WHAT I LEARNED AS A HOMEWORD INTERN
My name is Keira Skovlin, and this summer I had the honor of working as the fundraising and communications (FunCom) intern at Homeword. In just two short months, I learned about Homeword’s many functions as a nonprofit: rental homes for Montanans living on lower incomes, financial skill building courses, financial counseling, and homebuyer education. During the first few weeks of working at Homeword, I met with each staff member to learn about what they do in their positions and to gain an understanding of Homeword’s different moving parts.
Prior to this internship, I knew about Homeword and its mission, but I did not know about the inner workings of Homeword or its challenges. Over the course of my internship, I learned important details about the organization and how it operates. Homeword is devoted to making homes not only Montanans can afford but also sustainable and energy-efficient.
As the FunCom intern, I focused on working in Homeword’s database. I imported data and constituents from conferences, community events and past financial skill building and homebuyer education courses. I also spent a great deal of time working through duplicates in the database, clearing out faulty or unnecessary data. I appreciated gaining experience working with data at Homeword that I can apply to my future studies as an economics major and in my career after college.
I also helped with communications projects, learning about Homeword’s branding guidelines and assisting with PowerPoint presentations. To promote Homeword’s event and HomeOwnership Center programs, I corresponded with other nonprofit organizations in Missoulas, posting flyers and delivering rack cards promoting Homeword programs to locations all over town.
I appreciate Homeword’s emphasis on partnership. Homeword works closely with community partners, city and state agencies, and other nonprofits to accomplish goals.
One example of Homeword’s partnerships is Trinity Apartments. I recently attended the Trinity Celebration, which acknowledged the hard work of Homeword, the Missoula Housing Authority and many other partners to build two large rental communities for Missoula’s workforce as well as permanent supportive housing for Missoulians who were previously living unsheltered. I enjoyed this event because I spoke with partners and heard about the collaboration that took place to coordinate funds and resources for project development.
Interning at Homeword has provided me with opportunities to learn about the nonprofit and affordable housing industries in Missoula and around the state and the processes that make this possible. I appreciate the professional growth I experienced while working at Homeword, but most of all I am grateful for the connections I made. I enjoyed the weekly staff meetings because they allowed me to get to know the entire staff more and get a better idea of the current happenings each week. Homeword is a wonderful work environment, which I am lucky to have been welcomed into this summer.
