The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement. The Red Cross provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.
THE FIELD EXPERIENCE FOR THE BSW CANDIDATE:
The student intern position provides the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in a non-profit organization in the area of Emergency Services. The student will receive training to serve families affected by disasters and Armed Forces Emergency Services; in areas of mitigation/planning, response and recover from natural and manmade disasters. The student will be taking an active role in the development of disaster response plans and updating community resource information.
Major Responsibilities:
- Work with Emergency Services Director in rewriting Disaster Response Plan, including annexes for nine county service delivery areas.
- Provide direct client assistance to families of disaster and Armed Forces Emergency Services. This may occur in the office or in the field.
- Complete client intake, assessment, documentation, planning and follow up.
- Maintain computer based tracking tools for department statistics.
- Maintain files and data base for tracking of volunteer resources and their training.
- Prepare and coordinate materials for various projects.
- Participate in emergency management committee meetings involving local community partners such as Emergency Management, Fire Department, Health Department, counseling agencies, Division of Senior Services, etc.
WHAT STUDENTS SAY:
"At the American Red Cross (ARC) you will be introduced to numerous resources and agencies in the area. When helping families that have experienced a home fire, you will do the entire planned change process in about one hour! The employees and volunteers at ARC are amazing people. This is an humanitarian organization that has principles that are similar to the social work values. I will continue to have contact with them and will remain a volunteer for as long as possible."
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"The ARC offers a wide varitey of services and operates all levels of social work practice. Much of it is macro social work. The staff is a wonderful team and is eager to incorporate new team members. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the staff at ARC. Team members are very encouraging and supportive. The student must be willing to be active in structuring his/her own learning experiences. It was a very good learning environment for me."
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"The American Red Cross gave me the opportunity to work with a population I was unfamiliar with. I was able to do micro, mezzo and micro social work."
For more information about the American Red Cross, visit their website at: http://www.semoredcross.org/
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