Erin Bloom

Blog Post #1

Hi! My name is Erin, welcome to my internship blog! I’m a rising senior at Loyola Chicago pursuing a major in Women’s Studies and Gender Studies and a minor in chemistry. I’m really excited about combining my passions for science and feminism throughout my internship this summer as well as through the rest of my career. I plan on going to medical school, becoming a surgeon (specialty uncertain, maybe pediatrics or OB/GYN) and using my knowledge of women’s studies and gender studies to advocate for women’s voices in the medical field. I first became inspired to pursue this path in ninth grade when I was told I had to select a book to read and write a report on during the summer before my AP Human Geography class. I waited until the last minute when there were only a few books remaining and chose a book called Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. If you haven’t read it, you should definitely go read it now.  It’s a memoir by a woman from Somali who details her experience with female genital mutilation and other sexist abuses that were excused under the guise of religion. When I read about Ali and her sister’s “circumcision” I was utterly shocked by the fact that this type of abuse and mutilation is legal in six countries, and still occurs in many others. However, another part of me was fascinated by the medical side and wanted to know if and how a doctor would be able to aid survivors of FGM in leading normal sexual and reproductive lives. And were there doctors that specialized in this? Since then, I have been fascinated with how I can, as a (future) doctor and B.A. in women’s and gender studies, create a career in which I help heal female survivors of physical or medical abuse or simply advocate for women and marginalized communities in a way that is normally overlooked in the medical profession. 

My internship is in the health services department at Deborah’s Place. Deborah’s Place is a residence for women experiencing homeless in the Chicago area. I chose to intern at Deborah’s Place because they offered me an internship that perfectly fit the description of what I was looking for; as a premed and women’s and gender studies student, I wanted an internship that would allow me to experience what a job in the fields of both healthcare and women’s studies feels like. My position in the health services office at a women’s shelter allows me to do just that. Deborah’s Place follows a harm reduction method in which they meet each participant where they are at; this method allows for each woman to express their individual goals and needs and to follow their own timeline. This means that until a woman decides to seek help with finding permanent housing, substance abuse treatment, a doctor, or something similar, she will not be asked about it, as the harm reduction program takes a voluntary approach to care. One of my goals as an intern is to understand the importance of a harm reduction method and how this method benefits women experiencing homelessness. I have had a lot of training about harm reduction and trauma informed care, but I have never worked in a position where I am providing care for survivors of trauma, like survivors of homelessness.  Because of this, another one of my goals is to understand how learning about working with survivors of trauma and actually working with survivors of trauma differs. Lastly, by the end of my internship I would like to be able to apply feminist theory and epistemology that I have learned in my WSGS classes to observations and experiences I make at Deborah’s Place. 

I have been an intern at Deborah’s Place for three weeks and I have enjoyed my time there. My responsibilities as a health services intern include doing weekly wellness checks, providing residents with over-the-counter medication, picking up and dropping off prescriptions, scheduling appointments and transportation, and starting in a few weeks, I will be giving presentations about health topics and teaching exercise classes. All the women that have come to the health services office have been incredibly warm and kind, and a few have told me how thankful they are for Deborah’s Place and the staff here. During my second week, the staff held an alumni luncheon for the women who have moved out of Deborah’s Place, and I attended and helped make smoothies for a presentation. While there, I listened to one of the women tell her story of her time at Deborah’s Place; in her time during and after the program, she quit doing drugs, went back to school (in her fifties or sixties!), bought a car, and is now a phlebotomist. She was so grateful for how the program transformed her life.  It was really amazing to hear. I do wish that I could hear more people’s stories and get to know more of the participants; only a handful of women come into the health services office each day and only stay for a short time, but I’m sure as time goes on I will learn more about the participants’ experiences! 

Blog Post #2

Hi again! My name is Erin, and I am a health services intern at Deborah’s Place, a residence for women who have or are currently experiencing homelessness. I have been interning here for seven weeks, and things have been going really well.  

