“Abigail Leathe is a junior at Middlebury College. She studies Chinese and is a pre-med student. This summer, through the generous funding of the Honey Family, Abigail worked with Women Safe, a nonprofit organization that works toward the elimination of all kinds of violence against women and their children.”
As a Middlebury student, I volunteered for WomenSafe during my sophomore year by taking calls on the 24 hour hotline. I wanted to become more involved with the organization, and a summer internship was the perfect way to do this. I wanted to work directly with women in person rather than just on the phone. I was also interested in providing support in the legal setting, learning more about community resources and how WomenSafe works with women to get through difficult situations.
WomenSafe is a nonprofit organization that works toward the elimination of physical, sexual, and emotional violence against women and their children through direct service, education, and social change. WomenSafe provides legal and medical advocacy, emotional support, safety planning, crisis intervention, and problem solving assistance. Through community education and outreach, WomenSafe seeks to raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence.
Most of the work I did at WomenSafe was direct service. I often met with women to discuss their options, offer emotional support, and go over problem solving and safety planning. I met women at the court house to get Relief from Abuse Orders, and then sat through the hearings for these orders to provide support. I went with women to meet with a housing advocate, apply for emergency shelter at Economic Services, and go to the food shelf.
In the classroom setting at Middlebury, much of what I learn is theoretical, and although that is very important knowledge to have, it was great to supplement this more abstract, intellectual learning with real world life experience. Therefore, the direct service work was very meaningful for me. The most rewarding part of my internship was feeling like I worked with a woman to accomplish what she was looking for and seeing her walk away feeling more confident, empowered, aware of her options and better able to provide for herself and her children. I loved forming these relationships in my direct service work and knowing that I was able to assist a woman in making a difference in her life. I also became aware of the Middlebury community in a way that I was not previously. I saw not only what problems exist for the residents of Addison County but also what resources are available to help. I also learned about how Middlebury College deals with sexual assault and ways in which I can bring my learning at WomenSafe back to the college community.
Since WomenSafe is in Middlebury, I will be able to continue working with the organization throughout the rest of my time as a student. I will definitely continue to take hotline calls, and I also hope to maintain some office hours so I can meet with people in person. This internship also inspired me to learn more about women’s issues, and I am registered to take a Women and Gender Studies class in the fall. I plan to have a career in women’s health, and I know that the experience I gained from my internship with WomenSafe will be very valuable.