My experiences at RISE have allowed me to see what success looks like from various perspectives.
RISE Housing and Support Services offers an internship program for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in social work, social science, human services, or psychology. The internship program offers students clinical and administrative rotations for a macro and micro view of the philosophies of harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and person-centered planning.
Audrey Rudd is a senior at Skidmore who will be graduating in December 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in social work and a minor in gender studies. Audrey started her internship as a member of the RISE Advocacy and Outreach program. She joined the Outreach Team as part-time staff this summer and will continue to work with RISE while she finishes her final semester at Skidmore this fall.
Audrey was also nominated for the July Staff on the Rise recognition award. Her coworkers say, “Since Audrey started here at RISE, she has been curious to learn and shows up to the office motivated to make a difference. When meeting with individuals that we work with, Audrey has a strong focus on the individual, providing feedback in a thoughtful and comprehensive manner. She has made a great addition to the team!”
Audrey shares about her intern experience and her motivations to work with people experiencing homelessness, and why she chose to join the Outreach and Advocacy team:
I had a friend, who was experiencing homelessness and was justice involved. After being released from prison, he received his certification as a Recovery Peer Advocate. He recently passed away and his aspirations to help justice involved individuals inspired my passion to do outreach work and serve people who share his lived experience. When I found out about the RISE Community Outreach Court, and how they are helping individuals within this population, I knew I wanted to do my internship at RISE.
Victoria Furfaro, Advocacy and Outreach Director, is a significant role model.
At the beginning of my internship, I struggled with professionalism and what that looks like. Victoria Furfaro, Advocacy and Outreach Director, is a significant role model, due to her work ethics, strong boundaries, and compassion for the individuals we work with. I have learned a lot from observing and working with her and her co-worker, Jenna Espey. She and the other members of the Outreach Team demonstrated how to build rapport, and how to help individuals manage and mitigate crisis situations. They have shown me how to support people while maintaining professional boundaries, specifically by not personalizing the situation.
Above all, Victoria and the Outreach Team modeled unconditional respect, consideration, and compassion for those we work with. They recognize that the clients are the experts on their own lives and listen to their self-proclaimed needs. They also demonstrate that humor can be used to help cope with the stress of the job in a respectful manner.
I am very much an introvert and find it difficult to socialize outside of my close circles. However, working at RISE, both with my coworkers and doing outreach, has pushed me into a proximal zone of development, where I am encouraged to extend myself. I find that I do enjoy being out in the community talking with individuals and collaborating with other treatment providers.
Staff at the RISE office are friendly and want to get to know you. During my internship, I was able to shadow so many people to gain an understanding of all the various programs and all the services the agency provides. I’ve also learned from everyone’s lived experiences and have gained different perspectives on how people do their work, giving me insight and the opportunity to pick and choose what I want to apply to my own work.
Seeing people at all stages of their substance use recovery journeys has been remarkably informative.
I have also done relief shifts at Milestone Manor. Seeing people at all stages of their substance use recovery journeys, and which interventions work best with the various types of clients has been remarkably informative. It was great to see how a home-like environment in residential care is conducive to treatment. Family dinner time helps people to build connections and having the support of staff 24/7 is helpful.
My experiences at RISE have allowed me to see what success looks like from various perspectives. For me, there is more to success than making money and gaining prestige. It is about helping others. For people experiencing homelessness, especially for those in recovery, there is disillusionment about what success looks like because it is different than the expected societal norms of success.
Success in these situations is more about centering yourself and your own development and growth over traditional expectations, like material gain or social status. For individuals experiencing homelessness, the small victories are successes. We help them celebrate their wins and recognize the importance of them. There is not one path, and you have to trust your instincts and be willing to trust and rely on others. As an added benefit, I have found that the confidence I have gained through being successful in my education and career goals, also carries over to my personal life, making me more confident in my interactions with others.
Victoria has also taught me the importance of self-care when working in this field.
Victoria has also taught me the importance of self-care when working in this field, specifically making sure my own needs are met and finding a work/life balance is essential to maintain the capacity to effectively help others. In particular, my experience creating an excel sheet listing the sex offenders in the area and their victims ages highlighted the need to practice self-care. I bring my dog, Bean, to the RISE Office and to the Adelphi Street Shelter when doing shifts there. He brings so much joy to others.
I also encouraged the Outreach Team to get a fish tank for the office. We named all the fish by legal terms such as Sevie (for the 730 exam), Parker (for the Parker Admonishment), and Criminal Contempt.
I want to explore various aspects of social work and figure out what resonates the best with me.
I grew up in New York City and attended school in Brooklyn. I enjoy singing and I am the president of her a cappella group in college. I also enjoy art and poetry and attend poetry workshops and art circles.
For the past four years that I’ve been in college, I have lived in the Saratoga Springs area for school, but have moved home for the summer except for the few weeks each year that I work at an artist residency in Vermont. Most summers I have also worked at the Greenwich House Project in Manhattan, working with individuals who are part of Healing Hearts – an art therapy and music therapy group for children who have experienced domestic abuse. Thus, it has been a change staying in the Saratoga Springs area working at RISE this past summer.
I would like to obtain a Master’s in Social Work (MSW). I’m in the advanced standing program so I only will need to attend graduate school for one year to receive an MSW. I have 5 years to utilize the advanced standing, so I plan to work for a while before entering a master’s program. I want to explore various aspects of social work and figure out what resonates the best with me. I enjoy working with both kids and adults but think that eventually, I would like to work with young adults.