Michigan's AmeriCorps Member Council - Posting #25

Greetings, this is Josh from the Together We Prepare AmeriCorps program.

As many of you know from my first post, I am a little awkward, maybe a tad long-winded, and at this point I wouldn't put it past you to think I am a little strange (after all who opens a blog post by taking self deprecating shots at themselves?). But alas, we're both in this together; I have to write this and, much to your chagrin, you're still reading.

Never you fret, I am not going to go into a long august bombastic narrative about A Safe Community Begins with You, which would just be rude. I am however, going to take the time to give you a long robust description of our newest program, Basic Aid Training for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.

A fellow AmeriCorps member and I have had the distinct privilege of creating and implementing another program that, when coupled with A Safe Community Begins with You, aims to provide the necessary skills requisite for independent living. This program mirrors the pedagogical concepts of A Safe Community Begins with You in that it is fundamentally interactive. Participants go through eight different stations; CPR, abdominal thrusts, slings, splints, minor cuts and wounds, kitchen safety, check/call/care, and finally first aid kit reviews. You may be wondering what “abdominal thrusts” are (as did I when I first heard this artless amalgamation of words)? Abdominal thrusts are the new Heimlich maneuver - much like periwinkle is the new salmon.

Onto the narrative portion – the great heartfelt touching story you have come to this blog to hear. Two weeks ago we ran our first class with our original focus group. We have grown very close with this group of students because we have interacted with them quite a bit through our first class as well as follow up lunches. Needless to say, both parties involved were quite excited about this class. As instructors we could not wait to see if all our efforts would pay off while the students were looking forward to a day outside of class with the added bonus of seeing us. For anonymities sake I am going to call one of the students “Jed.” As the class proceeded Jed became more and more interested in the material so much that during the splint exercise he was able help other students create a splint without any extra help. Jed is well above the chronological age of eighteen; however, he functions at the cogitative level of a second or third grader varying on the task at hand.

It was amazing to see him master a skill so readily to the point that he was able to not only reproduce the skill on command, but also instruct others how to master the skill.

Michigan's AmeriCorps Member Council - Posting #24

Hi – this is Rachel with Jumpstart! It’s hard to believe the end of our program year is already here! It has been a very eventful and exciting eight months. As the Site Manager of Jumpstart- U of M Dearborn & HFCC, I have had the privilege of working with 25 AmeriCorps members who have each dedicated 300 hours of time to this program over the course of two semesters. I have watched the team grow, struggle, laugh, and above all learn from not only each other, but their preschool partner child as well. We have seen tremendous growth in our young partner children, and have loved being a part of their lives.


The AmeriCorps members not only served hours in the classroom this year, but in the community as well. As part of their 300 hour commitment to the program, each member is required to serve 25 hours within the community. We completed projects that included painting the gym of one of our program partner schools, teaming up with United Way and Panera to pack food boxes, and also lending a hand at the Scholastic Book Fair. One of our greatest accomplishments as a team, however, was pairing up with many other AmeriCorps programs in Michigan on May 11th to dedicate a day of service in honor of AmeriCorps Week. After many months of planning, we were able to set up service events in Detroit, working with over 150 other AmeriCorps members and Gleaners Food Bank to serve America. As a team, we sorted boxes of food donations, checking the expiration date on each and every item! The members also bagged thousands of potatoes and worked on restoring a house near by. This was an amazing day of service, and a true testimony to the amount of work that can be accomplished with a dedicated group of members - especially AmeriCorps members!


The AmeriCorps members also tirelessly provided service in the classroom, completing over 6,700 hours this program year! As a language and literacy program we strive to prepare “at-risk” preschoolers for kindergarten, giving them valuable one-on-one time they may not receive at home. The AmeriCorps members prepared materials for session, making sure to incorporate new vocabulary words and concepts each week. They worked hard to make each session exciting for the preschoolers, ensuring a nurturing and strong learning environment for each child in our program. I am proud to have worked with such a devoted and enthusiastic group of individuals. I know for certain our preschool partner children have been impacted in a positive way, and I am certain the AmeriCorps members who served in this program will never forget the difference they made in the lives of those around them.

Michigan's AmeriCorps Member Council - Posting #23

Hey Everyone…it’s AmeriCorps Week and we are getting things done! I hope you all are having a successful week and are getting ready to heat things up this weekend in Flint.

At Char-Em ISD AmeriCorps we started our week with a BANG! Saturday May 9th we began to celebrate AmeriCorps Week with our first “Spring Into Action” event. The weather report was against us and challenges were abound but with some quick, on the fly adjustments we were ready to go. Thankfully the rain held off and many events were able to stay outside in the wonderful, but cold, Northern Michigan air.

Altogether 187 students from Charlevoix, Emmet, and Northern Antrim counties were given the opportunity to participate in a free day of physical activity and nutritional education. Those in attendance participated in three of the various 13 workshops that included football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, Martial Arts, Pilates, running, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball, yoga, and zumba. The enthusiasm was high and students were elated to learn new sports.

One of the most inspiring parts of the event is that we received a vast amount of assistance from many area business owners who attended the event as volunteers. These highly qualified individuals led workshops and taught our students the wonderful skills and opportunities their individual expertise could offer. The feedback from our leaders was wonderful; they loved the opportunity to share their skills and abilities while giving back to the community. Many commented they could not wait to participate again next year and asked many questions about AmeriCorps and our accomplishments.

