Everett Gospel Mission Community Engagement and Activity Assistant (In-Person) (Working w/ Youth) (Everett)

The Everett Gospel Mission Women and Children’s Shelter is in Everett, WA and serves to “engage with the community to alleviate poverty.” That is our mission statement and our commitment.  The shelter offers a variety of recreational activities throughout the week for our resident adults and children to participate in such as art therapy, music therapy, cooking, Yoga, walking, and life skills.

Students interested in learning more about themselves and how their biases may impact their delivery of services have the unique opportunity to be at the ground level of building their experience, knowledge and understanding of the complexity of poverty and homelessness.

Work description:

The student will have the opportunity to work directly with our residents, supporting them as they participate in classes and activities by serving as a peer-mentor, instructor assistant, and friend. The student will be assisting our staff and interns from other fields such as Social Work and Occupational Therapy to create activities and engagement opportunities for the residents to set up, engage in projects, co-facilitate, and complete tasks as directed by staff.  The student will provide direct support the adults work on skill-building, independent-living, and other social/communication skills. We place an emphasis on social interaction with others – which is where UW Bothell students who engage in interaction and conversation are most effective!

The student will work closely with program staff on engaging adults in activities, encouraging independence, promoting social skills and more. Depending on the activity of the day, this may be supporting an adult in a cooking class, helping them complete an art project, or just talking with them.

The shelter is comprised of four buildings each housing a certain demographic of either single women or women with children. With a capacity of housing up to 80 adult women and women with children up to age 18; It can be both busy and quiet, but FUN is an always. It is helpful to have students onsite to assist with the daily activities that occur, as well as completing the necessary safety protocols. Students who are curious about community-based needs, complexities of poverty and homelessness will find this an essential experience to add to their tool box and foundational to their career path

Impact:

There are thousands of homeless and poverty impacted women and women with children in the state of Washington who are faced with a shortage of services, resources, housing, and other needs, which contribute heavily to one’s quality of life and ability to rise out of poverty. Having UW Bothell students participate provides the unique opportunity for these residents to socialize and engage with students that can give insight to their academic, personal paths and to their future hopes as well. Students’ participation onsite will increase our staffing ratio and directly allow more conversations and support to the residents in a meaningful way. This will also provide students with the direct opportunity to understand the challenges these residents face in their daily living and will prove the efficacy of community integration and the role that meaningful activities have in the quality of life, skill set building and critical thinking that promotes confidence and independence as well as to dream beyond the now in their lives.

Contact:

Suzanne Peterson
speterson@egmission.org
(425) 740-2507

Location:

Everett Gospel Mission
EGM Family Shelter (formerly the Women and Children’s Shelter) 5126 South 2nd Avenue
Everett, Washington 98203driving notes

We have sufficient parking on site and are locate in the Lowell area of Everett

Everett Transit bus 29 will bring you directly to our facility.

5126 South 2nd is the main building to enter when arriving.

Ideal number of students: 1

Requirements:

• Must be 18 years old
• Other paperwork: Must contact Director for volunteer application. We do not require a negative Covid test to be onsite. We do follow CDC guidelines and protocols as well as Snohomish County requirements in health issues including Covid.
• Background check required