In 2024, inCOMMON hosted the second year of our summer internship program, “Neighborhood Connectors.” Fourteen youth participated in this year’s program, and we’re thrilled to highlight Juan Zacarias Lopez from Park Ave and Salia Gershom from Walnut Hill!
Juan is a senior in high school and lives just two and a half blocks from inCOMMON’s Park Ave Commons location. His brother, Jose, has been a part of inCOMMON’s Summer Soccer Club and invited Juan to check out one of our youth club meetings. During youth club, Juan learned about the summer internship opportunity and jumped at the chance to earn a paycheck while getting more involved in his own neighborhood. Through his internship, we were impressed with Juan’s incredible work ethic. He was willing to do whatever is needed, and throughout the summer was the last one to leave as he wanted to make sure all the work was done for the day.
One inspiring thing about Juan’s story is that it isn’t just his story, but his family’s story. The Lopez’s, as a family, have been able to connect with new neighbors and find opportunities to share their gifts and talents with their neighbors. For community events, Juan doesn’t come by himself, or just with his brother, but their whole family comes together. Together they participate in neighborhood clean-up days, community meals, and numerous other events. Even though he is no longer an intern, Juan and his family jump right in to help as they can. Unsurprisingly, they are often the last to leave as they lend a hand until everything is cleaned up!
From our Walnut Hill neighborhood, we are pleased to introduce you to Salia, a high school student at Benson who lives about six blocks from the Walnut Hill Commons. Unlike Juan, Salia had never heard about inCOMMON prior to her intership. It was a recommendation by an English Learner teacher at Walnut Hill that got her connected to this opportunity. Salia is an energetic person who loves to get to know new people and was especially motivated by her desire to improve her English. The job was a great fit as it allowed Salia to have dozens, if not hundreds, of conversations with new people. It was especially fun to see Salia’s excitement to share with her family what she was doing at work. She was proud to invite her family to come enjoy events that she was helping to support and organize.
One thing that really inspired Salia this summer was a trip to the City Council. She is a strong leader with a desire to start her own business. She was excited to learn part of what different businesses do in order to get support from the city. After the visit she talked about how she’d be visiting members of the City Council in the future with her own business ideas!
We are incredibly grateful for the work that all our Neighborhood Connectors invested in working with and listening to their neighbors. Their unique gifts and talents made a meaningful and long-lasting impact in their community, and we can’t wait to see all of the ways they continue to impact their neighborhoods in the years to come!