Amelia Gonzalez Pinal

October 23, 2015

Adapting to Unexpected Changes in an Internship

For the past two years I have worked with Springfield No One Leaves, a nonprofit member-led community organization that fights for housing justice, specifically with families facing foreclosure in Springfield, MA. This past summer I was invited to help launch a new campaign organizing tenants of public housing units to prevent the displacement of them and their families. The first half of my summer was partially an incredible learning experience on how to launch a campaign from scratch, however the small organization also faced many internal challenges that eventually led to a halt in this campaign. Despite this big change in my work, relationship building, communication, and self-reflection were key in helping me surpass these changes and challenges. I continued to work on different projects for SNOL for the rest of the summer and have returned to work as a Community Based Learning Fellow for my senior year.