Now that it’s officially fall, let’s look back to summer with two final blog posts in a series that highlights the experiences of Privilege & Poverty Interns as they learned and worked with local and national social services.

This post shares reflections from my conversation with Anna Durning, ’21, who worked at the Open Door Clinic this summer.

In the U.S.A., not too many people are in the business of trying to go out of business. 

But that is exactly what Anna Durning ’21 said she’d love to see – a future where the organization can close their doors because their clients are insured.

The Open Door Clinic is a free health clinic for un- and under-insured adults in Addison County (walking distance from campus!). Recently, the organization has served increasing needs among non-English speaking patients. Migrant farm workers, who keep Vermont’s dairy industry afloat, for example, comprise 60% of the organization’s total patient population.

Often, language and cultural barriers make it difficult for the proper medical attention to be administered. This is where Anna, and a cadre of Middlebury volunteers from both the college and the town, step in.

Anna studied abroad in Chile in the spring of 2018, and got to work translating for Spanish speaking patients soon after she returned. 

“I’ve always wanted to get to the point where I can have a conversation with someone,” said Anna.

She translated once or twice a month, usually just at the clinic. But this summer, as a Privilege & Poverty Intern with the CCE, she was able to participate in and experience the clinic at a profoundly deeper level: “I had a lot more interaction with patients – I was taking calls all day with people.” Because her time was funded by the college as a full-time internship, Anna had more hours per week at the clinic than most other staff.

“I got to see how the clinic is put together. [There are] three clinical hours per week in Middlebury – so we need to get all the patients, the medical providers there; I got to see and do the behind the scenes work.”

“I had a lot more interaction with patients…I got to see how the clinic is put together.”

Anna Durning, speaking of the opportunities provided by a full-time internship.

It’s any adminstrator’s nightmare: aligning up to three or four schedules together, in a three hour period, every week. But thanks to the dedication of the Open Door Clinic’s network of staff and volunteers, the clinic has grown from humble beginnings to a powerful health-providing force.

In 1990, the Open Door Clinic operated in a bus purchased with a grant from Ben and Jerry’s. Today, the organization holds more than seven clinics each month throughout Addison County. It visits 35 farms, eight orchards, and 270 Latin American farm workers each fall. 

But this growth comes with a caveat: they wish it wasn’t necessary. And it can seem at times like fighting an endless battle that shouldn’t even have to be fought.

Indeed, in many conversations with social service providers I had this summer, a similar weariness was warily admitted in various forms.

The work of social services is raw and emotionally taxing. But what is perhaps harder to deal with is the fact that it is not going away any time soon – systemic change takes time and constant effort, including meeting direct needs in the meantime.

“There were a lot of moments that I was part of where I think an impact was had. You know, someone called and was like ‘I’ve been out of insulin for months’ – and I was able to connect them to a resource.”

Anna Durning

“There are a lot of moments that I was part of where I think an impact was had. You know, someone called and was like ‘I’ve been out of insulin for months’ – and I was able to connect them to a resource.” said Anna, reflecting on an earlier discussion about the value of each of the intern’s individual work.

“I can tell that it’s impactful, but don’t necessarily see how I am specifically important to that.”

“Like a shock troop, a replaceable person in the battle?” I said.

“Yeah, exactly.”

These are our moments of doubt. When we call the value and effectiveness of our own work into question. Is this valuable? Will this change this world for the better?

I have to believe that this work may have some respite or conclusion. If not in my lifetime, then in an imaginable future. To do anything else would be to give into despair – the immobilizing kind that forces one to turn inwards and forget how to turn empathy into action. 

Stable housing. Education. Healthcare. Access to clean water and healthy food. Domestic safety. All of these seem like basic stepping stones to a good life, the pillow and the blanket and the bed that enables a sound American Dream.

Yet all over the country – and even here in Addison County – there are people in the business of providing these necessities because they are not a given. But these folks, they’re in the business of trying to get out of business.

Interns spend summers immersed in legal systems, share flaws of privileged access to justice

This is the third in a series highlighting the work of our CCE Privilege & Poverty Interns this summer, who are working in organizations, nationally and locally, that intentionally engage in issues of poverty.

In 1963, Gideon V. Wainwright expanded the universal right to an attorney to include any criminal case, not just capital cases as was the norm at the time. The need for public defenders was born in earnest. 

