New Hope United Methodist Church, North Adams, MA
This summer I interned with New Hope United Methodist Church, an organization serving the communities of North Adams and Williamstown, seeking to embody and spread their core values of kindness, compassion, hospitality, and hope through ministry and service. As an intern with New Hope, I focused on food insecurity in the Berkshires, examining the issue by volunteering and working on grant applications to fund efforts to provide support to those in need.
Throughout my internship. I was continually impressed by New Hope’s dedication to the needs of the local community. They are currently renovating their new building in North Adams to include a teaching kitchen, community café, and a space for farmers to keep and process produce. Rooted in a shared desire to enjoy the blessing of food, the teaching kitchen will host community cooking classes to bring together local farmers, chefs, and residents for the cultivation, production, and consumption of fresh, healthy food. Some classes will be specifically aimed at teaching how to utilize SNAP/WIC benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Women, Infants, and Children). The community café will allow local producers to sell fresh food that can then be accessed by local residents. The space will also serve as a community center, welcoming people for events and providing a warm space in the winter. The location of this building, in a low-income neighborhood and within walking distance of downtown North Adams, makes it an important community resource in an area in need.
I spent the beginning of my internship familiarizing myself with New Hope’s mission, history, and the above current projects to allow me to tell their story in grant applications. I sought grant funding to help complete construction of the kitchen, renovations to the roof, a solar panel array, and support the cooking classes program.
I was intrigued to learn more about the grant application process. To find grants, I used a website called Grant Gopher along with the free edition of the Foundation Directory Online. Determining how to tell New Hope’s story helped me grow as a writer. I learned how to adapt the narrative depending on length constraints, content requirements and the grant funder. Figuring out how to best relate, connect, and share stories with others, a skill incredibly important to grant writing, was reinforced by the time I spent serving in the community.
I also volunteered weekly at the Al Nelson Friendship Center, the food pantry serving the North Adams region. I was particularly impacted by the compassion of fellow volunteers from New Hope—a woman who would come in smiling and always address food recipients by their name, asking about their day and caring to make the experience personal or a Williams alum who made sure every child who came in the door received a new book. This experience made me particularly sensitive to the income disparities in our region and the importance of food assistance programs. I’m glad my summer internship pushed me to recognize and reflect on my own blessings.
The graciousness of the food pantry visitors made me realize I’m passionate about a career rooted in service and connections with others. My experience at the Berkshire Food Project, the soup kitchen in North Adams, also made me realize, however, it isn’t always visibly or immediately rewarding to help others. Some interactions can feel difficult and uncomfortable. But, the most challenging situations deepens personal growth and I’m thankful my experience this summer encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone.
I was constantly inspired by how community engagement and compassion was modeled for me by the two pastors of New Hope, Dan and Courtney Randall. I’ve always regarded these individuals highly for their kindness to me, but I was even more impressed by the breadth of their compassion.
New Hope has already begun acting on their initiative to increase access to healthy, fresh food by cultivating a teaching garden. I weeded and worked in New Hope’s garden with young kids, who were excited to nurture and enjoy the food produced by the garden. I spent one of my weeks at the New Hope service learning camp, which focuses on engaging children in caring for their community by helping them understand why we serve and how serving others is an important way of spreading God’s love to a neighbor and stranger.
My experience taught me how to connect and reach out to new people, bridging gaps across social, economic, and spiritual differences. This is a particularly important skill I will continue to hone by embracing the diversity of my college community. I hope to bring my learning back to Williams by encouraging more people to volunteer and be invested in the wellbeing of the surrounding region. I hope to continue volunteering at the food pantry and encouraging others to volunteer as well.
This experience has also made me more interested in careers in community building and engagement, and has emphasized to me both the value of compassionate, caring leaders and of teamwork as a whole. I saw how the strength of the community is not only a result of the tireless work and love of its two pastors, but also the combined enthusiasm of congregation members.
The impact of my experience with New Hope extends beyond this summer. I am planning to invest several hours a month to continuing my grant research and writing. I enjoyed my internship this summer because I believe so deeply in the positive way New Hope plans to continue to transform local communities. Telling the story of New Hope in my grant writing brought me great joy because I’m happy to share with others how the grace and thoughtfulness of this congregation has touched many in this area.
I’m thankful for the ways this internship encouraged me to grow professionally, spiritually, and as a person. I will always be appreciative of the support of the ’68 Center for Career Exploration and the Kraft family for affording me this opportunity. I’m grateful for the resources and encouragement that allowed me to pursue working with New Hope UMC this summer.
Megamenu Social