Nick DeMaioribus joined us in September as a Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA) intern! The HECUA program builds academic-community partnerships for social change, using community-based learning methods to explore the dynamic relationships between theory and practice and to equip students with skills and knowledge for building just communities and societies.
Here is a note from Nick:
I am a sophomore at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, spending my 2017 fall semester in the HECUA program (Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs) in the Inequality in America branch therein. I was drawn to HECUA because it offered a chance to be an active member of the community, thereby filling a gap of purpose I had felt during my first year at college.
The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless was my number one pick for an internship, and I was lucky enough to get it. I believe every member of a community should feel self-actualized, and have a safe-place from which to stage their lives. Homelessness is a complicated problem, and needs a holistic approach to address it; I look forward to contributing my efforts.
In my free time, I like doing lots of things. I play some guitar, and love a good jam with fun company. I enjoy learning from various communities, and finding elusive “aha!” books I can gawk at over a cup of coffee or tea. I do a bit of martial arts, and love to think about weird ideas and laugh at bizarre stuff.
We are excited to welcome and work alongside Nick!