Last night I had some friends over for dinner, and we played a question and answers game. My questions for everyone was “if you got arrested, what would it be for.” Think about that for a second. I’m sure most of you never expect to run into trouble with the law, but not all criminals intend to break the law and not all people who are arrested are guilty. Since you’re a college student/new grad with limited financial resources, how would you afford a defense lawyer? Your parents? (If your parents would pay for it, then maybe you should take advantage of that generosity and have them sign you up for our job search prep course.) Or would you end up needing a public defender? That’s not a good thought – “someone you’ve never seen; someone you didn’t choose; someone you have no reason to trust” is responsible for your freedom. That’s why The Bronx Defenders exists. They “have transformed the role of the public defender by changing the nature of the attorney-client relationship, investing in the communities where our clients live, and striving to create justice for the people [they] serve.” It’s still not pleasant to consider a court case, but having better public defense makes it a little less scary.
The Bronx Defenders, like many non-profits, is an organization that you hope that you never have to take advantage of, but if you do, it’s nice to know it’s there. They’ve been around since 1997, and they’re now “poised to grow to over 100 criminal and civil attorneys, social workers, parent advocates, investigators, administrative staff, and community programmers.” They’ve worked with more than 100,000 clients, and that doesn’t even touch on all of the additional community outreach that they’ve done. Despite their focus on public defense, there’s a lot more to the organization than helping out people who are in legal trouble. If you’re excited about what The Bronx Defenders is doing, you’ll be excited to know that they’re hiring interns. Although their web site says that they usually hire interns in the fall for the summer, they do have two internships posted right now. One position is posted on their jobs and Internships page and is for an unpaid Development Intern. You can apply for that position by sending a resume, cover letter (indicating job title) and 1-2 writing samples to Courtney Libon at courtneyl@bronxdefenders.org (they have nearly this exact position posted as a full time job on Idealist). The other internship only appears to be for a few weeks and it’s only posted on Idealist, but it’s for a Teaching Artist. It is paid, and you can apply by sending a cover letter, resume, and sample lesson plan from previous education or youth development position to Dawit Getachew at dawitg@bronxdefenders.org before May 15th.
Links to Help You Begin Your Research
What do you know about The Bronx Defenders?
Do I Know Anyone at The Bronx Defenders? - Check LinkedIn | Check Facebook
Tags: advocacy, arts, development, education, Internships, New York, non-profit, outreach, paid, teaching, unpaid
No comments yet.
