Refugee Walk-in Services Intern - Summer 2025
Silver Spring MD
- Organization: IRC - International Rescue Committee
- Location: Silver Spring MD
- Grade: Internship - Internship
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Occupational Groups:
- Refugee rights and well-being
- Closing Date: 2025-05-23
Background: The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. At work in over 40 countries and 28 U.S. cities to restore safety, dignity and hope, the IRC leads the way from harm to home. Domestically, our 28 offices across the U.S. ensure new arrivals have food, shelter, and clothing, and work with refugees to help them gain self-sufficiency.
Scope of Work: The Walk-In Services team is the first point of contact for the nearly 2,000 new walk-in clients who visit the IRC in Silver Spring each year. The team works directly with new refugees, asylees, and other humanitarian immigrants resettling in the DC Metro area to ensure that they have timely access to both internal and external programming and benefits. This service opportunity will be trained and supervised by an Intake Specialist or the Intake Coordinator.
Responsibilities:
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Conduct in-person screenings to assess clients for their eligibility for referral to internal IRC programming, including casework, employment, and immigration services & for external public benefits and resources.
Complete program enrollment forms with clients to inform them of their rights and responsibilities & ensure all required client documentation is scanned and electronically on file.
Assist clients with applying for eligible public benefits, including cash assistance and medical insurance.
Conduct follow-up calls with new potential clients inquiring about IRC services, including providing them with walk-in day information, rescheduling, and responding to general inquiries.
Assist the team with scheduling contract interpreters for appointments.
Regularly track service provision through electronic data entry and organize required client documentation.
Other duties as assigned by the Walk-In Services team.
Learning Objectives:
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Intern will gain US resettlement agency experience, including assessing a high volume and broad range of new potential clients.
Intern will acquire knowledge of internal programs and public benefits available to humanitarian immigrants.
Intern will learn how to communicate with a global population, including how to effectively utilize interpreters.
Intern will learn tracking and reporting requirements for resettlement agencies and how capturing this data improves services.
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Current undergraduate, graduate student or less than 12 months out of school. *
Proficient digital literacy skills (e.g., MS Excel, Outlook, and Word) and the ability to learn new software and tasks.
Organized and attentive to detail.
Ability to work independently and multi-task.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Interest in working with humanitarian immigrants
Knowledge of or interest in learning about public benefits and other community resources.
Fluency in French, Spanish, Amharic, or other languages spoken by the client base is a plus
TO APPLY
Click Apply Now at the top of this page. Please attach a resume, cover letter and list of (at least) three references to your application. The deadline to apply is May 23rd, 2025.
This position is for Summer 2025 and requires a minimum commitment of 3 months and at least 15-30 hours per week. Ability to work at least one day in-person required.
Summer 2025 Interns are expected to begin their internship term by attending an in-person intern orientation on June 9th, 2025 from 9:15AM-3:30PM.
We currently offer internships during the following semesters:Spring: January – MaySummer: June– AugustFall: September – DecemberInternships are typically posted 2-3 months prior to the anticipated start date.
Note: Internships with the IRC in Silver Spring are unpaid. Summer 2025 interns may be eligible for per diem reimbursement at the rate of $15/day to offset the costs of food and travel. For information on scholarship opportunities, contact your university or the IRC in Silver Spring Community Engagement Specialist at Raina.Walker@Rescue.org.
*Candidates applying who are not currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program, or are outside 12 months of their graduation will be processed as volunteers.
To protect our clients, the IRC requires all selected applicants to complete background checks. We ask that you make a $30 donation to help us cover the associated costs. Currently, 87% of our funding goes directly to programming to support our clients, and your help to cover this cost will ensure that no funding is directed away from serving our clients. Instructions will be provided after you have been selected to intern or volunteer.
IRC leading the way from harm to home.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.