Index

Shepherd Poverty Alliance

Address:

Organization Description: Washington and Lee's Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability integrates academic study and learning through service and reflection. *Bonner Leader and Scholars

Issue Area(s):

• Community Development
• Poverty 

Type(s) of Bonner Partnership Connections:

• Alternative Break Site
• Internship opportunity
• Educational opportunity
• Job opportunity
• Resource Provider

Internship Position

Internship Description: The Shepherd Alliance joins students from Berea College, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Middlebury, Washington and Lee University and Bonner Scholar institutions in summer work with agencies that seek to benefit impoverished members of society. Each summer, approximately sixty students learn first-hand about the multiple dimensions of poverty in the United States by working for eight weeks with agencies that strengthen impoverished communities and assist poor persons to participate more fully in society. These agencies, located in various urban and rural sites in the Eastern United States, serve the educational, healthcare, legal, housing, psychological, social and economic needs, and community-building efforts of individuals and communities. Students participate in the selection of the agencies in which they volunteer in order to accommodate their special interests and develop their experience and skills in keeping with their academic and vocational plans.

Previous volunteers in the Shepherd Alliance express tremendous satisfaction with what they were able to do and gratitude for what they were able to learn about themselves and their educational goals. Sometimes they learned from frustration and adversity, but they almost uniformly experienced joy and excitement in becoming friends with people whom they might otherwise have never known. 

"This was a great experience because it places you at the core of the real world.  It opened my eyes to levels of poverty, its roots, and ways to try to combat it."

~ Lashanda Holmes, Spelman College

Internship Start/End Dates:

Application Process: Applicants must complete a Shepherd Alliance application (information page and four essay questions) in addition to supplying a resume, college transcript, and two letters of recommendation (optional).

Application Deadline:

Stipend Provided?: Yes -- Bonner Summer Stipend - $818 plus up $1500 through the Bonner Foundation

Housing Provided?: Yes - Housing arrangements made by the Shepherd Alliance

Hosted Bonners before?:

Service Opportunity

Service Opportunity Description:

Service Opportunity Start/End Dates:

Resource Opportunity

Resources Available: 

Back to Bonner Partners main page