An estimated 34 million people are living with HIV or AIDS, with a large number of this population residing in Sub-Saharan Africa. In an effort to help battle this deadly disease, TWC’s LGBTQA Civic Engagement Project raised over $600 for the Whitman Walker Health’s AIDS Walk. The event took place at the Freedom Plaza on Saturday, October 27th.

One thing is for sure, students in the Local Green civic engagement project are not afraid to get their hands dirty!

On September 22nd, students went to Brier's Mill Run in Riverdale, Maryland to remove trash and debris that pollute the nearby streams. This project was arranged through the Anacostia Watershed Society, one of Local Green’s community partners.

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC) in partnership with the New York Life Foundation recognized its 2012 Higher Education Civic Engagement Awardees during a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

This fall TWC launched their new Domestic Violence Fall 2012 Civic Engagement Project in partnership with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), a highly-respected social change organization dedicated to creating an environment where violence against women no longer exists. As part of the advocacy component, students worked with NNEDV to support reauthorizing the Violence against Women Act (VAWA).

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC) welcomed nearly 500 interns to Washington, D.C. during their two-day fall orientation on August 30th and 31st at the Residential and Academic Facility (RAF). The first day kicked off with the interns being formally introduced to their TWC program advisors and participating in program activities such as a U.S. Capitol tour and National Portrait Gallery exhibit. TWC President Mike Smith visited with various programs to start meeting students.

This summer over 50 TWC students reached out to immigrants in the metropolitan Washington area tutoring young Ethiopians and Latinos, helping Latin American domestic violence victims obtain visas and volunteering at a Hispanic festival.

They were all participants of the Immigrant Rights Civic Engagement project. The education component included presentations by speakers from the Asian, Latino and African immigrant communities as well as an expert on immigration policy.

The last meeting of the Animal Welfare Civic Engagement Project featured Shakela Brown, community educator at the Washington Humane Society, and her German Shepherd, Ryder.

Summer 2012 interns were given the exclusive opportunity to attend a White House panel, hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement, that discussed policy and other initiatives regarding President Obama's Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) on sub-Saharan Africa.

47 students traveled to Richmond, Virginia to support veterans competing in the 32nd National Veterans Wheelchair Games. They are all participating in the Veterans Civic Engagement Project, led by Ann Reynolds.

Supporting Veterans at Wheelchair Games

Over 600 paralyzed veterans came from all over the country to compete in 17 different games including:

The Homelessness Civic Engagement Project welcomed the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) to TWC's Residential Academic Facility on July 9th. NCH discussed attacks on the homeless throughout the United States and encouraged students to support H.R. 3528, also known as the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, which would include attacks against the homeless as a hate crime.