Written by: Derek Voigt, Class of 2022, Economics & Political Science Major

When I peered at my calendar the other day, I was shocked to realize that I am at the half-way point of my summer internship with The HomeQuest Group as a part of the Skandalaris Startup Internship Program. The HomeQuest Group is a real estate investing company dedicated to combating homelessness in the St. Louis area through creative entrepreneurial solutions. Although I cannot condense all that I have gained from the unique opportunity into this brief article, I wanted to take a moment and share my biggest take-away from my internship experience thus far (accented by a colorful meteorological analogy of course). 

Anyone who has visited or spent any time in the Midwest hastily realizes that the weather in these parts commonly resembles Alice’s adventures through Wonderland: a tea-kettle-concoction of whimsy and madness boiled into one unpredictable journey. It’s not unusual for a casual dusting of morning snow to give way to sweltering summer temps by mid-day followed by 30-mph gusts to blow the shutters closed at night. Now how is this region-specific climatological craziness related to my skills-building seasonal employment? Well, working for a social entrepreneurship venture is a lot like the Midwest weather—the atmosphere is always changing, and you never know what the day may bring. 

Whether toiling at a startup company or small business, employees must be prepared to don a plethora of caps, helmets, and bonnets as the need arises. In the last five weeks, my fellow intern and I have played the role of PR representative, management consultant, marketing director, project manager, software developer (one skill with which I had ZERO prior experience), quantitative analyst, and emergency shelter monitor, just to mention a few. Unlike more established firms, early-stage social entrepreneurship ventures cannot include a vast enough pool of staff members for each individual to specialize in a singular department. Although I was initially onboarded to fill a business development role, I was forced to adapt in extemporaneous fashion to the regularly morphing weather scape—all the while, developing applicable professional skills.

Hailing the meteorology puns to the side for a moment, The HomeQuest Group recently completed several rounds of seed-funding applications to finance an online tool to assist service providers and nonprofit organizations in finding housing options for individuals experiencing homelessness. My fellow intern and I released a hefty sigh of relief (remotely, of course, as to be fully COVID-conscious) when we added the final detail to pitch deck, and the team could, at last, click the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel “Submit Application” button. However, in the words of future U.S. President Rihanna, the work was not done yet. The hemisphere is heating up at The HomeQuest Group as we transition from spring into summer. The team is busy constructing a comprehensive marketing campaign to boost the supply of affordable housing options in the greater St. Louis region. 

Although I prefer to keep the mood light (much like areas dominated by low air pressure), my internship experience has exposed me to the glaring issue of homelessness in America, which many have become conditioned to blatantly ignore when hustling down a busy urban sidewalk. Creative solutions, such as those concocted by the dedicated staff at The HomeQuest Group, are the first phase in triggering social change. Take a moment to think about what ideas you could add to the mix…

…but don’t forget to bring an umbrella just in case: you can never predict that wacky Midwest weather.