Hello! My name is Ella Nelson, and I am currently a Junior psychology major. I have an internship with Walla Walla Child Advocates located in downtown Walla Walla. Walla Walla Child Advocates is a government run program that is a volunteer-based advocacy program for kids who are in foster care. Their mission is to provide culturally sensitive best interest advocacy to children within the court system who have experienced abuse or neglect. I started working with them this summer through the Whitman Community Engaged Research Project.
This semester I have been working on a wide range of projects. My supervisor lets me sit in on meetings about different kids’ cases and sometimes even go to court with her. Since I know minimal about child welfare, I have had to go through a steep learning curve. I just finished a 30-hour training that they have all their volunteers go through. This training helped me get a basic understanding of what it is like to be a volunteer with the organization as well as learn more about child welfare.
One big project I have been helping them do is to recruit more volunteers. Currently they have over 50 kids without advocates! I interviewed a Whitman math professor who also happens to be a volunteer with Walla Walla Child Advocates. I asked him questions about what it is like to be a volunteer during the middle of a pandemic. We also talked about the importance, now more than ever, of having advocates for kids in the foster system who are looking out for their best interests. The article is going to be published in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin in December in hopes of recruiting more volunteers for their next online training in January!
I have also helped them make their website more accessible. While there was not too much we could change since it is a government website, we tried our best to make it look better. Hopefully more people will be able to navigate and find the website easier.
Although everyday sometimes looks different I am learning so much about what it is like to be in child welfare and work for the government. So far, my favorite part of the job is learning how big of an impact a child advocate can have on a child’s life to ensure they are placed in a safe place that is in their best interest. I am excited to further my knowledge and continue to intern for Walla Walla Child Advocates for the rest of the year!
Experiences like Ella’s are made possible by the Whitman Internship Grant, which provides funding for students to participate in unpaid internships at both for-profit and non-profit organizations. We are happy to be sharing blog posts from students who were supported by either a summer, fall, spring, or year-long Whitman Internship Grant at organizations, businesses, and research labs all around the world. To learn how you could secure a Whitman Internship Grant or host a Whitman intern at your organization, click here or contact Assistant Director for Internship Programs Mitzy Rodriguez