Meet our interns: From the left: Janelle Anderson, Clair Beltran, Natasha Pena, Shirley Urena, and Nana Amponsah!

June 2nd was the orientation for this year’s class of Hope Reichbach Fund interns. Our interns (Nana, Janelle, Clair, Natasha, and Shirley) and several friends of Hope gathered for an afternoon of fun and learning at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, together with representatives from four of this year’s internship organizations: STREB, Legal Aid, Gowanus Canal Conservancy, and Brooklyn Community Services. We thank all four representatives for being so generous with their time and for helping us to prepare the interns for a very exciting summer.

The participants in the 2013 Hope Fund Orientation. Bottom row, from left: Friends of Hope Katie Roscher, Rebecca Karasik, and Ellen Meyers; Interns Clair Beltran, Natasha Peña and Shirley Ureña; STREB Director of Education and Community Relations Ashley Walters; Friends of Hope Lily Mandlin and Daniela Quiroz. Top row, from left: Brooklyn Community Services XXX; Friends of Hope Clare Richardson and Diane Martins; Intern Janelle Anderson; Friend of Hope Sanda Balaban; Intern Nana Amponsah; Gowanus Canal Conservancy board member Ben Jones; Legal Aid attorney Peter Mitchell; Friend of Hope Dylan Suher.

We started off with a lunch, at which the internship organization representatives got to meet with the interns in a casual setting, talk to them about their plans for the summer, and discuss the work that their organization does with all of the orientation participants.

Lunch with the internship organizations

After lunch, Ellen Meyers, Hope’s mother and a long-time activist and organizer, led a social justice workshop, in which we learned a little bit about history and practiced devising creative solutions to pressing social problems. Lily Mandlin, our program and outreach chair, led the group through a “Work on Purpose” workshop, which prompted us to think about what is most important to us, what skills and capacities we have, and how we can best work towards what we want through the strengths we have. To close out the afternoon, our special guest Didier Sylvain led a leadership workshop and discussion program.

What matters.

As an icebreaker, everyone at orientation thought of one word that represents what matters the most to them. For Clair, inclusion is what matters.

Happy birthday, Becky! Pictured, from left to right: Friends of Hope Lily Mandlin, Sanda Balaban, and Giselle Marie Leon; Interns Janelle Anderson and Clair Beltran.

We also wished Hope Reichbach Fund chair Becky Karasik a happy birthday!

Above all, we were all impressed by the intelligence and motivation of this year’s five terrific interns. We hope the afternoon prepared them for what we are sure they will accomplish in the coming summer, accomplishments made possible in part through your generous donations.