At around the same time, Harper Lee mythologized the righteous lawyer as an advocate who speaks truth to power, even in defeat. Pop culture has scooped up this glamour for a century, from juror eight’s unofficial and unpopular stand in 12 Angry Men to Batman’s childhood love interest, the public defender Rachel Dawes.

This summer, P&P Interns locally and nationally are learning the grittier reality behind the legal system, a reality far, far away from the scripted battles of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Exorbitant lawyer fees that drive people to legal aid clinics. Criminalization of socioeconomic status and race. Archaic and esoteric legal jargon. Yet for all of the systemic faults they’ve seen, they continue to be hopeful about the future.

Mariel Edokwe ’20, was caught off guard when she began her work in Sunbury, Pennsylvania as a legal aid intern for northern Penn Legal Services.

“This summer I’ve been incredibly surprised to see, firsthand, just how flawed our legal system is,” Mariel wrote to me in an email. “Law enforcement agencies are supposed to be impartial and I’m finding that, a lot of the time, it proves to be quite the opposite. This isn’t a fact that’s irreversible, but it’s something that more people need to be aware of in order for change to happen.”

Diana Diaz ’21, an investigative intern for the trial division of a public defender office in D.C., has noticed that, more often than not, navigating the legal system successfully comes down to an issue of privilege.  

“The legal world is complex and inaccessible in many ways– it might be possible to learn the jargon and more with Google, but even then it is difficult to understand and manage. There are many issues people in poverty face in the legal system, [starting] with the language of the system they should be able to navigate.”

There are many issues people in poverty face in the legal system, [starting] with the language of the system they should be able to navigate. – Diana Diaz ’21

And the solutions? Not an easy sell, either. 

“It’s a resource driven issue,” said Jena Santa Maria, a legal advocate for WomenSafe, a service here in Addison County that regularly steps into the courtroom for its clients. “We live in a political climate where resources for those in poverty are not given any priority.” 

And yet, despite the surprise and disappointment from interns witnessing the injustice of our justice systems, despite what seemed like grim resignation at times, throughout our conversations elements of hope kept arising – driven, in large part, by the individual interactions of every day.

“Working within this system is far more than just investigating– there is an importance placed on client interaction. My partner and I spend hours talking to our clients, learning about their lives and at the end of the day trying to encourage them,” reflected Diana. “I feel confident to say that I am not the only one at that office that feels like this kind of ‘work’ is quite possibly the best part of the job.”

Mariel Edokwe relayed a similar experience – and placed a similar emphasis on human interaction: “Our clients come in wanting to be heard without judgement, and when we listen, it’s a win-win for everybody. I think that at the end of the day, it comes down to us all needing to be much, much better at humanizing one another.”

I think that at the end of the day, it comes down to us all needing to be much, much better at humanizing one another. – Mariel Edokwe ’20

Reporting and working in and among social service providers this summer, it is undeniable that the same struggle that Diana and Mariel express runs across the board. A lack of resources for those who need it most is simply the expression, the tip of the iceberg, of a culture unwilling to confront its societal flaws, its greatest failings.

We live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world: we don’t have to pull these resources out of thin air. My experience from this summer makes it increasingly apparent that our societal priorities have been off-kilter, and that we aren’t ready to confront the powers making that so. Yet, again and again, the social service workers I have interviewed relay that connecting with the people they work with is a great source of fuel for the fight. That might be a good place to start.

P&P Intern Imran Ganda works to alleviate food insecurity this summer

If every food insecure child in Addison County tried to get a meal at the Grille, the line would fill up capacity at Middlebury college’s student restaurant, then spill out into the auditorium and occupy every seat. And that would only be half of the total amount of kids.

CCE interns are learning the far-reaching grasp poverty has on food insecurity this firsthand this summer. One of our P&P interns, Imran Ganda, is working at HOPE, one of the leading food access providers in Addison County. Hope, short for Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects, runs a number of programs, from housing and heating assistance to a resale store and – of course – a really, really big food shelf.

“We consistently get folks coming up from Rutland,” says Lily Bradburn, HOPE’s local access food coordinator. “There really isn’t an equivalent surplus area anywhere else. Every day you can come here, and walk away with a bag of groceries.”

What’s the difference? HOPE is open Monday through Friday, an accessibility which is rare for a food shelf. But the quality of the food is a deal breaker.

“Once I sign up clients, they just get blown away by the food shelf in the back, the kind of variety there is,” says Imran, who helps every client who walks through HOPE’s doors get the specific help that they are looking for.

