To graduate from an accredited program with a Bachelor of Social Work degree, a junior and senior internship must be completed. The junior internship must consist of 180 hours completed across one semester. In the Spring of 2023, I fulfilled this requirement by interning at Sadler House.
Sadler House is a subset of the YWCA located in Lynchburg, VA. It is one of the two domestic violence safe houses operated by the Central Virginia YWCA and is a 25-bed unit that serves women affected by domestic or sexual violence. My role here was to assist in the creation of client files, provide support and encouragement, run support groups on Thursday evenings, and do other tasks as necessary around the house, like childcare.
I had a fantastic time at Sadler House. I learned so much about what it means to care for others professionally. These women and their families had been through so much, and it truly brought me joy to help them on the path to recovery by assisting staff members. I also learned a lot about social work practice. For example, how Sadler House filed and completed paperwork is probably quite similar to other agencies. And, even if it isn’t, it has given me the practice necessary to quickly and effectively do paperwork.
My artifact from this professional growth is a link to the Central VA YWCA website, the organization with which I interned.