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Lilly Grant Supports Summer Service Jobs
WHEN YOU THINK OF A college student’s
typical summer job, waitressing, landscaping, and nannying
might come to mind. But what about church-planting in inner-city
communities, providing medical care to homeless populations,
or educating low-income families about nutrition? These kinds
of jobs don’t always provide the income a college student
needs to help pay for next year’s tuition and books.
But last summer, thanks to a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.,
seven Seattle Pacific University students were able to sidestep
funding issues and answer the call to serve.
“We saw a need to help students who wanted to do mission-driven
summer internship
projects, but couldn’t afford not to have a job during
the summer months,” says Career Development Center Director
Jacqui Smith-Bates. Drawing from the $500,000 Lilly grant
for SPU’s SERVE (Spiritual and Education Resources for
Vocational Exploration) project,
Smith-Bates and her staff developed the Summer Service Internship
Program.
Chosen from a group of 21 applicants, seven students were
awarded $2,000 each for part-time, unpaid internships that
ranged from working with the Tacoma Health Department’s
Food Stamp Interviewer Program
to assisting pastors to plant churches in Boston and Chicago.
Junior and premed major Rachel Ellis spent her summer working
closely with a doctor
at Outside In, a social service agency that aids homeless
youth in Portland, Oregon. There she took vital signs and
obtained medical
histories from homeless patients, and accompanied the doctor
and his outreach team as they walked through downtown Portland
offering free medical care to those in need. Her experience
was at times raw, even heartbreaking
— but it was also life-changing.
“I’ve created a model for myself of what kind
of attitude I want to have when I start my residency,”
wrote Ellis, summarizing her Lilly-funded internship. “I’ve
learned to make no assumptions about anyone, and how necessary
it is to create a professional bubble, to triage and get the
job done first (because lives are at stake) — and to
save the emotional surge for the ride home.”
“All of the grant winners had very rich experiences,”
says Smith-Bates. “We’re seeking
permanent funding for this. It’s one more way we can
help SPU students find their vocational calling.”
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