Return to Earn intern Aiden Wheelihan giving a food security presentation in 2025, Ruby Hernandez and a scene from the Capac Fiesta and one of the ICAR maps made by intern Lucia Galdes.
Four County Community Foundation’s Return to Earn program is marking another successful year, having helped three local students gain valuable work experience.
Lucia Galdes, earned her bachelor's degree this spring from Oakland University, and quickly started utilizing her minor in Geographic Information System (GIS) to start making maps for the Hispanic Service Center.
Aiden Wheelihan, a returning intern, has spent his summer working with the Michigan Downtown Association where he’s completed several technical and research projects. He’s currently a student at Oakland University where he’s a political science major with a minor in history.
Ruby Hernandez, also returning for a second time to the Return to Earn roster, worked with the village of Capac on marketing and special events and helped launch the Capac Fiesta in August.
Map making has comprised most of Lucia’s time with the Hispanic Service Center. Earlier this year, the Imlay City-based service agency helped launch a regional transportation service, Imlay City Area Rides (ICAR) in partnership with Four County Community Foundation.
“I’ve made maps that are being used by ICAR drivers and for flyers for the program,” Lucia said.
“I’m also making an interactive map for potential riders to estimate their fare prices.”
Lucia feels her internship has benefited her in many ways, from receiving positive feedback from the people she’s helping to broadening her horizons on new topics and systems.
“I actually really like doing GIS in this context—helping people and making things more accessible for them. This internship has led me to consider even more career options in the future,” she said.
Aiden’s focus has been on modernizing the systems the Michigan Downtown Association uses to make it easier for users to submit various forms. He also analyzed survey results submitted by webinar attendees and researched the effects that tax increment financing (TIF) has on job creation, investment in infrastructure and more.
Aiden said he’s appreciated the chance to hone a wide range of skills this summer and feels it’s reinforced his career plans to become a lawyer and eventually take over his mom’s Capac-based practice, Wheelihan Law, PLLC.
“I’ve seen how community engagement and involvement is worth investing time in my practice,” Aiden said.
Village of Capac Manager Travis Youatt credited Ruby for making it possible for them to host their first ever Capac Fiesta that featured live music, authentic food, a salsa making contest and kid-centered activities.
“We had a lot of people attend,” Youatt said. “The Fiesta is going to be a staple for our community for years to come.”
Ruby has since secured a marketing and event coordinator position with the City of Rochester Hills.
In 2022, 4CCF’s Executive Director Kathy Dickens saw the need to help recent high school graduates make potential career connections in or near their hometowns and, with the help of generous donors, launched the Return to Earn Internship program. The talent retention initiative facilitates quality, paid summer internships for college students. In addition to helping connect interns and participating businesses, 4CCF also supplies up to 50 percent of the interns’ salary.
Donors supporting Return to Earn include Robert and Rhea Corrion Endowment Fund and the DTE Energy Foundation.
For more information about the Return to Earn internship program, including those students and businesses interested in participating in the 2027 session, contact Kathy Dickens at (810) 798-0909 or kdickens@4ccf.org