Amanda the Panda Helps ISU Interns Become Better Listeners

A West Des Moines nonprofit featuring a cuddly, safe panda as its mascot has been a fertile training ground for Iowa State University students and alumni with the rare talent of working with families who have lost a loved one.

“When somebody close to you has died, that’s a very vulnerable place that you’re in,” said Carmen Elliott, a 2009 Iowa State graduate in child, adult, and family services. “Your whole world is shattered. The fact that these families allow us to come into that space and walk along with them in that journey is very sacred to us.”

Amanda the Panda provides support to nearly 1,000 grieving families across Iowa each year. Services include support groups, family nights, school visits, holiday support, day camps, and weekend grief retreats. Workers and volunteers go into communities across the state to help provide hope and healing.

Elliott’s 2009 internship at Amanda the Panda led to a full-time job there as a program and volunteer coordinator. 

“I learned so many things during my internship -- probably the biggest thing related to grief is just that companioning,” said Elliott, of Ames. “Amanda the Panda really gave me an opportunity to use my skills as a listener and as an impactful listener. That wasn’t something that I had experienced in very many other places.”

Internship Leads to a Job

Elliott learned about Amanda the Panda when a speaker came to talk with her death and dying class at Iowa State. As an intern there, she said workers never treated her like a gofer, but as another employee. She helped to facilitate sessions with grieving teens and adults, counseled 8-year-olds at a camp, and sent thank-you letters to donors.

“Being with people who are grieving is a space that I’m very comfortable in and it’s a skill that very few people have,” she said. “Knowing that I had that ability really kind of thrust me into this position, into this whole field.”

After her internship, Elliott went on to graduate school in Maryland, then worked at a hospice in Illinois. But she still hoped to return to Amanda the Panda someday. That opportunity came in February.

“It’s always been kind of a dream that I would come back at some point,” she said. “Coming back here, I wanted to work specifically with grieving families. With hospice, I got to do a lot of that. But Amanda the Panda is so much more intimate.” 

A Good Fit for One Student’s Personal Story 

The nonprofit continues to help Iowa State students who want a career in human services. 

Amanda Pietig and Kenidy Eckerman both interned at Amanda the Panda this past summer, before graduating from Iowa State with degrees in child, adult, and family services. For Pietig, the internship had special meaning. Her sister died six years ago.

“My ultimate dream is to be a grief counselor,” said Pietig, of Carroll. “I want to help teens, adults and families who have gone through something I’ve gone through.”   

Pietig started her internship in January 2013. It was her first experience at a nonprofit. She worked on programming, participated in camps, and organized “cheer boxes” to help 160 families through the holidays. She also sat in on intakes, when grieving families first came in to Amanda the Panda.

“I was able to see how you approach a family and how you don’t overwhelm them, and how you make them feel comfortable,” she said. “You see their faces when they first walk in. You can tell they’re very reserved and hesitant about being here. But after we give the tour and share tidbits about our own personal lives, like I would share examples of my sister, instantly, their guards would go down.”

Pietig has since graduated and is now a resident adviser working with newborns to 8-year-olds in the crisis nursery of Youth Emergency Services & Shelter in Des Moines. She said what she learned during her internship at Amanda the Panda serves her well in her new full-time job.

Developing Confidence, People Skills 

Eckerman, who’s also from Carroll, worked as a co-counselor for kindergarteners during her time at Amanda the Panda.

“I got a lot of confidence out of it,” she said. “You had to lead your own group. It was a topic that not everybody was open about. So getting 5-year-olds to talk about something like that was very tricky. It taught me that they will, you just have to be patient and listen to them.”

Eckerman said her internship at Amanda the Panda took her teachings at Iowa State -- including how to communicate with a child, and what to look for when talking to someone in grief -- and put them into practice.

“I’ve learned a lot of people skills here that I think will help me in anything I do,” she said.

The internships at Amanda the Panda were unpaid, but students earned nine academic credits. They were required to work 360 hours.

Elliott said she understands the value of paid internships, but explained that the nonprofit has only three full-time and one part-time staff member. While many nonprofits aim to have 60 percent of their budgets go to programming rather than office space, salary, and benefits, Amanda the Panda strives to make that 75 percent.

“Paying interns would take away from the money that we’re able to give to families,” Elliott said. “Quite frankly, we wouldn’t be able to have interns if that was the way that it turned. We wouldn’t be able to serve as many families because of it. Which is sad, because our interns definitely deserve to be paid. They work very, very hard.”