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Internship Information

2020 Pro-Life Internship in New York City

Expectant Mother Care - EMC FrontLine Pregnancy Centers
American Center for Pro-Life Action

Application Questionairre

Please email your responses to Chris Slattery at: SlatteryNY@gmail.com

1. Assuming you describe yourself as "pro-life" what does that term mean to you?

2. Why would you want to do an internship in pro-life work, learning to counsel girls and women (and their boyfriends) in crisis pregnancy, many who are bound and determined to get an abortion? Why do you think would you be good at this work?

3. What excites you most about this opportunity (living in NYC, the type of work, novelty, personal growth, giving to others, saving lives, etc.)? Do you have a secondary motive to use the internship to frequently visit friends, family or to seek other employment?

4. Do you also oppose artificial contraception and sex outside of marriage, and why? Do you agree with an abstinence only message? Are you striving to practice what you preach in this area?

5. Do you have respect for the Catholic Church and its teachings on life issues, and on marriage? We will make some learning visits in NYC, and suburbs to pro-life groups in NYC. When we make these visits attendance will be mandatory. Would you join us?

6. Do you have any special needs as per your religious practice? Are you tolerant of others who do not share your practice? The Catholic interns may say an evening rosary together. This will be entirely optional. On trips, customarily we attend daily Mass together, and non-Catholics are welcome but not required to join the group for worhship.

7. All interns are expected to intern for a minimum of eight weeks in the summer, and in the academic year (September through May) ideally for twelve weeks. Exceptions will be made for returning interns. All will be expected to split their internship time working inside our pregnancy center offices and outside at abortion facilities in prayer and counseling, and also, weather permitting, you will be asked to distribute pro-life literature at subways stations, street corners, on sidewalks. Do you understand, and agree to these terms?

8. Would your parents be OK with you doing an internship in NYC, especially living in a group house? In June, July, and August, men will be housed outside of the LifeHouse, in apartments or private homes, two together. (During the school year -- between late August, through May --, men and women sleep in different floors of the house, and do not share bathrooms. Year round, double front door locks are employed, by the ladies, preventing male access to the main floor, and upstairs 2nd floor of the house at 10:30PM.) There are twelve beds in the LifeHouse, so in the summer, there will be twelve women together in the house, with two full bathrooms.

9. Do you have a history of mental or psychological issues? Do you have any personality disorders? Have you ever been involved in an abortion, and if so have you had post abortion therapy or attended a special retreat? (This information will be kept strictly confidential.)

10. Would living in the Bronx LifeHouse, at 1513 Rosedale Ave. and sleeping in bunk beds in modest conditions be OK for you? (Maximum LifeHouse occupancy: 12 women in the summer, and 5 men and 6 women in the school year (mid-August through May)). On our six work nights (Sunday through Friday,) again, our curfew (time due to be home in the house) is 10:30PM, (unless permission is granted for later) and lights are out at 11PM to insure adequate sleep time for your tiring work day. We limit and expect modest use of texting and the Internet for personal use (45 minutes per day - not including writing and posting two required weekly blogs). This is intended to keep interns focused on evening fellowship with others in the "LifeHouse." During work hours, you must spend time working on daily (usually group) video posts to the Expectant Mother Care Facebook page, plus one required weekly blog post (WiFi is available in all offices, and McDonalds, for free), posting on our EMC Facebook page and intern groups, posting to recruit interns with work-related photo posts, and texting for work assignment purposes and client service. However, no personal texting, emailing, posting or messaging is permitted, except for a short period of five minutes to make evening plans. Recognizing different time zones for Europeans, there are still times before work begins, and after 5PM EST to call or communicate with friends and family at home. Can you please abide by this?

11. Are you a non-smoker, and will you be age 20 or older during the internship?

12. Do you have any medical conditions, ailments, disabilities that would inhibit you in travel, speaking, listening, walking, standing, and interacting or fully functioning in a highly mobile, and often stressful occupation inside offices and outside on the streets? If you have ANY chronic medical condition at all, please disclose this, confidentially. Let us decide in consultation with you, whether it might be an impediment to your work with us. Do you have serious food allergies, have a special diet, or are you very particular about your food and meals?

13. Could you get by on just $100 per week as a stipend, to cover your cell phone use, lunch, snacks, etc. and personal purchases, without taking on an outside job or internship at the same time? Will you accept up to $10 fines (payable via Google Wallet or PayPal) for repeated lateness for work; curfew violations; or for failure to post daily videos on EMC's Facebook fan page of you explaining your day's activities with other interns in the clip, and one written blog post, (with an original fresh work photo, with you in the the photo) per week posted by Saturday night; for leaving lights, AC units, or space heaters on in an empty house; or for failure to do expected chores like helping with putting out the garbage properly (including legal recycling), house and bathroom cleaning, dishwashing, cooking, outside litter pick up and sweeping, or for failure to do winter snow shoveling, and salt application when icy? Will you pay your share (% of interns at home split) of any fines issued by the NYC Sanitation Department to the house for litter not picked up daily on the sidewalk or 18 inches into our front curb (regardless of who littered), or for failing to promptly shovel any snow or ice, or for failing to rake any leaves, on the sidewalk, as well?

