Youth Pride Inc. (YPI)

Name of Organization: Youth Pride Inc. (YPI) https://www.youthprideri.org/

Address: 743 Westminster St. Providence, RI 02903

Description of the overall mission of this organization:

Dedicated to meeting the unique needs of LGBTQQ youth & striving to end homophobic and transphobic environments. 

Ages of youth served: 9-23 (two groups: 9-13 & 14-23)

Name of Mentor: Elana Rosenberg (Executive Director)

Hours worked: 

• Fall 2019: Wednesday (1:30-5:30pm) & Thursday (11:30am-1:30pm) = AVG. 6hrs a week
• Spring 2020: Monday (11:30am-1:30pm), Tuesday (11:30am-1:30pm), & Thursday (11:30am-5:30pm) = AVG. 10hrs a week
• Fall 2019 Total (67.5hrs) + Spring 2020 Total due to pandemic (62.5hrs) = 130hrs 

Description of your role and duties: (include administrative or hands-on or both)

A mix of administrative & hands-on, although less of a hands-on mentoring aspect because there were about 3-4 Social Work interns also at this site. Hands-on tasks included: mentoring youth during daily Drop-In, helping to clean the kitchen or pantry, hanging or passing out flyers, & helping with Community Dinner. Administrative tasks included: weekly staff meetings, helping to plan annual GSA conference, contacting GSA advisors, researching possible workshops for the conference, contacting youth parents/guardians in case of Drop-In closure, & opportunities to do some graphic design by redesigning a list of resources into separate handouts (Resources for Educators, Families, Youth, etc). 

Description of the culture of the place (how many people in the office, dress code, communication style)

Potential to have 5 staff members, 4-5 interns, & a few volunteers in the space at same time, most likely during the Wednesday Community Night Dinner. YPI has a casual dress code and communication style, close-knit community between staff members, as well as between staff and youth (multiple staff members & volunteers that used to be youth in the space).  

Additional Requirements: (travel, etc)

Not required, but optional opportunities to travel with a staff member to a RI or MA high school to be guest speakers at a GSA meeting. 

Special notes on process of getting this internship:

Not required, but should be comfortable talking about sexuality & pronouns (your own & in general), youth are usually curious and don't usually hesitate to ask. 

Other internship opportunities with this organization:

Mostly Social Work interns there, but usually if there is a staff member available to be a mentor, they will help to create roles and/or responsibilities around the student's internship needs.

What three TAGS would you use to label this internship?

teenagers, mentoring, & afterschool

Your name: Allison Tougas

Your cohort: 7

Your email address if others can contact you: alli1234595186@gmail.com