During these past (almost) two months, I have developed a routine of tasks that I complete, which varies slightly day-to-day. Each day, I come to work at the health services office at 9:00 am, unlock all the cabinets, open my email, and get the office ready. (My supervisors are utilizing their yearly part time off before it expires, so on most of the days I am here it is just me in the office.) Then I wait for participants to come into or call the office. Health services offers a variety of products and services for participants. Most frequently, participants, or the women who live in the different programs Deborah’s Place offers, will come to health services requesting over the counter medication or first aid products. I administer the medication and then fill out two forms: one stating who they are and what type of care they received for their chart/book, and another less detailed form stating what type of care they received for my supervisor to enter into the HMIS system. The HMIS system is a federally mandated data service which serves to track the care given to the homeless with the goal of making sure shelters meet the needs of their participants. Participants also occasionally come in requesting help making appointments or finding health care providers. In this case, I will call their doctor for them, given they have one, and speak on their behalf to make an appointment. If they need help finding a new provider, I will either go online or call their insurance company to find a doctor, therapist, psychiatrist, or whatever kind of medical professional they need that takes their insurance. We also have a scale and a blood pressure monitor in the office, which some participants utilize frequently. Additionally, participants may come in looking to discuss problems they are having or seeking mental health support/crisis management. While I’ve been here, one woman has come in several times stating that she is struggling with her mental health, and I have attempted to help by allowing her the space to talk about what she is feeling, offering suggestions and stress relieving techniques like meditating, exercising, adopting a regular sleep schedule, coloring, and using health services to find a therapist or psychiatrist. My supervisor and I also provided her with crisis resources such as local hospitals, the suicide hotline, and “9-8-8,” or the “9-1-1” for mental health (not open until July 16th). Any time anyone receives care in health services, I must fill the forms described earlier, as well as write a brief description of the care received for the Daily Report email to my supervisors.  

Occasionally, when the women come into the health services office, they feel comfortable enough to share their stories with me. One thing that I have noticed from the stories these women tell is the important role that intersectional oppression has on life outcomes. All of the participants at Deborah’s Place are women, all have a disability, and a majority of them are a racial minority. From interacting with the participants, I’ve learned that many of them faced sexual, physical or mental abuse at a young age, many came from dangerous neighborhoods and a majority were raised in poverty. These overlapping levels of oppression begin in childhood and are often the cause of further oppression in adult life, such as homelessness and incarceration. And when these adults who are provided no resources have children, the cycle of poverty continues. The systems of oppression in play in the US work to keep people like the women of Deborah’s Place, in poverty by denying them resources, which is what makes places like Deborah’s Place so important. They provide women with resources, like shelter, healthcare, washing machines, showers, and computers, to their participants to help them fight the oppression they were handed when they were born.  

When I have time in between participants coming into the office, I’m usually preparing for my health talks. Over the course of my internship, I have to give three talks (informal presentations- just sitting with the participants and talking) about any health-related-topic of my choosing. So far, I have given one talk about personal hygiene, and today I am leading an exercise class meant to teach low-impact workouts that the participants can do in their apartments. I enjoyed giving the personal hygiene talk because, despite only having one participant come, I felt like I actually taught someone something, which was really impactful. I was able to answer questions and teach the participant about feminine hygiene, which was really special to me due to the lack of education on sexual health care in public schools and the recent supreme court rulings, which are leading us toward a country where women are denied agency over their bodies. The hardest thing about these presentations is getting the women to show up and participate. My personal hygiene talk did not have a great turn-out in terms of number of participants, so my supervisor would like me to do it again when she is here to help promote it more. Fliers are distributed throughout the building for every event, but when you’re struggling with your mental health, finding independent housing, affording food, are unable to see your family, or are fighting some other adverse circumstance, I understand why attending an exercise class or a presentation about health may not be the first thing on your priority list. I believe these health talks are helping me understand the meaning of trauma informed care, which at Deborah’s Place, means meeting the women where they’re at. It’s easy to want to get frustrated about the attendance at my health talks, but some of the women are at a place where they are working on getting their mental health to a point where they feel comfortable enough to get out of their unit, and don’t currently feel like being around people. In putting together my exercise class, it was also difficult to find exercises that would be exciting for some yet still age appropriate for others, given that most of the women here are older. I feel like I am learning that it is more important to bring these talks to a level where I am meeting some of the women where they are at, rather than worrying about boring or not stimulating others. 

