Season of Sharing: Unpaid internship nearly triggers foreclosure for aspiring child care worker

Dec. 22--Sara Shaffer nearly lost her house in her quest to get her bachelor's degree.

Over the summer, the 25-year old mother of three was finishing up an early childhood education bachelor's program through the State College of Florida. The final hurdle: a 15-week, 375-hour internship with no pay except for a stipend once she had completed all the hours.

Requirements for unpaid or low-paying internships are common in education degree programs, with aspiring teachers living on ramen and taking out loans as they student-teach. But Shaffer and her husband Bryan had a mortgage to pay and three kids to feed, and the internship would cost her thousands of dollars in lost income.

"We weren't going to be able to pay our bills or anything," she said.

Thanks to $1,000 in Season of Sharing funds, the Shaffers didn't go into foreclosure.

For 19 years, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County has partnered with the Sarasota Herald Tribune to raise money for Season of Sharing. The funds go toward a bevy of agencies working with people like Shaffer who are in danger of losing their home and need a small remedy.

The 2019 campaign has raised more than $1.2 million so far, going to 3,000 families in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto, according to the Community Foundation Vice President for Marketing and Communications Mischa Kirby.

Shaffer's case was like others Yesenia Morales Colon had seen before. Morales Colon is the family advocate at Children First, a nonprofit child care center where Shaffer has worked for the last seven years. Morales Colon said aspiring child care workers often go into debt or have to take on second jobs just to get their degree.

"That is very common in our field," she said.

But Shaffer's situation stood out. Unlike some of the families seeking help from Children First, Bryan and Sara had already cut out unneeded expenses, and Sara had taken a second job, taking care of toddlers during the day and then flipping burgers at McDonald's until 1 in the morning.

"It was a fun couple of months," Shaffer said, laughing. "It was interesting."

Even that wasn't enough, when combined with Bryan's income installing countertops, and the family of five was in danger of losing the home they had bought just two years earlier.

The relatively small donation from Season of Sharing was huge to the Shaffers, enabling them to pay their mortgage and hold them over until her internship ended.

"They made it so we were able to have our house," Shaffer said. "It's a nice little house. It fits our family."

Not only did they avoid foreclosure, but Shaffer completed her degree and graduated with her bachelor's in early childhood education last week. She is now pursuing her master's degree with University of North Florida in educational leadership, and she hopes to eventually move into an administrative position either with a school district or at Children First.

Kirby said stories like the Shaffers' are why Season of Sharing is so vital.

"Some of the requests are small but that makes a really big difference. A thousand dollars can make a huge difference in someone's life."

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