Determination and Love: UA Summer Internship Provides Motivated College Student With New Experiences, Outlook

Aug 2, 2016 | UA News

Article and photos by Urban Alliance staff.

After college student Nathan Orr was matched to Urban Alliance through a collaboration with the Blue Hills Civic Association for a summer internship, the Urban Alliance staff learned one thing: he is never without a smile or a positive outlook on life. 

In fact, while Nathan contributed valuable input and assistance in UA’s Philanthropy department over the course of several weeks, including providing research and gathering pertinent data, his internship also provided an opportunity for him to identify a new passion for making a difference and set the stage for his career path.

“The most important and memorable lesson that I’ve learned is that we are all given skill sets and talents to help others,” shared Nathan. “Getting up every morning knowing that my work at UA would facilitate helping many people gave me a new found drive. UA epitomizes using determination and love to make Hartford a better place for us all.”

Please join us in thanking Nathan for his hard work and dedication to helping people achieve lasting change in their lives!

The staff at Urban Alliance are familiar with Pastor Frank because he is a regular attendee to many of the trainings Urban Alliance provides on subjects like domestic violence, addressing childhood trauma, and better counseling techniques. โ€œThatโ€™s been so valuable to me to be able to bring that back, not only in my counseling but also in my teaching and preaching ministries, โ€œ shared Termine.

Pastor Frank was also one of the original members of the Micah group, a group of pastors that meets at Urban Alliance to discuss and strategize about challenging issues that face the church today. One of those earlier discussions on justice, incarceration, and returning citizens was particularly memorable. โ€œWe all lamented the fact that these men and women were coming out of prison into our churches and just kind of being thrown there,โ€ said Termine, โ€œWe could do better than this.โ€ That discussion planted the seeds that eventually led to the creation of Second Chance Churches – an opportunity for churches to provide support and mentoring to returning citizens that continues today.

When we asked Pastor Frank what he would say to another church that was unaware of Urban Alliance, he said, โ€œIf you are looking to get out in the community and make a difference in the community, Urban Alliance is a super way to do it. Weโ€™re a small church โ€ฆ we canโ€™t do everything. Urban Alliance is a pathway to get our people involved in ministries that are already doing it, doing it well, and just need extra volunteers.โ€

Pastor Frank Termineโ€™s story embodies many things we are trying to accomplish at Urban Alliance: supporting organizations in the communities they serve with training, resources, and opportunities to make a difference. Pastors and non-profit leaders face a wide range of challenges and, therefore, need a wide range of help and resources. Your support can help turn stories of struggle into stories like you find at Calvary Church.

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