Blog Post #3

Hi everyone! It’s Erin again. I’m a rising senior at Loyola University Chicago. I just finished my last week, week twelve, at Deborah’s Place, a housing facility for women experiencing homelessness. I interned in the Health Services department.  

I learned a lot at Deborah’s Place this summer. One of the biggest things I’ve taken away is confidence in communicating. I’ve always been a shy and anxious person when it comes to working with others, but I felt myself experiencing a lot of growth in my communication skills over the course of my internship. All the staff at Deborah’s Place are extremely kind and make a habit of greeting all other staff and participants by name every time they see each other. This made me feel really welcome, and it became something I began doing as well. The welcoming and open nature of the workplace played a big role in my increase in confidence in communicating. I am normally reclusive at work and school but the openness of others really pulled me into the Deborah’s Place community. Feeling like other people knew me and cared enough to learn my name gave me the confidence to interact with other staff; this also inspired me to try to create relationships with the participants like the staff did with me. I found myself having an easier time in all parts of my internship as I got more comfortable communicating, as many departments and staff at Deborah’s Place work together frequently. Having better communication and interpersonal skills will continue to help me not only personally, but throughout my education and my professional career as I go on to be a doctor and interact with patients and families.  

I experienced so many great times and really rewarding moments this summer at Deborah’s Place that it is hard to pick just a few. I think one of my favorite memories from this summer was actually my last day, the day of the Health Fair. The Health Fair is a yearly event put on by Health Services in which health organizations from the community set up a booth or give a short presentation to women from both locations as well as Deborah’s Place alumni. As an intern in the health services department, a department made up of me and my two supervisors, I got to be very involved in the planning of and preparing for the event. It was very special to see such a big event that I helped put together go off without a hitch and especially to see how much the participants enjoyed it. All the participants left with goodie bags, many with new phones from Assurance Wireless, and a few with big raffle prizes! I also really enjoyed leading some of the women in a series of chair yoga flows. I led two chair yoga classes, both of which had a surprising number of participants! The women that came to the first group enjoyed it so much they asked that I do another one. My supervisors told me that one of the women who participated in my yoga groups has begun taking more walks and becoming more involved in the monthly programing. Knowing that something I introduced played a role in inspiring someone to make a healthy lifestyle change makes me really proud of both her and I!  

I have one year left of my WSGS major, and I would recommend the program to anyone who is considering majoring or minoring in Women’s Studies and Gender Studies. In my opinion, the best thing about Women’s Studies and Gender Studies is how it is everywhere; it is relevant to and overlaps with every other field of study. For example, I am excited to bring my knowledge of women’s studies and gender studies to the field of medicine, where women are often discriminated against as professionals and overlooked as patients. The WSGS major/minor program at Loyola approaches the subject as a study of inequality and activism and studies the overlap of women and gender with many other forces such as capitalism, racism, indigenous rights, environmentalism, and socialism. If you’re thinking about becoming a WSGS major or minor, my advice is to go for it and combine it with another passion. Use your WSGS degree to bring equality into whatever it is you are most passionate about. Oh also, don’t save all your readings for the night before class 🙂 

Thanks for reading!  

Erin 

Katie Mullenix  

Blog Post #1

My name is Katie Mullenix and I am a Senior at Loyola Chicago. I am majoring in Women and Gender Studies and minoring in Sociology. I have only been in the WSGS program for a year because I changed my major from Journalism when I was a sophomore and it was a great decision to transfer into the major because I know this is where I belong. For my Engaged Learning requirement, I am interning at FUNdamentally Sound in Skill and Life, a non-profit organization that aims to intentionally educate, empower, and equip Inner-city Middle school and High school female student-athletes to become college-educated, purpose driven citizens through coaching, training, and mentoring. As I have been taking WSGS classes, I have become most passionate about gender inequality in the workplace and I know I want my career to have something to do with combatting that inequality through policy change or directly working with companies to ensure they are equal in how they treat their employees. 

