MAC’s Summer Interns

There are a few new faces around the MAC office this summer! Meet our hardworking, passionate interns:

I am Nicole Santolalla, an international student at Goizueta Business School studying finance and consulting. I was born and raised in Lima, Peru, and have been living in Atlanta for the past two years. While searching for summer internships, I found that MAC was looking for a Client Assistant Intern, and decided to give it a try. I had read the work MAC did and who it helped, and their mission of “preventing homelessness” called my attention a lot. I found it very interesting to see how people’s lives could be affected in such significant ways by, for example being unemployed for a month, and how they could lose everything because of those gaps. The most impressive part was seeing how someone’s situation could improve with the help MAC provides.

Coming from a country with such high poverty index, I was very shocked to see here in the States there was also poverty. I am very happy of being part of MAC and help prevent homelessness with the rest of the team. Additionally, I believe it is important to be aware of the reality some people face and be able to improve our community. I am looking forward to the exciting things I will continue to learn.

My name is Gretchen Bruening and I am from Chesapeake, Virginia. I’m a rising sophomore at the University of Notre Dame, studying International Economics with a concentration in French and a minor in poverty studies. I enjoy reading, running, cooking, and traveling.

This summer, I am the education and outreach intern at the Atlanta Community Food Bank through Notre Dame’s Summer Service Learning Program. I am loving my time in Atlanta so far, and I’m very excited to be working at MAC for the next few weeks!

Hello! My name is Kathleen Maley. I am a rising senior at Marist High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and I run both cross country and track. I am the middle of three kids in my family with one older brother and one younger sister. I found out about this opportunity through the internship program that my school offers. I immediately knew I wanted to apply for this position because I hope to major in something similar to social work or human relations in college. More importantly, I have just always been passionate about helping those who need it.

Additionally, my college counselor at school thought this job would be a perfect fit for me because of how involved I am in the campus ministry programs at my school. I have been on two mission trips to Chinandega, Nicaragua to help build irrigation systems and teach English to the communities there. Also, I am very involved in community service and have been a part of several retreat leader programs. Through these campus ministry opportunities, I have learned that I want to continue working with the less fortunate in my future. I think the work Midtown Assistance Center does is extremely important and special, and I am so glad I have the opportunity to be a part of it! I have thoroughly enjoyed my first couple of weeks at the MAC, and I can’t wait for the rest of the summer.