22 college students from across Nebraska returned to their hometowns this May as members of Nebraska Community Foundation’s (NCF) (nebcommfound.org) 2024 Hometown Interns cohort.
A Hometown Intern is a current college student who has completed at least one year of schooling or other learning experience and lives at home for the summer. They are compensated for their work through an anonymous NCF donor. This year’s interns are serving NCF affiliated funds in 17 communities.
Hometown Interns began the summer at a retreat in Keith County where they connected with their peers and learned about Asset-Based Community Development. Over the course of the summer, they will work alongside their supervisors and other members of their local affiliated fund on a mission to discover and unleash the assets in their community.
“This internship isn’t just about gaining experience,” said NCF Community and Cultural Impact Specialist Becky Boesen. “Together, we’ll explore roads less taken, lift-up hidden assets, celebrate the uniqueness of our places and co-create an experience alongside local affiliated funds that will add value to the future of both students and their communities.”
After five years of internships, the endeavor is showing inroads to ongoing people-attraction efforts, and dozens of interns have elected to remain in Nebraska, most of them in rural communities.
“Hometown Internships offer evidence for NCF’s longstanding belief that the key to bringing young Nebraskans back to our state is an invitation,” said NCF President and CEO Jeff Yost. “By extending to these students an opportunity to play a meaningful role in community-building, we are telling them we value their contributions to our state’s future and reminding them they will always have a place in Nebraska.”
Visit NCF’s website at nebcommfound.org.