DRF Interns Begin Summer Assignment

June 3, 2016

The Danville Regional Foundation (DRF) has selected 10 talented young people to participate in an intense summer internship program that will begin May 31, 2016 and end August 5, 2016. 

This summer, DRF interns will explore and identify the unrealized, and often overlooked, resources in low-income neighborhoods in the City of Danville by engaging in Asset Based Community Development (ABCD). ABCD is an approach to community improvement, which focuses on the identification of a community’s strengths, rather than its needs.

Interns will be assigned to research teams of two that will work within local neighborhoods to identify the skills, personalities, associations, institutions, structures and relationships that make up that particular community. This information will be used to give both DRF and our partners’ insight into the resources available, and those still needed, to help the neighborhood thrive.

Interns will be working in the following communities:

• Westmoreland Neighborhood and Cedar Terrace,
• Old West End and Green Street Park area,
• Cardinal Village and surrounding Kemper Road areas,
• A portion of the North Main Street corridor, and
• The White Rock community.
   

“This summer’s project is different from our past projects because it is highly specific in what we expect,” said Karl Stauber, president and CEO of Danville Regional Foundation. “We have three main goals that are clearly defined. First, the interns need to help us have a better understanding of these neighborhoods and present the neighborhood stories to the community at large. Second, they need to identify best practices around neighborhood revitalization and lastly, if time permits, help residents create short term projects and/or action plans.”

Over 70 highly qualified students from 32 colleges and universities throughout the country applied for an internship and after an extremely competitive selection process, DRF selected the following ten students to participate in the program: 

Taleia Barksdale                 Danville, VA                            James Madison University

Alex Berryman                    Montgomery County, VA        Virginia Tech

Judge Browning                 Danville, VA                            Lynchburg College

Alex Dandridge                  Richmond, VA                        VCU

Louise Goodfellow             Katy, TX                                  UNC Chapel Hill

Aurielle Lowery                  Charlotte, NC                         Virginia Tech

William Mackaman            Des Moines, IA                       The University of Iowa

Jennifer Rangel                 Dallas, TX                               Texas A&M

Curtis Rowlette                  Chesapeake, VA                     Virginia Tech

Katie Withers                     Ruffin, NC                               North Carolina A&T

As with all of DRF’s work, this project will focus on the long-term economic and cultural transformation of the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County, VA and Caswell County, NC.  The internship program was designed to reward talent from within the Dan River Region and recruit talent from other locales in helping to create a world-class workforce.

For any questions related to this summer’s internship project, please contact Wendi Goods Everson at 799-2176 or wgeverson@drfonline.org.