Announcement
Sarah Suiter, a first-year Masters of Social Work (MSW) student at the University of Utah, worked with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City for the past eight months as a casework intern. She heard about the IRC a year ago while looking for ways to get involved in her community. When Sarah learned about MSW practicum internships at the IRC, she was eager to apply!
Sarah Suiter, MSW student at the University of Utah & Casework intern at the IRC.
Photo: Mikaela Herman/IRC
Casework interns support the IRC’s casework team by expanding capacity to support refugee families and individuals on their path to self-sufficiency. At its core, this prioritizes a focus on taking extra time to care for people. Day-to-day support as a casework intern can vary, as case management covers a broad range of services. Sarah works alongside a casework supervisor, achieving her learning goals while supporting families and individuals that fall under their caseload. Some days she might be helping a family move out of an Airbnb and into permanent housing, others she might go to Deseret Industries with a family in search of umbrellas and warm winter clothes. Whatever Sarah is up to, she values most being able to assist the refugee families by helping them learn about the minuscule things that may not always be easy to see as part of the bigger picture.
“The little things have been most rewarding. I just focus on how I can make them happy and comfortable. It really is cool to have moments of just being human together,” said Sarah.
As an MSW student, Sarah has also been working on a macro project to enhance bus orientations. Sarah identified the idea after leading out on a few bus orientations, and realizing how difficult it is for newly arrived refugees to process the information. The primary challenge is language barriers, especially if an individual is unfamiliar with written English. “It is a lot to take in unless they have basic English. If they haven’t even seen English lettering, it is so hard for them to get through bus orientation. My goal is for them to have materials they can review before their bus orientations so that it isn’t so intimidating,” said Sarah. The concept for her macro project has been working on a pre-bus orientation video that can be offered in a variety of languages for individuals to review as a way to understand the process before the actual bus orientation!
Photo: IRC
Internships at the IRC focus on increasing knowledge and experience in an individual’s field of study. Our programs also offer a number of professional development trainings that go over resume building, interview skills, and more! For Sarah, this experience has been critical for gaining more exposure to social work and improving her listening skills with clients. “This internship broadened what I have done in so many ways, and expands my understanding of what social work can be. I know that this will 100% make me a more well-rounded social worker,” said Sarah. Her work with the IRC has enabled her to engage in discussion during her MSW classes while bringing a unique perspective to social work conversations.
Learn more about our internship opportunities here »