Getting to know the 2020-2021 Youth Interns

The Youth Internship Program (YIP) creates a space for young adults to learn, grow, gain practical experience in work placements and to explore questions of faith. It gathers students and offer experiences they need to move forward in life. It builds the confidence of its individual members, but it also builds community as the year progresses. 

My name is Jennifer Omoike. I am a student at Immaculata High School in Ottawa, and I enjoy dancing and writing stories. I plan to study engineering at Carleton. 

I am doing my YIP work placement with Crosstalk, and in this article I would like to introduce you to this year’s YIP participants, their mentors and the people that work hard to support this program.

Donna Rourke, who manages this program for the Diocese, is the one who brings us all together. She visits parishes, speaks to groups and encourages new young people to join the program. YIP gathers youth aged 16 to 21 of diverse ethnicities and beliefs with different interests, goals and career paths.

Thomas attends high school and has a strong interest in world history and military history.

Emily lives in Toronto and is in university. She loves being involved with her school’s model UN team, teaching swimming lessons and reading. 

Freddy and Jefferson are students at Carleton. Freddy is studying electrical engineering; Jefferson is in the criminology program. 

Alex is a Grade 12 student attending Immaculata High School and Naomi is in Grade 12 at De La Salle High School. Alex plans to attend Carleton University in September, hoping to study software engineering and follow her dream of learning computer programming. Naomi is part of the dramatic arts program and plans on taking a gap year in September. 

Caleb and Caroline are Grade 12 students. Caroline is a former student of Longfields Davidson Heights Secondary School, now attending Ottawa Carleton Virtual Secondary School (due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In September, Caroline plans on pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree in university. Caleb lives in Markham with his brother, sister, parents, and grandparents. He attends Markham District High School. He has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember and is the goalkeeper for his team.

Izzy and Greg both took a gap year. Greg hopes to attend Algonquin College in September to take a degree in hospitality, and Izzy began attending Seneca College in January for early childhood studies.

There is always room for past participants who want to continue in the program. Calum and Maritsa are YIP alumni. Calum is a Grade 12 student at Earl of March. He has been playing in concert and jazz bands in and out of school for four years. When he is not playing his trombone, he is playing his guitar (electric or acoustic) or participating in remote musical theatre sessions. Maritsa is a first-year student at the University of Ottawa in the Honours Bachelor of Health Science program. Maritsa has a passion for science and health care. Her goal is to enrol in the University of Ottawa Medical program and pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a physician.

YIP helps participants walk towards their dreams by providing experiences and helping them acquire skills in relevant work site placements. This year, there are placements with St Albans Church doing children’s ministry; KAIROS; PWRDF; The Parish of Blackburn, Navan, Bearbrook: website development and communication through social media; Epiphany Anglican Church/ local Food Bank;  Ottawa Police Services; The Glebe Wellness Centre; Crosstalk; St. John the Baptist in Richmond and YIP’s faith formation team. 

YIP offers participants a safe place filled with people ready to listen and help in whatever way they can. Donna is available to the interns not only for work and life coaching but also as a caring and interested adult/mentor/coach. 

YIP provides every intern with their own personal mentor, a person with whom they can talk and relate. These mentors are good listeners and become part of the intern’s networking team. This year’s mentors include: Dave Kim, Michael Farrell, Beth Hughes, Isobel MacFarlane, Anke Rohleder, Robert Rourke, the Rev. Linda Privitera, Emily Savage, Aimernace (Aimé) Ligbongbo, Charles Jean, Dr. Susan Farrell, Lizzy Jones and the Rev. Michel Gagné. They are always ready to listen.

The YIP faith formation team this year includes a YIP intern, Donna Rourke and the Reverends Arran Thorpe and Geoff Chapman.

Breanna Pizzuto, Tatanisha Riggan, Eliot Newton and Donna Rourke are the leadership team.

YIP is very fortunate to have a wonderful prayer team and a supportive and caring advisory committee. The Rev. Alana McCord, Bob Albert, Izzy MacFarlane, Executive Archdeacon Linda Hill, Ron Chaplin and Sarah Simkin make up the advisory committee. 

