Solving Problems/Improving Leadership

I have been extremely disappointed in the leadership within TTF. My boss shows very little interest in what I am doing/does the bare minimum to help me. While this is extremely frustrating and has been a major issue throughout my internship so far, it has forced me to become a much better problem solver and adaptable. For example, I have still not been into the hospital yet. I realized that it may not happen at all this summer, so I confronted my boss and asked her if she thinks that is even still a possibility, asking if I could shadow or attend meetings with the hospital, anything she does that would give me any sort of exposure to what I was told I would be doing this summer. She gave me a very disappointing reply. She said yes, I would work with patients this summer, I just have to go out and find them. She also did not acknowledge my other suggestions of things I could participate in to get more experience.

I have also ran into major roadblocks in terms of reaching out to the community and spreading the word about TTF. It is really hard to spread the word about an organization that is not yet established in a hospital, while they have to be established in a hospital in order to do their work. I am really struggling on how to make this process smoother, and have offered help with anything that will further help the process of getting into a medical setting, to which I have gotten no response. I am essentially fundraising and making flyers/newsletters, which is not at all what I was told I would be doing. I understand it is difficult to start a chapter of a non-profit, and a lot of the work is done at the grassroots level. However, it is extremely frustrating to spend my days calling other restaurants to set up profit-shares and inquiring about advertisements to radio stations when this is not at all what I thought/was told I would be doing, and not nearly anywhere close to what I could, and should, be doing.

For the remainder of my internship I am going to try to make the most of what I have been given; whether that is continuing to search for support groups that will let us come speak to them or perfecting the flyers/newsletters I have been working on, I need to keep my head up. As for improving the leadership and this internship, I would not recommend there be an internship at all for the point at which TTF is at in establishing themselves in Richmond. Or, not emphasizing that the majority of the internship will be interacting with patients without having a relationship with ah hospital in the first place.