Meet Our Summer Interns

Meet Our Summer Interns!

July 2017

We have three talented and dedicated interns this summer helping us to improve and further our mission of providing affording housing opportunities in Central City and the New Orleans community. We are super THANKFUL!

Our interns, Sara Balte, Autumn McMillan, and Paul-Antoine, have settled in with host families from the Episcopal community in New Orleans. We are grateful to Mr. Chris and Mrs. Page Beary, and their four daughters: Claiborne, Caroline, Claire, and Mary Catherine – who are parishioners at Christ Church Cathedral – for hosting Sara. We also want thank Mr. Jeff and Mrs. Carrie Lewis and their two sons: Henry and Gordon – who are parishioners at Trinity Episcopal Church – for hosting Autumn. Lastly, we want to thank Dean David (our Board Chairman) and Mrs. Karla duPlantier of Christ Church Cathedral for hosting Paul-Antoine. These families’ hospitality, support, and generosity make it possible for our interns to impact the community and learn more about New Orleans!

Learn more about our summer interns below:

Sara Balte recently graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South with honors in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology. President of the all-female a-cappella group on campus, Sara also co-directed the Community Engagement House and was part of the Bonner Leaders Program. With the Bonner program, Sara started a partnership between Sewanee and a local non-profit organization for adults with special needs.

Sara discovered Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative and decided that the intersectionality of the housing development sphere aligned with her passion for community engagement/development work. This summer, Sara will develop and implement a plan for recruitment of participants in Jericho Road’s Housing Sustainability programming and ultimately recruitment of potential homebuyers. She will also serve to develop marketing materials for housing sustainability program events and home sales. After a summer with Jericho Road, and a year with the Episcopal Service Corps, Sara hopes to return to school to earn a Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology. Her time with Jericho Road will further Sara’s knowledge about community development in addition to her ability to engage with community members. Sara is grateful to be a part of a team that seeks to transform lives through meaningful engagement and work with local communities.

 Autumn McMillan joins us this summer as the Community Engagement Intern. She is a rising second year at Grinnell College from New York City and majors in Sociology with a concentration in American studies and Eastern European Studies. At Grinnell, Autumn helps to lead the multicultural center, specifically with the group Concerned Black Students as the Events Coordinator.

During her tenure at Grinnell, she plans to strengthen the relationship between multicultural groups on Grinnell’s campus and unite with minority groups at neighboring institutions. Autumn believes practicing her outreach skills at Jericho Road will help her build a larger community around diversity at Grinnell.

This summer Autumn’s key responsibilities include the collection and management of data on Central City residents, and tracking Jericho Road’s impact in the Central City area. In addition, she works with the community engagement team to facilitate community events focused on unifying neighborhood associations that work toward improvements in their neighborhoods. Autumn is thrilled by the chance to cultivate the philosophy offered at Jericho Road, as well as learn more about the history and culture of New Orleans.

 Paul-Antoine is a French engineering student. He just finished his second year of college, where he studies general engineering at EIGSI Engineering School in La Rochelle, France.  Paul-Antoine serves as Vice-President of Planet EIGSI which is an international student group on campus. Paul-Antoine joined Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative this summer to work on projects that will improve information technology in order to optimize the staff productivity and maintain data safety.

Paul-Antoine is excited about the opportunity to build his knowledge in community development and further his professional skills in information technology.