Once I sign up clients, they just get blown away by the food shelf in the back, the kind of variety there is.

HOPE doesn’t wait around for people to come to them, either. Its food access program delivers nutritious, fresh food to a variety of different places, like the Addison Central Teen Center, an afterschool and summer program for teens.

“It’s a program where we can have different levels of engagement with clients, volunteers, donors – it [has] really well balanced access points,” says Lily.

Interns with HOPE aren’t just learning about food, however. They’re also learning about a different work environment, and how to see Addison County in a different way.

When asked about takeaways from this summer, Imran replied “Learning how to work in an office culture, seeing how people interact across organizations at meetings, seeing our [Privilege & Poverty intern] discussions reflected in the work.” 

But, perhaps more powerful than an understanding of offices and meetings, was the feeling of familiarity that developed around the work.

“These past three years I haven’t really been able to interact with regular locals in the area,” says Imran. “One of the biggest takeaways from this internship is the experience of feeling a little more normal again, of feeling like myself.”

One of the biggest takeaways from this internship is the experience of feeling a little more normal again, of feeling like myself.

It might only take a well-stocked food pantry to diminish that line of hungry children. But there is a common thread of a subtle intensity behind the people I talk to; a determination hidden behind friendly personalities.

Our interview, on early Friday morning, was one of the few things Lily could do that day, before she hit her 40 hour work week and had to go home.

“I’m bumping up on forty again,” she said, in a tone that felt more frustrated than grateful that the long week was coming to a close. It looks like she has found her familiarity in this work as well, and Addison County can only be the better off for it.

Experiences in community-based learning though the Center for Community Engagement supported the majority of this year’s Middlebury College Fulbright Fellowship winners. I connected with a few of them to learn about what got them on track for their Fulbright adventures!

Type in “best skills for success” and search for the key words. “Professional communication”, having “business acumen” and “grit” – all pretty predictable. From listening to Mozart in the womb to dropping out of highschool to pursue your genius passion, there is no shortage of unsolicited advice over what hacks are going to help you succeed.

And even though Google may not know it, we can now put down “caring for the community” as one of the best.

Eleven Middlebury seniors and five recently graduated alums will be spreading across the world with Fulbright fellowships for the 2019-2020 academic year. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Middlebury grads will be teaching or conducting research alongside more than 1,900 other recipients worldwide.

Looking at them, something stands out for me. One of the common threads across many of the recipients’ experience at Middlebury? Deep involvement in their communities, via CCE programs.

Eight of the 11 graduating seniors, and 11 of the 16 overall recipients were connected to the CCE in some capacity over their time here at Middlebury. From experiencing the larger world as a result of programs like Middlebury Alternative Break (MAlt) trips and the Cross Cultural Community Service Fund grants, to bringing that world back to Vermont with Language in Motion or being a Community Friends mentor, it is clear that Middlebury’s Fulbright recipients have no shortage of willingness to engage in their communities. Several name those experiences as factors that put them on the track to a Fulbright.

Mary Trichka, ‘19, who led a MAlt trip focused on urban farming in San Francisco, is hoping to engage with her new community as an English Teaching Assistant in the Republic of Georgia this upcoming year.  She reflected about how she came to value the reciprocal nature of community partnerships: “The sort of ideals associated with MAlt definitely apply to and will inform my Fulbright experience…this idea of service-learning stems from my MAlt experience. I hope to both give to and learn from the community I will be engaging with.”

Melisa Topic, ‘19, who will be heading to Argentina this fall, considered a lesson she learned from her time studying abroad and, later, using that experience to inform her role as a Language in Motion mentor here in Middlebury. “Getting out of your comfort zone can benefit you more than taking another class or getting an institutional internship,” Melisa says. “Push yourself to be uncomfortable, until it is comfortable.”

Along with the opportunity to pursue research and teaching, the Fulbright grant gives its recipients the opportunity to build a cross-cultural perspective, in order to build relationships that otherwise might have been impossible.

In a political moment increasingly defined by nationalism and xenophobia, Trichka’s idea of reciprocity in service learning and Topic’s motto of embracing the uncomfortable might be just what the global community needs to expand and rebuild our relationships. Here at the CCE, we’re honored to spark those kind of mindsets and look forward to hearing how these recipients deepen their commitment to intercultural learning around the world!