We’d also like to take the opportunity to welcome the newest addition to the Hollywood HEART family, Linda Salgin. Linda interned during her last quarter at UCLA and left quite an impression. After working hard all quarter she decided to join us for camp. She wrote the following blog entry about her experiences. Enjoy!
During the Spring 2012 quarter, I started to intern for a nonprofit organization called Hollywood HEART. This organization provides visual and performing arts summer camps targeting young adults ages 16-20 affected by HIV/AIDS. I was drawn towards this organization because of its mission to help adolescents feel loved without the stigma associated with having a life-long illness. As a student who is pursuing a future in Public Health and Community Health Education, I felt that interning for this organization would be the perfect fit. It would help me learn more about nonprofits, give me experience in my field of interest, and give me an opportunity to learn more about the kids affected by this disease.
When I first emailed the organization about an internship during spring quarter I did not really know what I was getting myself into. I knew I wanted to be a part of something that dealt with aspects of public health and since this program dealt with HIV/AIDS kids in the age range that I wanted to work with, I thought I would give it a try. I soon realized that this organization was something that I wanted to be a part of for longer than just three months. While I spent the majority of my time working on donation letters to help fund our summer camp, and marketing material to get our name out there I learned a lot about what goes into making Camp Hollywood HEART successful. I have learned many computer skills, organization skills, grant-writing skills, as well as various other things that are important for funding nonprofit organizations.
As the quarter began to dwindle down, I was sad to know that my time with Hollywood HEART would come to an end. All the skills that I learned have helped me grow as an individual and has made me more passionate about the field of public health education that I want to go into. I would have never imagined that I would grow to love this organization as much as I did. They have an amazing staff that is dedicated to helping young adolescents move forward with their lives and it is something that has become dear to my heart. I am very grateful for the experience I had with Hollywood HEART and I am excited to continue to working with them in the summer to make this year’s camp amazing. I have grown so much from this opportunity and if I could I would do it all over again in a heartbeat 🙂