I decided to do a WSGS internship because I knew I wanted an internship with a non-profit organization and that there would be several opportunities for me to connect with non-profits as a part of the WSGS department. Also, because there is a good chance I will be working with a non-profit as I begin taking action against gender inequality in the workplace, I wanted to work with a non-profit organization that dealt with any type of issues involving women, whether it be workplace inequality, reproductive issues, or women and sports. The WSGS department has been helpful in guiding me in finding an internship and supplying resources such as lists of organizations that offer internships and pointing me towards resources that the university has available to all students. In my internship, I hope to accomplish several things: gaining experience in non-profit work, making connections that I will keep after the internship is over, and learning skills that I can apply in my last year of college and whatever I do after, whether that be graduate school or starting a career. 

My first impressions at my internship location have not been the most traditional because my internship office is at my church, which I have gone to for over half of my life. I already knew my internship location very well and the people who work at my church well, as well as the city it is in, Memphis, Tennessee. However, my internship has taken me to several places around my city that I am not familiar with, even if I knew these places were there. The non-profit I am working with partners with schools and churches around my city that I have never been to before, so I have been exposed to parts of my city that I have never spent a lot of time in. I have driven through these neighborhoods several times, but I have never stopped to get to know the schools, churches, and people that live in these areas. I am looking forward to connecting with and supporting the female student-athletes that call these neighborhoods home.  

Blog Post #2

My name is Katie Mullenix and I am a senior at Loyola Chicago majoring in Women and Gender Studies. This summer I am the Development and Operations intern at a non-profit organization in Memphis, Tennessee called FUNdamentally Sound in Skill and Life. The organization’s mission is to internationally empower, educate, and equip Inner-city Middle school and High school female student-athletes to become college educated, purpose driven citizens through coaching, training, and mentoring. I began the internship in May 2022 and will finish it in August 2022. 

I hope to apply what I have learned to my personal, educational, career, and activist goals by always asking questions about what I am learning while I am learning it. I ask my supervisor questions about whatever task I am doing, as well as her experience learning these tasks for the first time. This organization is a culmination of everything my supervisor has done throughout her life. She has been a youth pastor, an outreach director, a job coach, and an insurance agency owner, among other positions she has held. Throughout all of this, her dream was to start an organization like FUNdamentally Sound. She found a way to use all that she had learned previously and bring it together into this organization. I hope to do the same with what I have learned so far. I have learned how a non-profit runs and how to fundraise for it. I have learned how to connect with people on more than a surface level. I can add this to what I have learned while taking WSGS classes at Loyola. These classes teach me the foundation of the subject and the history of it. By using the terminology I know because of academic classes and the experience I have gained this summer, I will be able to apply what I have learned to my goals. Because I have learned so much, I know I have learned something this summer that will help me with each of my personal, educational, career, and activist goals. 

Some of my favorite moments during my internship happened during the basketball clinics that we put on throughout the summer. I was mainly working in an office this summer so this was one of the only times I got to see the athletes participating. Most of the events the organization puts on happen throughout the school year so I had limited chances to interact with the girls. I loved being able to see the people we are ministering to and see them interact with each other and the coaches who are there for them. Another moment happened early in my internship on a Friday. Top Gun: Maverick had just come out in theaters and my supervisor surprised me with tickets. She told me we had a “very important business meeting” that I did not know about, but the meeting ended up being a showing of Top Gun: Maverick. It was a funny moment and it was nice to be able to do something to celebrate all of the hard work and progress we had made so far in my internship. 

To those who are thinking of pursuing a major or minor in Women and Gender Studies, my advice to you is do not allow anyone to make you feel bad about what you are studying because it is such an important subject. Some people may think it is odd to major or minor in WSGS because it does not have a clear career path, but don’t let that hinder you from pursuing this course of study.