Greenfield brings in eight young adults for its new internship program.

Eight young adults started their official first day of their internship on Tuesday, Aug. 4 with the City of Greenfield, assisting the city across multiple departments through the city’s internship program.

The program is funded through a grant by the California Volunteers-Youth Service Corps. The city’s internship program began in 2023 and including the new cohort, has served a total of 65 young adults.

“We realized that the young adults in our community needed support to bridge that experience gap and now in 2026 we have an intern in every single department,” says Fabiola Lopez, the city’s community engagement manager.

These departments include public works, the police department, finance, community engagement, information technology, economic and community development, the recreation department and community science workshop.

Fifty-one people applied, 30 were interviewed and the eight interns were chosen based on availability for five months, which is a new addition than the original internship duration of three months.

"Feedback from past interns indicated they would benefit from an extended time period. Depending on the department, it can take several months to provide thorough training," Lopez says. "By the time some interns were more comfortable in their role it was over. Extending the program to five months benefits both the interns and the departments by allowing more time for training."

Intern Jazmin Cruz, 19, assists the community engagement department, commutes and is a student at Monterey Peninsula College.

“I’m freshly out of high school and I’m hoping to get all the experience I can for future jobs,” Cruz says.

Francisco Avila, 23, who recently graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, is interning in the economic and community development department and has had a packed first two days.

“On my first day I went out to one of the new construction sites in town, looked at the inspections and got familiar with building permits and then on my second day I looked at PDF files for requirements of building fences and making sure those files are up to date.”

Lopez adds that they make sure to also check in on past interns and many have since been hired to work for the city full-time, including Aaron Chavez, the administrative assistant to the city manager.

Chavez was an intern in 2024 and says, “I didn’t think I would stay in Greenfield because opportunity is limited. You want to get your foot through the door, but sometimes it's hard and here I am two years later and I’m very appreciative of the opportunity and the folks here in the city.”

The interns earn $19-20 per hour, and they work 32-40 hours per week.

An internship reunion including past cohorts will take place on the evening of Friday, Aug. 14 at City Hall.