Meet Our Summer Interns

As summer comes to an end, we would like to introduce three more of our summer interns at Children’s Home & Aid. These three interns work in a variety of service areas throughout the state – each contributing to vital programs for children and families. Read below to learn about the experiences of Jessica, Nicole and Caroline, as written by our summer intern Damani.

 

Meet Jessica

Jessica Manfre works in youth services as a case manager at the Belleville office.  As a case manager, Jessica helps clients work toward their goals, find the services they need, and create plans for clients to use during treatment and recovery.

In Jessica’s free time, she enjoys reading and spending time with her family and loved ones.  Jessica volunteers and goes running in her spare time as well.

Jessica attended the University of Central Florida and plans to be a therapist after completing her internship at Children’s Home & Aid.  In five years, Jessica hopes to have her clinical social worker license so that she may work with clients to resolve mental and emotional health issues.

 

Meet Nicole

Nicole Gentile works at the Marletta Darnall Schaumburg Child & Family Center.  Some of Nicole’s duties include shadowing family support service meetings, updating case records, recording attendance, and working with families.  Also, she attends the field trips with the kids!

Nicole graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and after her time at Children’s Home & Aid, she intends to find an employment opportunity similar to her experience here.  Through working at Children’s Home & Aid, Nicole has been able to gain experience for her future profession by learning how to develop relationships with clients and co-workers.

 

Meet Caroline

Caroline currently attends Illinois State University and was able to find out about the work done at Children’s Home & Aid through a professor.  Caroline works at the Bloomington Crisis Nursery where some of her roles involve assisting parents and families in finding ways to cope with stress, providing individuals with community resources, and processing client paperwork.

Her other responsibilities include tasks like interacting with the children.  Caroline says, “Every child brings something special and unique to the table. There is never a dull moment with them!”

While Caroline does a lot for Children’s Home & Aid, she also has played soccer for the last 16 years, takes photographs, and cooks for fun when she has the time.