If you have any questions about YIP, or would like some information about the program, being a mentor or being a part of our prayer team, please contact Donna Rourke at [email protected]

Caleb, YIP intern for KAIROS: 

My YIP experience so far has been extremely beneficial and valuable to me in many ways; Faith Formation sessions allowed me to ask important questions about many topics including the Church, Jesus, and God. It has strengthened my faith tremendously, and I am looking forward to learning even more in the sessions to come. 

Emily, YIP intern for PWRDF:

The Youth Internship Program has been the combination of meaningful work, connection, and learning that I have been looking for. This year, I am the YIP intern with the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, and I am working to create a podcast series telling the social justice stories of PWRDF. The first episode is on gender equality in the Anglican and Lutheran churches. Receiving an email from the Primate, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, supporting this project and a commitment to be in conversation together has been SO exciting. I look forward to hearing from the Lutheran National Bishop Susan Johnson when she returns from a sabbatical. It’s rewarding to see my work grow as the weeks go by and know that I am creating something that people will hear and enjoy. The work of my internship connects well to our YIP leadership sessions where we get to learn from a diverse set of people on pressing issues that I and other young adults care about. We have sessions on gender diversity, anti-black racism, effective communications, and the importance of mental health. I am also blessed to have a fantastic mentor with this program! Anke’s excellent questions always find a way to help me dig deeper into my faith in God. Through this supportive community where so many people are praying for us as interns but also in our times of need, you cannot help but see the love of Christ in our meetings and friendships.   

Maritsa, YIP Intern for the Parish of St John the Baptist:

The YIP program taught me professionalism, the basis of a healthy community, and allowed me to learn more about God and church. Equally importantly, the program expanded my network and allows me to belong to a wonderful community. 

I came back to YIP for a second year because I felt that there were more things to learn and discover. That was a great decision because no two experiences are the same. So far, I have met new people, learned and been introduced to new topics in our leadership and faith formation sessions including racism, God’s image, and gender diversity. As a second-year intern, I had the chance to work on myself to develop my leadership and communication skills and learn more about myself and the world around me.

I’m grateful to have the opportunity to take part in such an amazing program for a second year. Being an intern in the middle of a pandemic has been one of the most meaningful experiences because I always feel supported and heard by Donna, the other interns and my mentor Susan. Donna works hard to be there for me and all the other interns in every way possible.

Naomi –YIP intern for St Albans Youth Ministry

I am enjoying being part of the 2020-2021 YIP internship. I find the faith formation sessions valuable and informative. I particularly enjoy being able to ask any faith related question to the Faith Formation team in the section ‘Faith Leaders on the Hot Seat’. I think that a YIP community is important because we have standards to which we hold each accountable and therefore create a safe and encouraging environment that helps us all grow.

Ujuamara (Alex), YIP intern for the Glebe Osteopathy and Wellness Centre 

My relationship with Donna means that I have a caring adult in my life who genuinely want to see me happy and succeed. She advises me, checks in with me, worries about me and even helps me out whenever I am in any form of crises. She is the person I turn to whenever I need anything and she is always there for me.

Having a mentor has helped me discover a lot of things I never would have realized on my own. My mentor, Dave, listens to me and we talk about my school, my work and my future career.  Dave does the same kind of work that I hope to go into in the future and he tells me about the mistakes he has made and suggests how he might have avoided making them. 

I am learning through them to become a better person.

Freddy, YIP intern at the Anglican Parish of Bearbrook, Navan and Blackburn and Vars Chapel.  

My work includes designing and creating a website for the parish as well as maintaining its social media platforms. A part of the YIP program is having a mentor. I find great value in a mentor because I was able to be connected with someone who is in the same field that I am and is well respected in his position. I am learning a lot from him and gaining insight in the work field. Combined with my work placement, I am  gaining  lots of good experience and knowledge.

Jennifer Omoike, YIP intern for Crosstalk

In monthly Faith Formation sessions, we meet virtually and spend time speaking about our own faith journeys. Here we are safe to share our many perspectives on the belief in God. As Christians, we believe in God; our faith and belief system is centred on Him.  Many people do not know or feel comfortable talking about God, and that is why I feel that  our Faith Formation sessions are important. We gain confidence to speak openly, and our knowledge becomes broader. Sometimes in life, especially in this COVID time, we can forget God or we have questions—questions like “Is He still there?”  These sessions help all of us to build a stronger relationship with God and to learn and build community with each other.