Site Description
First Step Home (FSH) has served over 2,500 women and children in the past 20 years. Its purpose is to build healthier, happier, and more productive futures for women in recovery from addiction and for their children. The agency provides individual and group substance abuse counseling, access to medical services, mental health assessments, life skills training, financial counseling, on-site child care, twelve-step program meetings, and connections to job readiness programs. In addition, First Step Home offers a comprehensive child and family development program for children ages 0 to 12 who are living with their mothers at the facility. Through the programs offered at FSH, women learn self-sufficiency and gain the ability to live drug-free with their children. Upon completion of the residential program, women have the opportunity to move into transitional housing supervised by FSH, where they are surrounded by other women in recovery. First Step Home is planning to expand its ability to house and help women in recovery by adding additional facilities nearby.
Job Description
- Attend small group meetings with clients.
- Provide education on selected health-related topics to clients.
- Assist the site with program development opportunities.
- Opportunities to shadow the OBGYN.
- Participate in interprofessional collaborative education with social workers, behavioral counselors, and others.
Intern Quote
“ worked with the medical team at my site. I shadowed the physician and took vitals during those appointments. I also taught health education classes to the clients. I taught on a variety topics including basics of nutrition, health benefits of exercise, the effects of addiction on the brain, and contraceptives. The rest of my time I spent talking to the clients and getting to know them. Overall, I learned a lot about the experience of living with an addiction and the field of addiction medicine. It was an extremely valuable experience, and I felt welcomed at my site.”ing to the needs of others.”
– Maddie Michel