Youth Internship Program

Fall 2017 Interns (l to r): Diamond, Jevone, Trunks (front), Te’Von (back), Chanaiyah, Jerrime, and Semian.

The purpose of the internship program is to provide a fertile training space for personal and professional development, soft job skills, community engagement, gardening education and program support that serves to continue the cultural tradition of food-growing in the Lower 9th Ward, deepen interns’ engagement and connection with their community, and model service-based work in the community.

Interns worked/studied in 3 main areas:

Community Outreach

  • Community Outreach involves talking to Lower 9 residents, conducting door-to-door surveys, distributing flyers and other BGN information in the community, and/or tabling at outreach events. This work develops interns’ communication skills, as well as a deeper connection with the Lower 9 neighborhood and community.

Gardening and Program Support

  • Interns will maintain their own plot at the Guerrilla Garden, as well as help with general garden maintenance. They will learn about topics such as soil preparation, planting, harvesting and composting. This work will develop interns’ understanding and appreciation of where food comes from, their connection with the land, and the types of delicious foods that grow in our climate.
  • Interns will also support our programming at the Guerrilla Garden by helping with tasks such as set up, sign up, general assistance and clean up. The primary programs that interns will support are Food As Medicine, Kids Club, and our monthly Super Saturday community parties.

Education/Training and Evaluation

  • An important aspect of the internship will be education/training and evaluation. Trainings will include: money management, relevant cultural history, and food justice.
  • Interns will be responsible for weekly self-evaluation, which is a method of tracking one’s own progress, and monthly group evaluation, which is how we give and receive feedback to one another and help one another to grow.