Since its inception in 2008, the annual Human Development and Family Science (HDFS) Internship and Professional Day has served over 4,000 of our HDFS undergraduate students, along with other undergraduates within the College of Human Sciences and across the University, and we have seen hundreds of university, local and regional program representatives. At this event, students are provided with an exclusive venue to learn about careers in Human Development and Family Science and to discover opportunities for practicum, service-learning and full-time internship positions. Through conversations with our community representatives, students also have occasion to practice their professional communication skills.
If you would like to attend and represent your agency at our event, please contact Adam Greer for more information.
For interested students, here is a list of the agencies, organizations and programs that were represented at our most recent event in Fall of 2026:
- The mission of A Quiet Place Counseling is to provide compassionate, wholehearted mental health and wellness services rooted in clinical expertise and genuine human connection. We are committed to creating a space where every client feels seen, heard, and deeply cared for while gaining the support and tools to live with greater resilience, balance, and purpose.
Alabama Council on Human Relations
- The goal of ACHR is the promotion and implementation of programs that improve economic conditions, education, and racial relationships for all people, resulting in an increased self-sufficiency and overall improvement in their quality of life.
Alabama Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education Initiative
- The AHMREI Project is an applied research project that implements relationship education programs with adult couples and evaluates program effectiveness. The AHMREI project welcomes undergraduates interested in undergraduate research assistantships or practicum. Opportunities include collecting, entering, and managing data, as well as recruiting for and observing classes in the community. Internships are also available that offer the full experience of community-based relationship programs and research methods.
- Alabama Rural Ministry (ARM) runs a summer day camp for kids in Tuskegee, Alabama, creating a fun, safe space where children can learn, play, and grow. The camp focuses on building strong relationships and supporting kids socially, academically, and spiritually. ARM also works across rural East Alabama, helping families with home repair projects like fixing roofs, building wheelchair ramps, and making sure homes are warm, safe, and dry. Along the way, we take time to connect with homeowners and listen to their stories. ARM’s mission is about loving neighbors, serving communities, and building lasting relationships, whether through children’s programs or hands-on repair work.
- We offer client-focused, compassionate therapy services to promote emotional wellness and personal growth. We specialize in individual therapy, couples counseling, trauma recovery, anxiety and depression treatment, and life transitions support.
- The mission of the Auburn University Marriage and Family Therapy Program is to enhance human well-being and quality of life worldwide through the training of multi-culturally informed, ethically competent marriage and family therapists. Graduates will be prepared to provide relational/systemically based therapy to individuals, couples, and families and produce evidence of their effectiveness. Graduates will gain clinical, research, and scholarship experiences to prepare for admission to a doctoral program of their choosing.
- We connect individuals resources, information and training regarding autism spectrum disorder
- Auburn Day School provides high-quality early childhood education through concept-based STEM curriculum and hands-on, immersive instruction. We serve ages 1-5 during the academic year and ages 1-9 during the summers. With a core belief in collective teacher efficacy, a 5:1 student teacher ratio and a team of experts in the field, Auburn Day School stays on the cutting edge of educational innovation. To learn more about joining the ADS team, visit bit.ly/teachatADS. We look forward to meeting you!
Auburn University Early Learning Center
- The Auburn University Early Learning Center is a laboratory preschool serving children ages 2-5 in a play-based setting in the heart of Auburn's campus. We take interns and practicum students from all.
Auburn University-Family Child Care Partnerships
- The mission of Family Child Care Partnerships (FCCP) is to partner with Alabama’s Family Child Care Providers to strengthen quality services, family engagement, nurturing early learning environments for children’s growth and development through resources, training, professional development, and support for childcare educators.
- Auburn Sleep is an interdisciplinary group of faculty, clinicians, and students who are interested in studying sleep and promoting sleep in the community. We offer lectures on campus and have opportunity for students to talk with organizations on campus about sleep.
