National Intern Day is celebrated on the last Thursday of July. This year, we wanted to shout out our amazing intern, Abby, who joined us at our downtown office from July 14th to 18th. Abby is a 7th grade student who came to us hoping to complete some community service hours. Here are her thoughts on the week she spent with HFLA:
When I first arrived at the office, I knew nothing about HFLA. Everyone helped explain what HFLA was, and they showed me what they do. HFLA works with people who are turned away from banks because their credit scores are too low or for other reasons. They provide education, standard, and business loans.
Each day, I got to attend their meetings. I learned about collections, and I saw how you could sign up for the loans. I worked with Kyra to do some collection calls, and I worked with Alexis to do a business flyer. Maggie showed me IvyTek, which tracks loan payments, Kyra also showed me IvyTek, which tracks loan applications, and Alexis showed me Little Green Light, which tracks donors. I talked to Kyra about the loan application process and how applications work. The most interesting part of my experience was working with Kyra to make phone calls for collections.
My favorite part was the team lunches. Everyone was so nice and funny. We went to Starbucks together. Kyra told me about a time she took yogurt to the movies, Alexis taught me to make fortune tellers, and I taught them about kosher foods and symbols.
This week helped me gain a new perspective on how debt works. Working with Kyra on collections showed me how people go into debt. If you are able to help someone in debt you should. Even that small difference can help change the world.
We are so thankful for the time we were able to spend with Abby! She did a great job incorporating herself into our office, asked great questions, and took feedback great. Keep an eye out for the business flyer she helped make during her brief internship with us.