On the Job: Grace Heller, BS ’26

Political science and economics major Grace Heller, BS ’26, is spending seven weeks of her summer working at HIAS Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization that works with immigrants and refugees to develop financial literacy skills. From the nonprofit’s office on Broad Street, Heller is helping people in the heart of Philadelphia take the next steps toward their financial goals. 

The Role:

Social Services Intern, HIAS Pennsylvania

Describe your internship in three words:

Rewarding, insightful, challenging

The Day-to-Day:

I work specifically in the Individual Development Account (IDA) program, where our goal is to help immigrants achieve a financial goal — either saving for a car, a house or their education. A lot of my job is client outreach, so I’m checking in on them to see how they’re doing with their training, and sometimes administering that training. The other facet is performing surveys about the skills that they have acquired and how they’ll use them outside of the program.

Go-to snack or drink that gets you through the day:

Always hot tea! I bring my thermos from home and it lasts me all day.

My “I nailed it” moment:

Two clients of mine were both working really hard to get their driver’s licenses and save up to buy cars, and after a lot of difficult factors coming up for both of them, they were able to buy cars using the funds saved in the program.

Favorite part of your role:

Developing a relationship with clients. Knowing that you have their trust can be really special, as is having them feel comfortable coming to you in a moment of confusion. More than that, though, seeing them accomplish their goals is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. When they reach the finish line of their goals, they often say that this is their dream and they didn’t think they’d be able to accomplish it, and I love seeing them feel so empowered.

Tips for the next intern:

Be patient and be resilient. Aside from the rewarding moments, there are really hard moments and clients that don’t always make it to the finish line, and you have to be able to hold people accountable, which is a difficult but necessary part of the job. You just have to remember that those moments make the victories even sweeter.