Auburn Therapy and Learning Center
- Welcome to Auburn Therapy and Learning Center. Our mission is to empower and encourage functional daily living skills for all ages, specifically focusing on providing the highest quality treatment to improve those skills pertaining to communication, fine motor skills, sensory integration, and feeding difficulties. Our clinicians are fully licensed and trained to provide quality treatment in Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Feeding Therapy.
- Empowering pregnant and parenting students at Auburn to be able to have their education and their baby but providing housing, support, and community.
- BigHouse is a non-profit ministry in East Alabama that meets the needs and improves the quality of life for children in foster care. Our mission is to connect the needs of foster families with the generosity of the community through the love of Jesus Christ. We aim to impact the lives of children in foster care in a positive way through meeting their needs and serving their foster families. We are passionate about advocating for these families and educating the community on the needs of children in the foster care system.
Cary Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies
- The Cary Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies inspires its participants to discover their purpose through learning, giving, and growing, while enriching lives and strengthening communities and society. Our programs focus on financial wellness, philanthropic engagement, and nonprofit capacity building education, empowering all generations to leave an enduring legacy.
- CCRC promotes strong families through the provision of support services and education for Child Care Providers, Parents, Employers, and the Community.
- Children’s Harbor’s mission is to strengthen families of seriously ill children through refuge, respite and resources. These unique, no-cost services are offered at both “The Harbor” Family Center located at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, and at the Lake Martin retreat facility in Alexander City. Children’s Harbor has been in service since 1989.
- Children's of Alabama is the largest freestanding pediatric healthcare facility in the state. It serves to strive all of the children across the Southeast in providing quality, individualized care. Children's of Alabama fosters an environment of research, education, advocacy, and family centered care. As child life specialist, our role is to decrease the stress and anxiety of patients and families in the hospital environment.
- The Children’s Trust Fund Prevention Program Evaluation Project explores how community-based programs and services successfully support the development of protective factors while strengthening children and families in Alabama. As a member of our research team, you will enhance your knowledge of social science research that can be applied to coursework. Develop database management skills while working with statistical software. You will also be able to network and build relationships with peers, graduate students, and faculty in HDFS.
- In our increasingly globalized society, it is critical for Auburn University graduates to enter the workplace with a full appreciation and understanding of the differing values and customs of world cultures; how the world’s markets, goods, and services are interconnected; how hunger and food insecurity are addressed; and how environmental sustainability issues affect quality of life worldwide. CHSglobal seeks to provide international study abroad and internship opportunities that enhance student's education, both personally and professionally.
- We believe everyone should have access to the resources and caring support necessary to navigate life's challenges. We develop pathways that educate, equip, and empower individuals to thrive.
- YFC reaches young people everywhere, working together with the local church and other like-minded partners to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus who lead by their godliness in lifestyle, devotion to the Word of God and prayer, passion for sharing the love of Christ, and commitment to social involvement.
Governor’s Office of Volunteer Service
- The Governor’s Office of Volunteer Services works to increase an ethic of service and volunteerism in the State of Alabama, strengthen the capacity of Alabama’s faith and community-based organizations, and promote collaboration among individuals and organizations striving to meet some of the greatest needs in our state, including education, health care, substance abuse, homelessness, and maintaining a healthy environment. As lead agency for Volunteer and Donations Management (as written in the State's Emergency Operations Plan) and State Voluntary Agency Liaison (VAL) to faith-based and voluntary agencies, the Governor's Office of Volunteer Services coordinates volunteer response and recovery efforts for survivors by leading in the management of spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers and large unsolicited donations, coordinating the role of voluntary organizations active in disaster (VOAD), helping local communities mobilize resources and develop long term recovery committees, and assisting communities to efficiently and effectively recover from disasters.
- The Helping Families Initiative works to assist children and their families by identifying and connecting them to the resources necessary to improve their child’s academic success, emotional well-being, and family stability. Through improvements in these specific areas HFI seeks to decrease the child’s risk of substance abuse, suspensions, juvenile arrests, and student dropouts.
