ACE internships reach beyond Middlebury Student dialogue raises issue of new poverty studies major

Author: Cecilia Goldschmidt

On Sept. 17, five Middlebury students shared stories about their participation in the Shepherd Poverty Alliance internships, sponsored by Washington and Lee University and awarded annually to approximately 50 students making strides to assist poor people in achieving higher degrees of civic involvement. In addition, the Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE) supported two students working locally to help alleviate poverty's effects.

Brent Allen '11 spent his summer helping out at the John W. Graham Emergency Shelter in Vergennes, the only homeless shelter in Addison County. Allen explained that he really learned the ins and outs of the shelter and its policies during his time there.

"The shelter wants residents to help themselves take charge of their own welfare," explained Allen. "The challenge for me was going in as a 19 year-old kid and trying to assist people with really crucial decisions."

Allen started his internship with general introductory work and by learning the rules of the shelter, ultimately taking on a variety of tasks as the summer wore on. He went around Addison County to local organizations such as the Health Department to involve them in helping the shelter, he researched grants for funding and he collected housing applications from shelter residents. His relationships with many of these residents were so strong that at the end of the summer, one of them made him a card and got it signed by all of the other residents. Allen is excited to continue working at John Graham during the school year.

"The shelter made a big difference for me as a person," said Allen. "I feel like I am a much more compassionate person."

Ben Weir '11 saw a very different side of poverty issues for his internship at the Addison County Farm Worker Coalition. There are over 2,000 migrant farm workers currently in Vermont, who are mostly Mexican, and although they are key to the success of Vermont's dairy farming, they do not receive any rights or benefits because they are not United States citizens.

"They are an invisible population," said Weir. "I've lived in this state for my whole life but never knew about this."

The Farm Worker Coalition recognizes the importance of the migrant farmers' work locally and provides them with humanitarian services, translation services and even playgroups for their children. Weir took on many responsibilities this summer, from applying for grants to organizing transportation for the workers, who are unable to get driver's licenses as non-citizens. He also got to know many of the farm workers and their families from playing soccer with them and attending the playgroups.

"I gained a huge understanding of how the community and the country works," said Weir.

Besides Allen and Weir, three other Middlebury students had interesting and meaningful interactions with impoverished populations through their internships. Christopher Mutty '09.5 worked with the United Way of Addison County, focusing mainly on issues of housing and financial stability. Mutty is hoping to continue his work this year at United Way to produce a financial mapping project.

"The goal is to coordinate efforts in communities to have the biggest impact," said Mutty.

Robert McKay '09 worked with The Food Project in Boston. Every summer, The Food Project involves inner city children in farming and community building. In his work at The Food Project, McKay had a variety of jobs but discovered that his true interest is in teaching and interacting with youth. He was very impressed by "the power of these agricultural spaces to build community."

Hannah Rabinovitch '09 worked at the Rockbridge Area Hospice in Lexington, Virginia. Rabinovitch shared many anecdotes about the people she met and established relationships with through her experiences in hospice care.

"You start getting into their families, which was such a blessing," Rabinovitch said.

These internships are part of a larger initiative to bring a poverty studies academic program to Middlebury College. The Higher Education Act bill, which was signed by President Bush on Aug. 15, 2008, includes authorization for the poverty-related grants - an initiative that ACE has been promoting since 2003. The idea for the proposed program dictates that interested students take certain courses in poverty studies and then participate in poverty internships over the summer, much like the ones that Mutty, McKay, Allen, Rabinovitch, and Weir took part in this summer. Director of ACE Tiffany Sargeant expressed her hope that the program will start sometime in 2010.