SHARE:  
Contact Us: (800) 894-7201
THE PESA POST
The latest news, views and announcements from
Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action

March 11, 2021
HELPING OTHERS CAN HELP OURSELVES
Meet Jennifer Luna, Social Worker Intern

By Nathaniel Flores
PESA has made a name for itself through countless hours of life-changing services the non-profit offers its clients, whether it’s providing social services to diverted youth, teaching high school-aged students about legal processes through Teen Court clubs, or developing and presenting virtual educational presentations for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Less well known, though, is the work that PESA does to provide undergraduates and students pursuing graduate-level degrees the opportunity to pursue their passions while simultaneously acquiring valuable career experience.

Jennifer Luna, a master’s in social work intern with PESA, traces her desire to pursue social work to a singular event during her childhood. In dealing with that traumatic incident, Luna says it was the lack of social work involvement that inspired her to pursue this career path in the first place. “I was never assigned to a social worker,” says Luna. “My incident was never even reported. In the Latino community, mental health is such a taboo thing… and what motivated me [to pursue social work] was that lack of service,” she says. 
 
While most people might try to bury a traumatic incident, Luna found healing in helping others. As early as high school, she began working with youth in need. "I volunteered at the juvenile court in an art-therapy program that encouraged individuals to paint and color while they awaited their trial.” When she began her undergraduate studies in social work at California State University Long Beach, she continued to pursue opportunities to help others through community service, ultimately leading to her position with PESA in the fall of 2020. 
 
"I wanted to get involved with school-aged children, and an internship with PESA provided me that opportunity," she says. "This is my third internship, and I can honestly say PESA has surpassed my expectations." Through PESA, Luna says she has had the opportunity to engage in hands-on social work by providing individual and family counseling, conducting group therapy sessions and referring clients to nutritional and financial resources. Less expectedly, she also has been able to work to invite mentorship programs to partner with PESA. "I came in thinking I was going to have a microfocus on the clinical part of social work,” says Luna,” but I appreciate that instead, I’m getting all aspects of social work, and I think that’s what is great about PESA. There is so much that can be offered to interns to learn and grow from.” ■

If you’d like more information or to support PESA’s many social and educational initiatives, please contact us.