Social Work Intern

Social Work Intern

About Mobile Loaves & Fishes

Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) is a social outreach ministry that has been empowering communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless since 1998. Founded in Austin, Texas, the organization serves its homeless neighbors through three core programs: Truck Ministry, Community First Village, and Community Works. Often referred to as the most talked about neighborhood in Austin, Community First Village is a 51-acre master planned development that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. We are now embarking on a new phase of community expansion, adding more than 1400 new neighbors over the next 5-10 years.

About the Internship

Community First Village is a 51-acre master-planned community that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for the chronically homeless in Travis County. The Neighbor Care Team has the privilege of walking alongside our neighbors as they apply to live at Community First Village and to provide an opportunity for them to settle, cultivate and care for themselves and others in this unique community. The Social Work (SW) Interns are an integral part of the Neighbor Care team. The primary role of a SW Intern is to enrich the lives of the neighbors at Community First Village by providing direct care, emotional support, and resource connection for our neighbors. Social Work Interns also work with Neighbor Care staff and onsite partners to help neighbors connect with the support that they need.

This is a part-time, non-exempt internship position working within the Neighbor Care and reporting to the Supportive Services Manager. Due to the nature and requirements of the position, hours are flexible to fit needs, but typically include 20 hours per week, Monday-Friday. The Social Work Intern will office at the Community First Village located at 9301 Hog Eye Road, Austin, TX 78724.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Conduct intensive case management and care coordination to increase neighbors' access to
• and engagement in mental and primary health care, substance use treatment, financial management, and overall self-sufficiency.
• Build and deepen meaningful relationships with our formerly homeless neighbors, while
• providing outreach to determine areas of need, increase neighbor's participation in
• their treatment and connect neighbors to appropriate resources.
• Work closely with on-site partner agencies such as Family Eldercare, Integral Care, Life Anew, and Communities for Recovery. Provide warm handoffs between neighbors and partners and help determine barriers to connection.
• Assist with programs such as the Central Texas Food Bank's FARMacy Truck, monthly food box delivery, MLF's Rent Success Team, and other resource connection events/programs.
• Attend regularly scheduled staff and Neighbor Care team meetings.
• Assist MLF and Neighbor Care team in achieving our goals, especially caring for neighbors.
• Other Duties & Responsibilities as needed.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities & Principles

• Commitment to serving those who have experienced homelessness and personal alignment with MLF's vision, mission, core values, and goals.
• Currently pursuing a degree in social work- Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) or Master of Social Work (MSW) students will be considered.
• Must have a valid driver's license.
• MLF is a faith-based organization whose ideals and philosophy come directly from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As an organization, we strive to reflect this precept in our communications, both internally and externally.

Learning Opportunities

• Social Work Interns focus on the 9 Core Competencies of the Social Work profession and apply theories of human behavior and the social environment during their time here at the village.
• Social Work Interns learn to demonstrate ethical and professional behavior, engage in diversity and difference within their practice, advance human rights through social, economic, and environmental justice, engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice, gain understanding of the historical and current structures of social policies and services that impact our neighbors.
• Social Work Interns will learn to consistently engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate their progress with neighbors.

Program Information

• Estimated length of program: 8 to 12 weeks, beginning Summer 2024.

Work Environment & Physical Demands

• Working in our office onsite.
• Must be comfortable completing home visits with neighbors, and potentially assisting/accompanying neighbors at off-site appointments.

MLF PURPOSE & VISION

We empower communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.

MLF MISSION

We provide food and clothing, cultivate community, and promote dignity to our homeless brothers and sisters in need.

GOALS

• Transform the way people view the stereotype of those who find themselves homeless
• Reconnect the homeless to self, family and community
• Help the chronically homeless rediscover and utilize their God-given talents to do purposeful work
• Connect human to human, heart to heart through the fellowship of food and hospitality
• Inspire people into a lifestyle of abundance by giving their best first

BELIEF STATEMENTS

• The vision is supported by belief statements centered on our belief that homelessness is the result of a profound, catastrophic loss of family:
• God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life
• By virtue of being created by God in His image, we are all called to live in community and relationship with Him through each other
• The family is the original cell of social life
• You shall love your neighbor as yourself
• All members of the human family are equal in dignity
• The Lord God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it. Gen 2:15

CORE VALUES

MLF is committed to fostering a culture that prioritizes relational connection. We believe there is opportunity in every aspect of our work to be relational in a highly transactional world. In this culture, transactions are means to relational ends, not the other way around.

This begins with the countercultural love poured out by Jesus Christ and grows as imperfect individuals strive to show this love to each other human-to-human, heart-to-heart.

Each individual's openness to the journey of their own personal growth is essential in building our relational culture, and we believe this culture flourishes as we each continuously strive to more fully embody these four core values:

• Faith: We define Faith as the foundational belief that our world and all our work belong to God. This allows us to engage our work with joy and lightheartedness, knowing that we are not ultimately in control.
• Humility: We define Humility as rightly viewing oneself as a single piece of a grander story. This humility leads to a view of oneself that is neither too high nor too low.
• Generous Spirit: We define a Generous Spirit as a readiness to give more grace, mercy, and hospitality than is necessary or expected. This posture allows us to see others for who they are, not what they do.
• Integrity: We define Integrity as a wholehearted commitment to doing right by God, ourselves, and others. This wholeheartedness shows itself in consistently choosing honesty, responsibility and ownership in all actions and decisions.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

MLF is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Personnel are chosen based on ability without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, genetics, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation in accordance with federal and state law.