A Day in the Life of a Gladney Intern

I started interning as a volunteer with the Colombian Adoption department, which was an amazing experience. I switched to The Birth Parent Services Department in the Fall 2013 semester for some more client interaction and hands-on experience. Working in the Birth Parent Services Department, there is literally never a dull moment! Another great privilege of interning for multiple semesters was I got to shadow a case with a birth mom named Julie* from the very beginning all the way to post placement. Contact with birth mothers can often end abruptly if birth moms come to Gladney late in their pregnancy, cut off contact with us immediately after they relinquish their parental rights, or sometimes just don't keep us in the loop. With Julie's case, I was there from the initial meeting all the way to her placement. I shadowed Julie's weekly meetings and even led a few myself :) Julie lived in Gladney's Guest House, so I frequently transported her to various appointments ...

Oh, how my time at Gladney has been sweet! As an intern in Marketing, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew of Gladney’s wonderful reputation and of their high standards and values, but was unsure of what the day to day operations of the office would look like. My internship at Gladney has afforded more learning opportunities than I could have ever expected. Everything that Gladney does in the internship program is focused on you getting out of the internship what you want. Each morning I arrived eager to start the day! I have spent most of my time with my co-workers in Marketing, making AP profiles online and helping out with social media campaigns. I am grateful for the loving and encouraging environment for which I get to walk in to each day. Some mornings I attended meetings: legal, international, development- whatever interested me I was encouraged to attend! The whole experience was geared towards me getting what I wanted out of the experience. The whole Gladney staff ...

A couple weeks ago, I attended the Pathways training that is required for all international adoptions. It was outstanding! Sitting in the room with all the families, I could feel the love radiating. It was beyond measure. Mothers crying, telling about the child they had been matched with and how they had been praying for their child for so long. Several families had children in the same orphanage. They chatted, cried, and bonded over the struggle of patience, excitement and fear. "He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Any whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.'" -- Matthew 18:2-5 Beyond the love, came the reality. I cannot begin to explain how eye-opening the conversations were and how very lit...

I have been at Gladney for 3.5 academic semesters now and with my last semester half way over, now is a good time to share some reflections. In starting my internship at Gladney I knew very little about adoption and practice. I had read quite a bit, followed news stories, watched lots of movies and TV specials, but I was very disconnected from the practice. Fortunately I connected with the Pittsburgh PA worker, Cheryl Parkhil, who has been more than generous in sharing the adoption world with me. I have done Home Studies, Post Placements, worked with Birth Mothers and even been to Texas to see our work and meet staff. I was really inspired by what I saw in Texas. Gladney truly is a wonderful organization, focused on the best service delivery and a continued goal of hope. I know now more than ever than I want to stay in this field as a professional. I want to experience the highs and lows of working with people at all stages of this highly emotional process. Connecting wit...

Today I walked into my cubicle--my second one--I have been in two cubicles this semester--in between International and Marketing--and low and behold there was a present on my desk.  Now, I should tell you about me--I have been told stoic is a good adjective for myself.  I do not become emotional easily.  Actually--hardley ever.  I found myself close to tears several times, starting with that present today. I have interned both semester for Gladney--as a student obtaining a BSW from UTA--that meant 240 hours per semester--one Spring and one Summer for me.  This has been a stressful, fun and memorable ride for me.  I believe that most important reason is because I, too, was a Gladney Birth Mother .  It was nine years ago, but I remember the first time walking back in to the doors, and just completely busting out into tears--thankfully, I had this wonderful woman (who is still with Gladney) talk to me and completely make me feel better. There are so ...

After interning at Gladney for almost 6 months, I can honestly say my favorite thing about working here is always being surprised by what will happen the next day. There are some days that are very typical office days; I have my to-do list; I get it done, and I go home always with a smile on my face and excited to come back the next day. Then there are days where things happen that really do surprise me! For example, this past Thursday I had walked over to Beth's cube to chat with her about tasks she need my help with. Not 30 seconds after we had finished discussing what she needed, she asked me if I could quickly run down to reception to be a witness to a birth father relinquishing his parental rights. I of course ran to help with whatever was needed. While I had always planned on witnessing relinquishment at some point during my time in Gladney, I always had thought when I had the opportunity to do so it would be through a birth mother. I was shocked at how much seeing one man ...

Hi! My name is Caitlyn and I am the current intern for Family Services in Fort Worth and will be here through December. I am a social work graduate student at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) working towards becoming a LMSW. I will also graduate in December. Family Services provides post-adoption support for families who have adopted internationally. Some of our services include: parent education and training, home study services, counseling and support resources. As the Family Services intern I have had the opportunity to learn about the services we provide and review follow-up reports from our adoptive families. So far, I have spent a lot of time with Uncle Ricoh (our trusty copier/printer) and sending these reports to the country where the children were adopted (Ethiopia, Taiwan, Russia). I love reading up on how the children are adjusting and thriving with their family in the U.S. and I especially love seeing pictures of their sweet fa...