- Home Instead offers a full range of home care services—from a few hours of help each week to around-the-clock support.
- homeRN provides consistent, convenient, comprehensive care for clients in the comfort of their homes. Our private-pay concierge services include caregiving, nursing, IV therapy, urgent care, and vitamin injections, providing expert medical and wellness support wherever you are.
- Hope Dealers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting youth and families impacted by violence, incarceration, and systemic inequality. Through mentorship, advocacy, education, the arts, and community-based programming, we work to promote healing, expand opportunity, and advance justice reform. Our mission is to help individuals rewrite their stories by addressing the root causes of harm and creating pathways toward resilience, hope, and lasting change.
- Lighthouse Family Retreat is a faith-based non-profit that exists to strengthen every family impacted by childhood cancer. We host restorative retreats and develop helpful resources so that families and their support systems can find hope in God and help in their fight.
- The mission of Military REACH is two-fold: to make research accessible and practical. We focus on translating research about military families into easy-to-understand, useful resources. These products are then shared with military families, direct service professionals (e.g., counselors), and those who support military families (e.g., policymakers). Students who join the Military REACH lab contribute to this mission while gaining valuable real-world experience. Through their involvement in research translation and outreach, students build professional skills all while collaborating within our multidisciplinary team.
Novaturient Inc
- A 501C(3) organization providing children with the skills and resources necessary to begin healing childhood trauma early in life
- We strive to show the love of Jesus to children and their families in our community, and to provide a Christ-centered home environment in which they can grow spiritually, academically, and socially. We serve the Ridgecrest community in Auburn. Our operations include an after-school program for roughly 80 Kindergarten through 12th grade students during the school year, and we have weekly bible studies, discipleship opportunities, and special events for our students and families.
- Opelika City Schools Mission Statement: Educate Every Child Every day. Opelika City Schools will inspire and empower all students in a safe, nurturing environment through a rigorous educational experience which will prepare them for a life that is both meaningful and successful. The Opelika City Schools Mental Health Services Coordinator provides support for students and coordinates services in collaboration with the school counselors.
- Parenting extra-ordinary kids is hard when you can't find the help you really need, so we provide counseling, occupational therapy and speech therapy services, Executive Function coaching, education, resource connections, and other therapies to restore a sense of peace for daily living. Our multidisciplinary practice serves the needs of parents, children, teens/adolescents, and young adults in the Auburn, Opelika, Notasulga, Valley, Smiths Station, Beauregard, and all of Lee County, Alabama.
- Prescott House Child Advocacy Center’s mission is to restore hope and reduce trauma to child victims of abuse by providing intervention services and support as well as coordinating investigation services and implementing community-based prevention. To understand what a child advocacy center is, you must understand what children face without one. Without a child advocacy center, a child and his or her family are left to navigate the system on their own. By minimizing the trauma of recounting their abuse, Prescott House is the place where healing begins and hope is restored one child and family at a time.
- Project Uplift is a one-to-one mentoring program for school-age children in Lee County, AL, with two core goals: preventing juvenile delinquency and building self-esteem. We pair children ages 5–12 with positive adult role models—many of them Auburn University students—who provide encouragement, guidance, and friendship.
- The Public and One Health (PAOH) undergraduate degree program in the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine stands out as a unique public health program that utilizes One Health as its guiding principle. This holistic approach prepares graduates of the program to proactively devise and implement solutions to pressing local and global health issues. PAOH offers a major, double major, and minor options to all Auburn students.
Quiet Storm Outreach Group Inc
- Quiet Storm Outreach Group Inc is dedicated to serving the less fortunate and vulnerable populations of Montgomery and surrounding communities by providing essential resources, advocacy, and compassionate Outreach. We strive to meet immediate needs hygiene necessities, food water and Emergency support while fostering hope, dignity, and pathways towards stability. Through partnerships, education and community engagement, our mission is to make a lasting difference in the lives of those we serve and to inspire collective action that uplifts the entire community.
