Shepherd Scholars Poverty Internships
As a member institution of the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, Baylor University offers funding for undergraduate students to work in internships throughout the United States with organizations that serve with and among people experiencing material poverty. Housed within the Office of Engaged Learning, the Shepherd Poverty Scholars program selects several undergraduate students each year to participate in a Shepherd Internship. SHECP Scholars learn first-hand about the multiple dimensions of poverty in the United States by working for eight weeks alongside people and organizations that align with their professional interests—in healthcare, law, ministry, or economic and community development, for example—to help improve communities and empower people struggling under the weight of poverty.
This fully-funded internship allows Scholars to live in community with other interns in cities across the US—or to work remotely. SHECP interns also participate in an opening conference, which equips them for their internship, and a closing conference, which allows them to reflect on their experiences. SHECP interns also have opportunities to earn course credit in association with the experience. Example placements for the internship include the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH; the Virginia Department of Health in Richmond; Public Defender Services for the District of Columbia in Washington D.C.; The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson; New American Pathways in Atlanta, Georgia; and Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers in Camden, NJ.
Continuing undergraduate students at Baylor are eligible to apply.
Application Process
The application is available here.
Students who plan to apply for the Shepherd Poverty Scholars program should have emailed Dr. Daniel Benyousky (daniel_benyousky@baylor.edu) to declare their intention to apply before December 1st. At that point, students were furnished with a unique link to be used for uploading their application materials. Applications should have been submitted before Thursday, December 8th at 11:59 pm.