This past summer, four Trinity students spent ten weeks working alongside Washington-area nonprofits, as participants in the Sr. Seton Cunneen ’65 Summer Service Fellowship. The work of the internship included distributing food and diapers, interviewing families, filming a campus visit, and drafting advocacy campaigns. For Ebony Jones, Michelle Nataren, Ty’Chell Poindexter, and Italy Escobar, the experience proved to be equal parts hands-on service and personal discovery.

The Cunneen Fellowship was established in 1996 to honor the work and commitment of Sr. Seton Cunneen SND ’65, a former Campus Minister and faculty member at Trinity. Funded by the Maurice R. Robinson Foundation, the fellowship places Trinity students in a paid, ten-week community service internship at a nongovernmental organization (NGO), offering an opportunity to explore social issues and deepen their commitment to serving the common good. Throughout the summer, Fellows return to campus on Fridays for reflection sessions facilitated by the Office of Campus Ministry.

By design, the fellowship bridges the hands-on experience of direct service with the broader social issues behind it. Working closely with organizational staff gives Fellows a clearer understanding of how an organization operates and the impact it has on society, while engaging directly with the people it serves offers firsthand insight into the needs and challenges faced by individuals in vulnerable situations. Every placement aligns with the principles of Catholic social justice principles, including human dignity, solidarity, and service to the poor.

Four students, four kinds of service

The Fellows fanned out across organizations addressing homelessness, family stability, and financial security.

Ebony Jones and Michelle Nataren both served at St. Ann’s Center, which supports mothers and children. Jones began by interviewing staff across the organization. The goal, she explained, was “just kind of to get to know each of the staff and how their departments coordinate to the organization mission”

After this, Jones settled into her main role in the health and wellness department, where she helped organize life skills and parenting classes and self-care events for the mothers, supported moms and children through job clubs, and led a life skills class of her own on self-care.

Nataren focused on storytelling. After spending her first weeks conducting interviews, she moved into photography and videography, documenting events at the center. “This experience taught me a lot of things about journalism, and it also helped me polish my skills with photography and videography,” she said.

Italy Escobar interned with St. Vincent de Paul, an organization focused on preventing homelessness. Her work centered on marketing and advocacy: drafting and editing alert posts for social media, reaching out to elected representatives, proofreading, and handling administrative tasks. Escobar came away convinced that everyday people have a role to play in the issue. “The truth is that we can also have an impact,” she said. Through the posts she helped edit, she wanted the community to know that people “can also reach out to their state representatives, their senators” and “do something to make the process faster.”

Ty’Chell Poindexter’s placement served low-to-moderate-income families through housing counseling, financial literacy, education, and emergency community services such as food, clothing, and diaper distribution. She assisted with grant research and staffed the food and diaper distributions, where she connected directly with the people the organization serves. The fellowship, she said, didn’t so much change how she viewed social issues as sharpen her resolve to act. “I knew all along that those were issues that really needed changing,” she said. “I just think it made me want to advocate more and do more, and to be able to better serve the community.”

A day at Trinity

One project brought the fellowship full circle. Jones organized a tour of Trinity Washington University for residents of St. Ann’s Center, giving the mothers a chance to step away from the daily routine and experience campus life firsthand. Nataren was there to film it.

For Jones, it was the highlight of her ten weeks. “It gave an opportunity for the moms to have a day to get away from the center and have a day to experience college life,” she said. The response was immediate: “A lot of the moms liked it. Actually, three are interested in enrolling.” Staff and residents alike, she added, came away happy, “it was a really great experience for everyone.”

Nataren saw the tour as proof of what her camera could do. “Organizations and nonprofits are helping people, but by me recording the video, we can also share it with more people,” she said. “So I was able to see the power of journalism there.” The footage, she noted, was intended to be shared with donors to help draw further support for the center’s work.

What the work taught them

If the placements varied, the Fellows returned with strikingly similar lessons about themselves.

For Jones, the fellowship’s most personal challenge was learning to hold space for the women she served without being overwhelmed by their stories. As a single mother who had once pieced together the same kinds of resources St. Ann’s provides, she felt a deep connection to them. “As a single mother who had to get all the resources that the center provides for the families, I had to get these in different locations,” she said. “So I definitely appreciate the fact that the center allowed the residents to have everything in one place.” What she gained above all, she said, was patience and presence: “I definitely acquired a skill of active listening and just giving someone an ear.”

Nataren wrestled with the same tension between empathy and objectivity. “While I was listening to the moms’ stories, it was very hard for me to not relate to them, even though I’m not a mother,” she said. Going forward, she said, her aim is “to hear the people’s stories, but to not take on their emotions,” while still caring about each one “so people can hear it as well.”

Poindexter learned the value of flexibility in nonprofit work, where things don’t always go as planned. She learned to extend herself some kindness along the way. “I’ve learned to give myself a little bit more grace,” she said, “because of course I had challenges, but I was still able to work through them, learn, and give myself grace.”

Escobar, meanwhile, sharpened her organizational skills and pushed through the unfamiliar demands of remote work. Feeling unproductive at first, she worked out a daily routine that helped her be more productive.

Across four very different placements, the Cunneen Fellows came away with the same conviction that first drew them to service: meaningful change happens up close, one family and one conversation at a time. As Poindexter put it, the work simply made her “want to advocate more and do more.”