The Detroit Housing Commission (DHC) is Detroit’s local public housing authority. DHC is a public agency whose mission is to effectively and efficiently develop, manage, and preserve quality affordable housing. Learn more at dhcmi.org.

Common Elements

• Each student will have one core, discrete project for one semester, with the opportunity to complete more tasks as available from their supervisor.
• Each student will have one dedicated DHC staff member with whom the student can speak with at least once per week.
• Interns will have one cohort-wide meeting once a month to debrief and identify opportunities for the agency to improve. The DHC facilitator would step out for a few minutes to let the interns be open with each other before reentering.
• The intern will have an interim interview to cover project progress and hear ideas
• The intern will produce a final project-specific deliverable as well a memo reflecting on their experience with the agency and how it can function better.
• DHC and the intern will have an exit survey/interview to gather details on how DHC can become a better agency and improve the internship experience.

Requirements

• Undergraduate or graduate students
• Computer with webcam, microphone, and high-speed internet access
• Zoom account and Microsoft Office subscription

To apply

• Send a cover letter and resume to Patrick Braga (Development Project Manager, BragaP@dhcmi.org) by November 30, 2020

Eight Internship Positions

1. Web design internship
   • Deliverable: New and more attractive agency website, including instructions for how DHC staff can update and edit content
   • Desired experience: Coursework in information science, computer science, or other demonstrated experience in web design
2. – 4. (Three interns) Business processes internships: Voucher Operations, Procurement, and Utility Billing Processes
   • Deliverable: Business and operations/process analysis and plan to streamline the section 8 housing voucher program and DHC’s procurement processes. For utility billing, the goal is to create a schedule, process diagram, or system of checklists for finance department staff to streamline utility account lookup and payment, which will support DHC’s transition to digital bill payments.
   • Desired experience and interests: Business administration, operations management, government, public policy, sociology, social work; for the utility billing: accounting, business administration

• Affordable housing development internship
  • Deliverable: The intern will collaborate with DHC staff to identify and pitch a potential development project in Detroit that DHC could pursue. The intern will learn and apply principles of affordable and low-income housing development and finance, property acquisition, site planning and urban design, and local and federal programs that subsidize housing units.
  • Desired experience and interests: Urban planning, real estate, government, architecture, public policy, sociology, social work, and other relevant social sciences or design disciplines

• Asset management and business systems internship
  • Deliverable: Business and operations/process analysis and plan for asset management processes, such as:
    • tenant selection and intake,
    • work order processes and maintenance delivery,
    • preventive maintenance and emergency work orders,
    • rent collection processing,
    • eviction prevention, and
    • other operating procedures for maintenance and management, with a focus on residents’ social concerns.
  • Desired experience and interests: business or public administration, public policy, real estate, sociology, social work, operations management/engineering

• Communications/Public Relations internship
  • Deliverables: Branding, marketing, and public relations analysis and strategy; document templates for internal and external reports
  • Desired experience and interests: Marketing, graphic design, business administration, communications

• Organizational behavior and management internship
  • Deliverable: Strategy for agency-wide goal alignment, internal communication, and operational cohesiveness, propose strategies to implement/pilot/try out for different departments to become more aligned
  • Desired experience and interests: Business administration, operations management/engineering, industrial organization, human resources, government, public policy, sociology, social work