Affordable Housing Internship at The Coalition for Economic Survival

Abstract

At the beginning of my internship my sole responsibility was to call as many people as I could and talk to them about Propositions 98 and 99. During my entire workday I called from a list out of the office and then transitioned to a phone-bank center after working hours with other staff members. Later, I was paired up with staff members to help with outreach. During the afternoons we went to buildings on the SCEP (Systematic Code Enforcement Program) list given to us by the Los Angeles City Housing Department to inform tenants that they would be having a housing inspection soon. One of my favorite duties was creating new flyers for my organization in both English and Spanish. The challenge was translating the text from English to Spanish using my limited knowledge and other outside sources such as an online translator. Some of my other responsibilities at CES included: speaking with tenants over the phone when they called with any questions, informing landlords that they were on the REAP program (Rent Escrow Account Program) and explain to them what the program is about, as well as other miscellaneous tasks. It was exciting to juggle many jobs at once although there never seemed to be enough to do.