Rape Counselors of East Alabama
- It is our goal to reduce the physical and psychological aspects associated with the trauma of sexual assault and to enhance the treatment and recovery processes. RCEA empowers people through healing and social change to eliminate all forms of sexual violence. We are committed to transforming lives by providing services and education to meet the needs of our diverse community.
Smith Group Behavioral Counseling
- Smith Group Behavioral Consulting (SGBC) is a group of caring people that seek to achieve significant improvements in the lives of those we serve. SGBC started in 2011 from a passion to serve children and families struggling with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other disabilities that make learning difficult and life more challenging. We currently provide ABA in our Auburn clinic and in homes within a reasonable drive. We are a team comprised of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA), and Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT). The goal of SGBC is to make high-quality, ABA services readily available across the state of Alabama.
- Storybook Farm connects children experiencing physical, cognitive, social, or mental health challenges with the restorative power of animals. It is our passionate belief that animals can change a child’s life through their trust, unconditional love, and respect. Our six outdoor programs fuel confidence and accomplishment while reintroducing a sense of normalcy back into the lives of children impacted by adversity.
- Welcome to The Collective Therapy Center, where we advocate for a collective approach to therapy. The Collective Therapy Center is a private therapy practice offering counseling services to children, teens, young adults, and adults. We have locations in Birmingham and Auburn with plans to open another office this fall serving north Alabama. Our philosophy emphasizes the significance of collaborative engagement, involving not only the client but also their caregivers and support systems. The mission of The Collective Therapy Center is to establish a secure and inviting environment that fosters the expression of individual experiences through diverse mediums. At The Collective Therapy Center, we employ the transformative power of art, play, and language to articulate emotions and facilitate healing. Our comprehensive range of services is tailored to meet clients at their unique developmental and emotional stages. We are dedicated to providing a professional and supportive atmosphere where individuals can embark on their therapeutic journey feeling confident and empowered.
Twin Cedars Child Advocacy Center
- We facilitate a forensic interview for victims of child abuse and offer free counseling for the child and non-offensive caregiver(s). We also provide advocacy for the child whenever they need us, and we walk with them all the way through court proceedings.
Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center
- Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center, Inc. (WRC) is a nonprofit community rehabilitation program based in Dothan, Alabama. WRC provides vocational rehabilitation, employment, training, transportation, and support services to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment throughout the Wiregrass region. The organization also operates federal AbilityOne contracts that create meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with significant disabilities.
- Women's Hope is a Christian, 501(c)(3), non-profit organization devoted to serving the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of women, men and families facing unplanned pregnancies. We strive to share the love and grace of the Lord with every one of our clients and provide opportunities for them to hear the Gospel. We support clients from all walks of life, with diverse backgrounds, through their situations with professional, compassionate care. Our free services include, but are not limited to, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, full prenatal exams and care through the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, STD testing and treatment for all positive pregnancy test clients, parenting classes, material and community resources, Moms' Support Group with a Registered Nurse/Lactation Specialist, Embrace Grace program for single, pregnant moms, Fatherhood University, Life Skills Classes, past abortion counseling, and a licensed adoption agency called Hope Adoptions.
- Worthy Squared advocates for adult and minor females who have been exploited through commercial sex, or sex trafficking, so they may reclaim their dignity and self-worth. Worthy2 believes that to eradicate sex trafficking, it is crucial to prevent it from happening in the first place. Through education and awareness training it is possible to STOP the GROOMING, and eventual sexual exploitation, of our children and youth. Our team compassionately guides and mentors survivors as they navigate exiting a life of exploitation and begin a new life of renewal and restoration.
