Collective Power Internship at ReproFund

Written by Elise, Summer Intern

My name is Elise and I spent my summer interning for the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire. Doing community work in my home state has been incredibly rewarding and has allowed me to grow as an activist and an organizer. Here are some of the projects I have been working on during my time at the ReproFund:

1. Tabling: I started my internship during June; throughout the month and into July, I tabled at three Pride events and three other events including Littleton’s First Friday series, a screening of the documentary, Preconceived , and Manchester’s Free Store run by the Mutual Aid Relief Fund (MARF). Tabling has increased my confidence and improved my outreach skills. Through these various events, I have been able to connect more with community members across the state and have meaningful conversations about reproductive freedom.
2. Plan B Restock: Through RFFNH’s Plan B distribution program, I helped to restock our distribution sites with free Plan B in Southern NH, the Lakes Region, and the North Country. Additionally, we gave out hundreds of free Plan B through our tabling events and gained new distribution partners!
3. Partnerships: One of my roles for this summer was to build new partnerships and maintain existing connections. I have been working with the North Country community to expand access to our free Plan B sites and get the word out about RFFNH as an organization. Additionally, I have been checking in with our southern New Hampshire connections and building a stronger relationship with them.
4. Patient Support: This summer, I was honored to have the opportunity to provide patient support for people seeking abortion care in NH. I drove a patient to their appointment and separately provided doula support for another patient. In doing so, I have developed a deeper connection with those seeking abortion care, and more broadly, the New Hampshire community. It is the patient support that I will remember and cherish most about my internship experience.
5. Summer Training Series: The RFFNH training series this summer, Liberation Foundations, was a five week training series that gave information about the different nuanced facets of reproductive justice. I co-lead a number of these trainings including Reproductive Justice 101, Ancestral Traditions: Abortion Doulas + Self-Managed Abortions, and Our Fates Are Tied: Reproductive Freedom & Queer Liberation. It has been a privilege to welcome and educate the wider community of folks who are seeking more information about reproductive issues.
6. Abortion Doula Training: My big project for this summer was to build and lead an in-person abortion doula training in August that is open to the community. Gathering information from past doula trainings that I have attended, I built as comprehensive of a training as I could with the resources available. The training is meant to lead into becoming a volunteer abortion doula for the ReproFund, a network which I am proudly a part of. Myself and the ReproFund team trained a new cohort of abortion doulas to build our doula network and grow our support capacity for patients.

Working at New Hampshire’s only statewide, grassroots abortion fund has given me a front-row seat as to what patients need and how hard the RFFNH staff works to provide for those needs. I encourage folks to consider donating to the ReproFund, and if possible, becoming a monthly donor. I have seen the work that RFFNH puts in to fill systemic gaps and how much they center patient needs. They are only able to do this through donations, which have dwindled since the fall of Roe. I also encourage folks to have more conversations about abortion, sex education, and reproductive inequities, in addition to supporting their local communities.