Matthew Ehler

Agency: Our Family Services

Term: Fall - 2003

My name is Matt Ehler and I am an intern at OUR TOWN Family Center in the Crisis Intervention department. Within this department I have a number of responsibilities which include scheduling, observing, and leading crisis intervention appointments, writing progress for appointments, data entry and filing. OUR TOWN Family center is a community agency which has a wide variety of programs serving the families and youth of Pima County. The programs focus on helping families deal with problems while successfully keeping their children in the home.

When I was looking for internships my junior year I had called a number of agencies on my own and had a number of interviews lined up, and then I ran into an email about the Institute for Children, Youth & Families (ICYF) and decided to apply. The reason I applied for this program as opposed to just doing an internship on my own is because with this program I am able to interact with other college students who are working with a wide variety of other community agencies. At the seminar I get to hear the stories of other interns whose stories help me get a feel for the entire community and for other agencies for which I may want to work in the future.

Once I graduate in May, I plan to look for a job in the field of human services while volunteering at a number of community agencies. Community agencies are in many ways the backbone of our society; they provide the services that the government or corporations do not provide. Volunteering in community agencies will give me experience in a number of areas as well as allowing me to get a foot in the door if I want to apply for employment. Ideally I would like to work at an agency that is active in human rights issues including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, as well as issues pertaining to race and religion.

Since starting at OUR TOWN I have learned a lot of things about myself including what I would like to do, and not like to do in the future. My internship has opened my eyes to the problems that many people face in this community, and it has motivated me to continue to work in the human services arena so I can help solve some of the problems. I have also learned a number of things about myself through working with others. When I began, I knew I wanted to help people, but I never knew that it would be a scary thing at first. In order to help others, I had to get over some of my own insecurities. Although I am only partially done with my internship I have learned a lot about myself including what I want to do in the future.

One of the most interesting parts about working in the crisis department is the variety of calls that one receives. In any one week the department may receive calls from people of all races, ages and economic levels. One week I went to an intervention on the outskirts of town to a family that was barely making enough money to get by, and the next day I went into my internship that week I was in an appointment with a family whose kids attend private schools and readily admit to being spoiled as their parents are very rich. So I have seen a lot of diverse people along with a number of diverse problems our clients are facing.

If you are thinking about doing an internship through the ICYF, I would encourage you to think no more and to jump at the opportunity. You will meet a lot of nice, enjoyable people as you meet in the seminars and you will be able to interact with some amazing community agencies within the Tucson community. The internship will give you a chance to explore possible future careers and it will give you a forum in which to grow and learn new things about yourself. So become an intern and see what the real world is like, take a step outside of your comfort zone to explore yourself and the world outside of school.

University of Arizona | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
School of Family and Consumer Sciences | Family Studies and Human Development

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