The following agencies are not planning on attending this year, but consistently offer opportunities for Auburn students:
Auburn Rural Health Initiative
- Auburn University Rural Health Initiative: Partnering with communities to increase access to high quality and affordable health and wellness care throughout rural Alabama.
- Asthma Camp Eagle is a free, spend-the-night camp that aims to empower and educate children and their families on living with Asthma while having fun.
Braveheart Center for Place and Purpose
- BraveHeart Center for Place and Purpose {BCPP} Center for Place and Purpose (BCPP) is a comprehensive post-high school health and wellness program that supports and enhances social skills, cognitive skills, self-esteem, creativity, and work skills for young adults with developmental disabilities facing moderate to severe life challenges.
- Our mission statement is "We create extraordinary environments that discover, develop, and deploy lifetime disciple-makers." We use the experience of a Christian sports camp to help grow and develop disciple-makers throughout the summer.
- Kesem as a national non-profit organization with its own chapter on Auburn's campus. We provide year-round support through and beyond a parent's cancer diagnosis.
- Our mission is to advance humane treatment and responsible ownership of companion animals, focusing on community education, animal sheltering and adoption, and alleviating animal suffering.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
- For over 100 years, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has depended on clinical and non-clinical employees to help make kids better today and healthier tomorrow. Consistently ranked as one of the leading pediatric healthcare systems in the country by U.S. News & World Report, Children’s is the only freestanding pediatric healthcare system in Georgia and one of the largest pediatric clinical care providers in the country. We’re also one of Atlanta’s leading employers, and have been recognized as one of the nation’s top places to work.
- Parks and Recreation, Therapeutic Programs and Special Olympics (all programs for people with special needs).
College Admissions Made Possible (CAMP)
- The mission of College Admissions Made Possible (CAMP) is to empower students at underserved schools by equipping them with the essential tools to gain access to the college or university (or career) of their choice.
- Curious about how environments like neighborhood and family “get under the skin and skull” to shape teen well-being? CONNECT Lab explores how adolescents’ brains and bodies connect to their social worlds—from broader contexts such as neighborhoods to everyday communication with others. Students will contribute to lab management, conduct literature reviews, collect neurophysiological data, and develop independent research projects. This is a unique opportunity to gain hands-on research training and help build a brand-new lab!
- Diskin & Durr Family Services’ mission is to support families in our community through empowerment and education in order to develop strong and healthy relationships with their children.
EMBRAHCE
- The EMBRAHCE Research lab focuses on understanding the psychological and relational experiences of Black Americans. Ongoing projects are focused on understanding how personal beliefs/schemas and racial experiences are related to psychological and relationship functioning.
- The Education to Accomplish Growth in Life Experiences for Success, or EAGLES, is a comprehensive transition program (CTP) for students with intellectual disabilities. The program provides a post-secondary education opportunity for students with intellectual disabilities to engage in a two or four-year campus experience to help students achieve their employment and independent living goals upon successful completion of the program.
- A nonprofit Christian organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for low-income, Hispanic children and families by developing and implementing programs that meet their needs in such critical areas as mental health, youth development, childcare, education, and advocacy.
- The Harris Early Learning Center is a state-of-the-art and NAEYC accredited preschool facility for over 200 children ranging in age from six weeks to five years of age. Each of the 16 classrooms is staffed with two full-time educators. Anchored in developmentally appropriate practice and research in early childhood education, children are provided rich opportunities to construct understanding and develop through play and thematic learning. The facility also maintains a research mission and is designed to maximize opportunities to conduct developmental research on children and their families. The Center is managed by Auburn University and the College of Human Sciences.
- An interdisciplinary program focused on advancing and applying knowledge about individuals and families in a changing world. Offers a Master of Science degree in Human Development and Family Science (HDFS), Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), and Child Life, and a Doctorate degree in HDFS.
