in teamwork, flexibility,

empathy, and sensitivity in communication. I grew in teamwork because the entire process of

helping clients truly is a team effort. Each step requires attention from multiple people, so if you

are not good at communicating with your coworkers or taking criticism, then you will not help

the client to the best of your ability. Teamwork can be a hard skill for me sometimes because it

takes me a longer time than most to ask for help. I would rather take longer to accomplish

something rather than use someone’s time asking them for help. During this internship, I learned

that was not beneficial to the team, so I had to learn asking for help is not burdening others. My

skill in flexibility grew because I did not know what was going to do day to day. Since I did not

have set tasks, I had to be able comfortable jumping in wherever I was asked.

One skill required while working in a non-profit is empathy. If one is not empathetic to

their clients, they may burn out easily from their job or not have the passion to work as hard. My

empathy grew each day when I would hear the clients’ stories that would sometimes be so

heartbreaking. When someone is empathetic to the cause, then no task is too big or too small and

their client will feel cared about. Lastly my sensitivity in communication grew. This was outside

the office as well as in. Talking to clients and asking them for personal details can be

uncomfortable for them, so being able to communicate in a professional but friendly manner is

important. It is also important for inside the office because somedays would be tough for
 Griffis 7

everyone, so having patience for when people are stressed is important to keep a good

relationship with coworkers.

Personal/Professional Insights/Benefits

My internship at Ninth District has impacted my personal goals because it has made

me want to be more involved in my community. Even after I leave, I want to remain doing

outreach on Wednesdays with Mike and his team. It has also impacted me professionally

because I realized that I do not want an office job. I want something more along the lines as

Child Life Specialist, so that takes me into my academic goals. I would love to get my masters

so that I can jump straight into a profession instead of slowly building my way up the ladder.

Overall, the experience made me more comfortable talking with strangers and with

coworkers as well as more confident in my skills. It has also shown me that there are major

problems that need to be fixed regarding the homeless population across the state. Instead of

gentrifying cities and pushing the homeless further and further away, funds, soup kitchens,

and homeless shelters need not to be forgotten about or ignored. Instead of ignoring people on

the streets, we as a community need to take steps in helping them. I will forever be grateful

for everything I have learned from NDO this summer.