Emma Gross '25 Preps for Career in Survivor Advocacy at Philadelphia Internship
Name: Emma Gross
Class Year: 2025
Major: International Studies and Political Science
Minors: Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and North African Studies
Hometown: Ottsville, Pa.
Internship Organization: Nationalities Service Center
Internship Title: Survivor Services Intern
Location of Internship: Philadelphia, Pa.
What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
This summer, I am working at the Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia in their Center for Survivor Services. The Nationalities Service Center (NSC) serves over 5,000 immigrants every year, working to provide various social, legal, and educational resources. The Survivor Services department works specifically with immigrant survivors of domestic violence, torture, and human trafficking. In my role as an intern, I have a variety of responsibilities that have ranged from compiling resource lists for clients, researching the development of psychosis-related disorders in survivors of torture, conducting trauma and torture screenings, and working one-on-one with clients to help them set and achieve goals within a timeline that matches both their needs and the capacity of the department. My personal favorite task is working with clients because I enjoy getting to know who they are as people, learning their stories, and helping them achieve goals that instill a sense of pride and confidence in them.
Why did you apply for this internship?
This is my second summer in the Survivor Services department, so my application process looked a little different than last year. When I was looking at opportunities for this summer, my initial plans for an internship did work out in the way I had originally hoped. I knew, however, that I still wanted to have a powerful and educational summer experience. So, I decided to reach back out to my supervisors at NSC from the previous summer and asked if they would be willing to have me back again. I was so grateful when they were excited to hear from me and welcomed me back with open arms. I feel so appreciative to have made this connection last year. It has been wonderful getting to work with such a dedicated, welcoming, kind, and forward-thinking department again this summer.
Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?
The skills I am learning at NSC, especially in the Immigrant Survivor Services (ISS), have been invaluable and are setting me up for success in working with complex and vulnerable populations. First and foremost, ISS prioritizes trauma-informed care at the center of everything they do. I have learned about various facets of trauma-informed care, such as core values, steps & informed protocol to handle mental health crises, the importance of leaning on team members for support, effectively processing, recording, & communicating traumatic instances, and so much more. These skills have made me a lot more confident in handling intense client cases that require practice to support both the client and the practitioner. Additionally, because NSC has an Office of Refugee Resettlement Grant, I can take certificate and webinar courses at no cost to advance my education. I am currently taking a certificate course about LGBT+ refugee welcoming that teaches how to deepen cultural competence and LGBT trauma-informed care practices.
These two skills I am learning are especially important to me because they are helping me prepare for a career where I hope to work in survivor advocacy within the context of international peace agreements. They have helped me begin to learn skills that are valuable for communicating with survivors and advocating for them the best I can.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship?
The biggest challenge that I have faced in this internship is knowing when to ask for help in serious scenarios. When working with clients in intense scenarios, particularly when they are difficult, I want to try and help them work through their issues on my own. However, in doing so, I risk missing important warning signs and ineffectively handling a situation. Thus, my team has instilled the protocol– not just for interns, but for the whole team– of informing at least one other team member (for me, a case manager or my supervisor) when we are handling a challenging situation. By doing this, those individuals can then be on call should the situation escalate or simply offer client resources or words of advice and encouragement. While it can be tempting to do things on my own to prove that I am capable, the client must remain the center of our work. In order to provide them with the best care, I have learned that looping in team members is the best way to go.
Career & Civic Engagement International Studies Political Science MECANA Studies