Date: Fall 2023 (September to December 2023)
Reporting to: Donald Whitehead, Executive Director of NCH
*This is a non-compensated internship unless your college/university is offering fellowship assistance.
How to Respond: Please send a resume or background information including the school you are enrolled in and a cover letter explaining why you would like to join the NCH team as well as if you will be receiving course credit for this internship. Please send your information to dwhitehead at nationalhomeless dot org.
Internship Summary: The NCH Racial Equity Intern will be a hybrid position with some time in person as well as remote work. This individual will participate in the Homeless Racial Equity workgroup to implement the goals of reducing discrimination and injustice within the housing and homeless system. The intern will work to encourage other civil rights organizations to adopt homelessness in their own advocacy. They will assist with outreach to advocates throughout the United States to encourage diversity in leadership and board appointments to include more people who have experienced homelessness in leadership. They will do outreach to graduates of the lived experience training academy to encourage their continued partnership in building power in the local community and submitting videos for our social media campaign focusing on equity issues. The intern will assist with updating a literature reference guide to supplement a racial equity curriculum with a focus on successful equity projects in the local community. The Racial Equity intern will work with advocates from across the United States to implement policy changes to reduce inequality. This intern will work to set up meetings with key policy makers to forward NCH policy objectives. The intern will help assure that equity issues are a part of the summer outreach and fall leadership conference. Finally, the intern will work to highlight inequality and discriminatory policies that act as a block to stable housing in the local community.
Specific Position Activities:
- Attend weekly meetings with staff and national committee around homeless racial equity work.
- Collect news stories from around the county about discrimination and racial inequality.
- Contribute articles to the monthly newsletters, social media and website on discriminatory policies and the disproportionate impact on ethnic minority populations in the United States.
- Gather information for a reports on the struggle for racial equity.
- Track local/state/federal legislation related to homelessness and poverty.
- Highlight past champions of racial equity and how they relate to homelessness.
- Track anti-racist policies and equity plans in various jurisdictions in the United States
- Update manuals to be used by community leaders in the area of anti-bias training materials.
- Assist with the the fall leadership conference where needed.
Required Skills and Experience:
- Ability to juggle multiple projects
- Superior research and written communication skills
- Working in a diverse setting with all kinds of people
- Ability to seek input from those with previous experience with homelessness
- Ability to work remotely and without daily supervision
- Ability to research news and interview individuals
Preferred Experience or Skills that will be developed as part of the internship:
- Direct service with homeless/low income populations
- Experience in writing promotional materials
- Experience in event planning
- Experience in digital and social media writing.
Mission Statement: The National Coalition for the Homeless, founded in 1982, is a national network of people who are currently experiencing homelessness or who were once homeless, activists and advocates, community and faith-based homeless service providers, and others committed to a single mission. That mission, our common bond, is to end homelessness. We are committed to creating the systemic and attitudinal changes necessary to prevent and end
homelessness. At the same time, we work to meet the immediate needs of people who are either currently homeless or at risk of homelessness. We take as our first principle of practice that people who are currently experiencing homelessness or have formerly experienced homelessness must be actively involved in all of our work.
Organizational Goals: The National Coalition for the Homeless remains a substantive voice in the federal legislative process for people who are experiencing homelessness. In our policy advocacy, we work diligently to ensure that mainstream resources and opportunities are available to families and individuals who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness. To end homelessness in the U.S., we use the following strategies to accomplish our mission: lobbying, policy analysis, litigation, public education, community organizing, research and technical assistance.