14. We would provide a free MetroCard for you to get to work, and for use in your free time. Could you travel on buses and subways to our work sites without undue concerns? Would you travel alone if you had to, after becoming familiar with NYC? Do you have a drivers license, and would you be willing to drive yourself and others if we needed it?

15. Would you be willing and able to work part of your internship outdoors in sometimes rainy, chilly or even very cold weather (in non-summer seasons), or in the intense heat of summer, on the streets doing sidewalk counseling and literature distribution, in addition to working in our offices/centers? Can you handle the rigor of an intense 44 hours of work per week? Are you OK with only one full weekend off for visiting friends or relatives (that is a Saturday, and Sunday) per month? We work on Saturday morning each week for between 3 and 4 hours. If you take unauthorized absence overnight from our house or worksite, and/or unauthorized late nights out without permission, this could be grounds for dismissal. Do you understand that as part of our hard working pro-life group house, all interns must keep a 10:30PM curfew Sunday through Friday, (unless coming home from a special event or show, with written prior permission)? Agreed?

16. Again, are you willing to enthusiastically perform the sometimes unpleasant chores of preparing meals, cooking, washing dishes, taking out the trash, recycling, sweeping, litter pick up, washing of sheets and towels, and cleaning (and snow shoveling, or salt application on icy sidewalks in winter) and occasional basement and attic, and backyard cleanup in and outside the property of the LifeHouse? We provide hot water and on site laundry facilities, and grant you one towel which along with your bed linens which we ask you to wash with your own clothes, at least weekly. We expect you to take 5 or 6 minute only showers to conserve hot water, and energy and to make shared bathroom use efficient. Are you OK with all of the above?

17. How well do you get along with others? Would you describe yourself as outgoing and (certainly not introverted, nor overly shy) easy to get along with? Have you worked in volunteer work before that might help you adjust to supervised work? If you are use to unlimited personal time for cell phone calls, texting, FaceBook,Twitter, and emailing, are you willing to curb this to 45 minutes per day maximum, for the sake of building our LifeHouse team spirit and for having time to get to know your fellow interns, clients and staff?

18. How docile are you at taking direction, and following requests, even if a task or assignment might not be to your inclination, or first preference? How are you at getting up early, and promptly, so others can count on you at work? Again, we will impose a $10 stipend deduction for being late leaving and arriving for work, or for not doing assigned chores promptly. Is this fully understood? Are you ready for daily, specific direction and supervision in this work from the director, Chris Slattery, and his assistants, and center directors? Do you have past work experience under the supervision of a "boss" or house manager or resident assistant?

19. Do you have any special experience or talents that might help EMC in any way? (i.e. Photography, blog posting, construction work, handyman experience, video editing, web master skills, public relations, fundraising, or organizing.) We do expect you to post pictures of yourself at work and post a blog once a week by Saturday and to post a group video daily on our Facebook fan page with you speaking and sharing your experiences at work sites. Would you commit to this on a timely basis? Do you agree that this pro-life public relations is important, and that these blogs are useful to promoting our pro-life mission?

20. We might ask you to take part in a public vigil, walk, 40 Days for Life effort, or display against abortion, besides direct crisis counseling. Do you have any career goals, inhibitions, or fears that would prevent you from being publicly pro-life in NYC?

21. Could you supply up to three references from those who can vouch for your strong pro-life commitment, character, and good work ethic?

22. Do you enjoy sightseeing, social events, and excursions, and going to evening shows, and generally having a good time? We will organize some group activities for fellowship. Attending most of these events will be mandatory to build team spirit. Do you accept this freely without reservation, and with enthusiasm?

23. Especially in the summer, interns will be taken on excursions for long weekends, and possibly for as long as one to two weeks total, for team building, off site training, learning American history, for religious site visits, for attendance at pro-life or Catholic or Christian events, festivals or conferences, and for recreation. These trips are mandatory because we must rotate our workers in and out of New York to give more a chance for individual client counseling, and to enable us to expand the number of internships. Do you understand, and agree to these terms?

24. All interns will be expected to spend at least 8 hours out of a 44 hour volunteer work week in calling or meeting EMC supporters to raise money for the internship program and general EMC operations. (This money does not include payment for your airfare to and from your work in NYC.) Is this understood and agreed to?

25. Lastly, what overall expectations do you have of me and our staff, and of the experience in general?

Please email your responses to Chris Slattery at: SlatteryNY@gmail.com

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