Program Information CHAT has two different types of internships within our organizaton. They are both listed below.
Chico Housing Action Team’s General Internship Opportunity:
Organization: The mission of the Chico Housing Action Team (CHAT) is to ensure that every person in our community has access to housing they can afford.
CHAT started in 2013, a group of individuals were concerned about a serious cold spell about to hit Chico, CHAT opened an emergency winter shelter for several days at the Peace & Justice Center, and then for another week in the Jesus Center dining room. That evolved into Safe Space Winter Shelter program, rotating through various churches. In 2015, still operating entirely as an unfunded, volunteer run program, CHAT opened its first rental house, renting out bedrooms to people who were homeless and willing to share housing. The following year, CHAT rented a second house . This was the start of our Housing Now program. Since then, we have added many programs to aid different categories of people in need, including Harmony House (for people with mental illness), HUSH (for families with children), CHAMP (for fire survivors), Redwood Housing (for students), Mercy Houses (for people with health issues), and housing for veterans.CHAT provides ongoing case management support services for the individuals living in our housing.
Summary: Micro learning opportunities include shadowing our various housing programs, learning the case management process, and eventually taking on a small case load of your own to practice engagement, assessment, and inervention on the micro level.
Mezzo and Macro opportunities include policy level intervention, planning, organizing, volunteer coordination and facilitation. Become acquainted with Butte Continuum of Care, Greater Chico Homeless Task Force, City Council, and Board of Supervisors. Identify interventions that encourage these organizations to adopt and implement policies consistent with broadening access to shelter. Acquire knowledge of existing services and their intake procedures and criteria. Assist people experiencing homelessness to connect with available services. Identify and pursue funding for SSWS and/or permanent supportive housing.
The student intern should be comfortable with extreme poverty, be compassionate, creative, flexible and persistent.
Chico Housing Action Team’s Everhart Village BSW/MSW Internship Opportunity
Organization: Everhart Village is an innovative planned shelter project in Chico, CA, in collaboration with Butte County Dept. of Behavioral Health (BCBH). It provides tiny sleeping cabins for 20 individuals who are existing BCBH clients who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The goal for Everhart Village is to bring Behavioral Health clients in, stabilize them so they can get treatment with Behavioral Health, and give them the support needed to move into permanent affordable housing so they can be successful in society. Each villager will be assigned a tiny home to reside in, and a case manager who will work with them on transitioning through the program phases.
Summary: CHAT is looking for eager and open-minded interns to support and learn from our new program. Micro, mezzo, and macro educational opportunities are available and include but are certainly not limited to: development of case management skills, assessment, goal planning, group facilitation, development and implementation of educational group classes, participation in staff meetings, community partnership meetings, program evaluation, policy and procedure development and implementation, data collection, community outreach, and more projects and opportunities available as decided upon by the student intern.
As an intern, you will be working closely with vulnerable individuals who have recently experienced homelessness and are currently or have recently experienced serious mental health challenges. As an intern, you will have access to trainings that our staff have access to, relating to mental health and homelessness.