Highlighted: Kim Utz '10

“Scholarships for Service (SFS) through Americorps really helped me this summer.  Without the stipend, I would not have been able to work at the International Institute of Rhode Island (IIRI) as much as I did, do work that was so self-rewarding, and feel I made a difference.  I am grateful for the award because it facilitated me to doing something that I loved rather than waitressing.  I was and am constantly challenged by the tasks of my internship and would not have been able to have these challenges without the assistance of SFS.  I also will be using my education award to pay for my tuition at PC next semester, which helps immensely.”

Kim Utz
Class of 2010
Plainfield, CT
Global Studies Major
Spanish Major

Kim served as an intern at the International Institute of Rhode Island, a non-profit organization that helps all immigrants in the United States.  While at the International Institute, Kim worked in the Immigration and Citizenship Department where accredited caseworkers assist immigrants to gain their legal status.  There she worked closely with the outreach coordinator and assisted with public relations and community outreach for the organization.  She specifically worked to educate Providence residents about the complexity of the immigration process in the United States. 

Additionally, Kim assisted caseworkers in translating birth certificates, marriage licenses, and police reports.  One of her primary projects involved working with Immigrants United, a coalition comprised of civil rights organizations, immigrant based member organizations, service providers, and native-born member organizations.  The coalition campaigns for fairness, respect, and civil rights to achieve racial and economic equality for all people residing in Rhode Island. 

Kim’s passion for equality did not stop there.  She continues to work as the Community Liaison between the International Institute of Rhode Island and the Feinstein Institute at Providence College.  Her work with the coalition inspired her to focus on the methods of community organizing for her thesis project. 

Kim is also involved on the Providence College campus.  She is a member of Colleges Against Cancer, Relay for Life, and Campus Ministry.

Jamie Luedtke '10

"The Feinstein Institute provides countless opportunities for its students.  It has a diverse group of community partners, which allows students to pursue a variety of interests.  My PSP courses have informed me on many issues and familiarized me with local nonprofits.  Urban education interested me most, so I chose to go deeper in my service by becoming the Community Liaison at Times² Academy. The Feinstein Institute stresses the importance of reflection during service.  Practicum gave me experience in the field while simultaneously helping me to reflect on my service and leadership.  Additionally, the Feinstein faculty are supportive and always available.  They treat PSP students as adults and even as colleagues.  These relationships result in students desiring to become more involved in the department and with service projects throughout the community.  The Feinstein Institute showed me it was possible to transform my passion into my profession."

Jamie Luedtke
Class of 2010
Berwyn, PA
Public & Community Service Studies Major
Math Major

Jamie has served at Youth Pride, Inc. and at Times² Academy, where she served as the Community Assistant. Through her Practicum course, Jamie started the Math and Literacy Program at Times² Academy, which is now in its second successful year. Jamie also has service experience outside of Rhode Island , both through an alternative break in New Orleans and through an internship with Habitat for Humanity in Pennsylvania .

She is an active member of both the PC community and the Providence Community. She is a student representative for the college’s Standing Committee on Service through which she worked on planning Community Clean-ups and helped generate ideas for making service opportunities more accessible to PC students. Jamie is responsible for initiating the Public and Community Service Studies Major/Minor Mentorship Program which launched in 2008--a program that links junior and senior mentors with freshman and sophomore mentees. In Spring 2009, she was the student representative on the Hall of Heroes committee that decided which local and global service heroes would be inducted into the Feinstein Institute Hall of Heroes for this year. Jamie also represented the Feinstein Institute at a conference on service-learning in teacher education in Galway , Ireland in June 2009. She currently works in the Feinstein Institute office as the service-learning assistant.

In addition to her work in Feinstein, Jamie also is an exec board member of student clubs, and an Orientation Leader. She has participated in the Freshman Building Bridges Service Day planning committee and will be assisting with a service site as an OL.