Unity Gardens Internship

Description

Considering the broad scope of what Unity Gardens does, interns will have the opportunity to follow their passions, both personally and professionally.

Supervision: Intern will work directly with business and horticultural staff (both managers and team members) and Executive Director and independently as projects are assigned.

Work Schedule: During the months of April through September hours are consistently needed. Days, evenings, and weekends are all available as scheduling is flexible. Twenty to 40 hours a week in the summer internship program is typical. Additional opportunities can be designed per individual learning objectives and scheduling needs. 

Responsibilities

Considering that scope, job possibilities include the following:
Free-Pick Garden: Interns use permaculture and ecosystem principles to care for vegetables, perennials, and animals. Interns will welcome and help visitors find food to pick, share recipes, and lead volunteer groups in the garden.
Garden Guide: Interns greet garden visitors, help visitors find food, share and gather recipes, and collect qualitative and quantitative data for research. Garden Guides also engage children and families, help design activities, and
engage them in play in the garden.
Kids’ Discovery Garden: Interns manage Kids’ Discovery Garden to engage children in free play through tasting plants, exploring nature, handling chickens, and using the activity stations.
Market Garden: Interns help manage 4 hoop houses and outdoor raised beds, manage pests, harvest for Farmer’s Market, and develop marketing materials. We sell produce, plants, honey, and value added products at the South Bend
Farmer’s Market, 3-4 days/week.
Educational Opportunities: Each new project requires research and ongoing learning. Teaching opportunities abound, whether it is demonstrating how to pick peppers for visitors, leading a volunteer or school group, hosting a cooking demo, or presenting a garden lecture to a class.
More: Interns can help manage the 1+ acre vegetable garden, native plant garden, herbal garden, food forest and mushroom cultivation. Interns can lead volunteer groups, tour visitors through the garden, take pictures for social media,
develop garden signage, design and carry out environmental research projects, create art in the garden, and connect with the other neighborhood Unity Gardens. Fund raising, event planning and grant writing are other opportunities!
Neighborhood Unity Gardens: Interns work throughout Saint Joseph County, primarily at our LaSalle Square Unity Garden. There are options to work at a variety of gardens and on-site at our Welcome Center. When at the gardens, it is expected that interns will treat all garden contacts with respect and courtesy in a non-discriminatory manner. 

Qualifications

The Unity Gardens Intern will be expected to:
● Utilize computers and social media
● Communicate proficiently promptly, & professionally via group me, phone, text, email, writing, or in public
speaking venues
● Use critical thinking skills to prioritize, make decisions, and actively inquire as needed
● Proactively schedule, commit, and work the hours and time frames agreed upon
● Adhere to all applicable local, state, and federal laws and guidelines
● Serve as exemplary examples of safe and respectful social behavior honoring our inclusive framework