- Lee County Youth Development Center Therapeutic Foster Care/Therapeutic Foster Care-Enhanced program provides foster homes for foster children whose placements meet the needs of intellectually disabled children or for children that have a serious mental health or medical/emotional need that would otherwise require a specialized out of state placement. LCYDC TFC/TFC-Enhanced Program serves children with special needs stemming from a variety of causes, conditions and diagnostic categories identified as emotional and/or behavioral disturbance; psychiatric diagnosis with associated behaviors, delinquency, developmental disorders, and/or medical needs; and described issues can be met through services delivered primarily by trained, professional therapeutic foster parents. LCYDC TFC is “A place of service…Offering hope to children and families…Strengthening communities.”
Lee County CASA & Keeping Family Connections
- The mission of Lee County CASA is to provide carefully screened, trained, and supervised volunteers to advocate for the best interest of children in dependency proceedings resulting in a safe and permanent home where the child can not only survive, but thrive. Keeping Family Connections: Providing supervised visitations between children and their non-custodial parents in a safe, neutral, and child-friendly environment.
- We are a child placing agency and gospel-based nonprofit that services vulnerable women, children, and families through a variety of services. We exist to equip the body of Christ to manifest the gospel to the vulnerable through pregnancy counseling, international and domestic adoption, family preservation, education, and counseling programs.
- We The Office of Sustainability exists to create an ethic, culture, & practice of sustainability at Auburn in service to improving lives, communities, and natural systems in Alabama and beyond. Our vision is one where Auburn University leads higher education in shaping the transformation to a sustainable.
- Due to the volume of calls received through the 911 system prompting law enforcement response being recognized as non- criminal in nature, it is recognized that a social service division staffed with individuals trained to address social service needs, to include, but not limited to, homelessness, indigence, mental illness, substance abuse, etc. is a vital part of the Opelika Police Department. One of the policies of the Opelika Police Department is to ensure that not only are the public safety needs of the community addressed, but also the social needs. This division was created, in part, to provide a link to community resources to decrease calls for service that could potentially delay officers’ responses to more emergent calls.
- Pathways is a shelter located in Downtown Birmingham for women and children experiencing homelessness. Our mission is to empower women and children on their paths out of homelessness through hospitality, housing, and hope. Our vision is to see Birmingham free of homelessness.
- We offer a residential program, in East Alabama, for women transitioning out of a correctional facility or rehabilitation program who desire to transform their lives and maintain recovery as thriving, contributing citizens.
- We provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare.
- Hospice Care for patients and their families. Pain and symptom management, treating on set illnesses during hospice benefit period, Patient and family support services, helping with the emotional aspect of end-of-life care.
The Alabama Youth Relationship Education Project (AYRE)
- Service learning with our project provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to implement school-based youth relationship education programs. We have also recently incorporated two additional curricula that touch on stress-reduction strategies and personal finance. During this experience we encourage our students to connect what they are learning in the classroom to civic engagement. We also have meetings to process the teaching experience and build professional development. A new aspect of this project is the University Consortium, which brings together “near-peer educators” from universities in the surrounding areas (AU, AUM, Tuskegee, ASU) to train and implement programming.
The Exceptional Foundation of East Alabama
- The Exceptional Foundation is a non profit organization that exists to serve adults with disabilities once they age out of the school system. We have 3 programs at EFEA for all ranges of need and work to provide joy, community and purpose for our friends through art, pottery, music, fields trips, social skills activities and more.
- The Mission of the United Way of Lee County is to increase the organized capacity of people to care for one another. One of the ways that we do this in our community is by generating and applying the necessary resources to meet the needs of the community, recognizing that meeting basic human needs should be the overriding consideration in all decisions.
- We are the HIV Clinic located in Opelika. We are a part of East Alabama Health.
- Village Friends is a nonprofit in Lee County, Alabama that helps older adults live independently, safely, and connected to their community. Through a network of trained volunteers, Village Friends provides transportation, home maintenance assistance, technology support, and opportunities for social connections ensuring that aging neighbors have the support they need to thrive.