We created many great relationships with community organizations and businesses through this project, bringing together AmeriCorps Alums, Charlevoix Public School Learn and Serve Students, MSU Extension, United Way, The First Tee of Boyne Highlands, 4-H, and the Rotary Club of Charlevoix, along with numerous area businesses. The relationships built through this community event have proven to be highly educational and beneficial to us all. By reaching out and joining hands we were able to accomplish something great, something enormous, and touch hundreds of children’s lives in the process.

Here are two of the day’s outcomes…

Student Success
Carter Johnson, a 4th grade student in the Char-Em School District attended a lacrosse workshop and was given a business card from the high school lacrosse coach. Carter is too young to participate on any of the teams, but this coach recruited him regardless of age requirements and was enthusiastic about fostering this student’s talent. When Carter’s father came to pick him up he was so excited to tell him the wonderful news and share the business card with him.

This was just the beginning!

Monday morning Carter walked in the doors to the school with a huge smile on his face and two lacrosse sticks in his hand. After some conversation he told me how excited he was to practice on the playground and that he and his parents were calling the coach that night.

Community Collaboration
Megan Johnson, a swimming instructor for the Charlevoix Community Pool led our swimming workshop. At the end of the day she and one of our AmeriCorps members were discussing how the rate of drowning in our area reached a record high the previous year. With further conversation they decided we should get her in the schools to teach water safety. On Monday, Char-Em ISD AmeriCorps members went back to their school sites where they shared this wonderful opportunity and agreed to coordinate visits. By the end of the day, 14 schoolteachers had already agreed to have Megan present to their students in an effort to keep our students safe at the beaches and pools over the summer.


This half day event touched not only students, but also volunteers and the community as a whole. Carter and Megan are only two examples of how the event motivated individuals to get up, get moving, and make a difference.

Our community organizations and volunteers came together to create a wonderful opportunity for the children, but what they did not realize is that they were creating a wonderful opportunity for themselves to grow, to learn, and to share their knowledge with the future leaders of America. The future volunteers who will continue to make this a strong nation full of pride, care, and compassion. We lead the future, we teach the values, we share our skill, but most of all we learn from everyone, both young and old!

Michigan's AmeriCorps Member Council - Posting #22

“We are not in the charity business; we are in the human development business.” – Bill Strickland

Hello, Rachel Cush again, welcome back to the blog. This past week, the Member Council was asked to attend the Michigan Nonprofit SuperConference to represent and promote the work of Michigan’s AmeriCorps. The theme of this year’s conference was “Fueling Efficient Nonprofits,” with the intent of giving information and tools to Michigan nonprofits to operate more effectively in a time of economic uncertainty.

There were workshops ranging in topics from Volunteer Management, Marketing, Public Policy, and more. Each workshop was led by highly effective and knowledgeable speakers. Each session I went to provided me with valuable information I believe will help to greatly enhance my service. I especially appreciated the session on how important humor is in non-profit work. In an area of work where service can be draining and at times seemingly hopeless, it was helpful to be reminded to stop taking ourselves so “seriously,” and to remember to find the joy in our work.

During the breaks, the Member Council sponsored a service project where fleece blankets were made to be given to children being put into foster care through the Wayne County Department of Human Services. With the help of many of the conference attendees and a few friendly blanket making contests we were able to reach our goal of 50. While our project made an impression on the people at the conference, the most memorable and thought-provoking moments of the conference came from our opening keynote speaker, Mr. Bill Strickland.

Mr. Strickland is the founder of Manchester Craftsman Guild, a nonprofit agency located within the heart of Pittsburgh, which strives to provide opportunities for education, life skills, and jobs to the impoverished through the arts and technology. His is a story of hope and passion for social justice. His message is even more powerful. He calls for making the impossible, possible; for radical change, and for not just wishing but actively participating in creating a better and brighter future.

With humorous vignettes and self deprecation, Mr. Strickland talked about his theory that all people are assets, not liabilities, and that every person has the potential to accomplish the impossible. His answer to solving many of the problems facing society and nonprofits today was not simply more money and more programming, but instead he said, “I'm talking about respect, about common sense and decency, about the dictate that our best hopes must always be acted upon, that all people everywhere possess an innate hunger for, and right to, what is sustaining, good, and beautiful.”

His message was an inspiring one for all of us in Member Council, and was one that I thought all people involved in volunteerism could appreciate. Our service can be overwhelming at times, and it is helpful to be reminded that every day we are making a difference one small step at a time, and in our own unique, and individual ways. So today, remember to dream big, enjoy each moment, and get things done for America.

AmeriCorps - Getting Things Done

By: Paula Kaiser Van Dam
Executive Director, Michigan Community Service Commission

This posting was borrowed from the Michigan Nonprofit Association Blog.

It is an exciting time for AmeriCorps. Saturday, May 9 kicked off the third annual National AmeriCorps Week – a recruitment and recognition initiative to bring more Americans into service, salute AmeriCorps members and alums for their powerful impact, and thank the community partners who make AmeriCorps possible. It also provides an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the work done by members in communities across the country and to motivate more Americans to join AmeriCorps or volunteer in their communities.

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm officially declared the week s Michigan’s AmeriCorps Week. Michigan’s AmeriCorps members will celebrate with large- and small-scale service projects aimed at “Getting Things Done” in their communities. The week will conclude with a statewide service project in Flint on May 15 and 16, officially titled the Michigan’s AmeriCorps Russ Mawby Signature Service Project. More than 250 members will come together to assist with building and landscaping projects and help construct a new play structure in Memorial Park. This opportunity will also serve as the official closing event for National AmeriCorps Week.

And, Michigan’s AmeriCorps recently took its efforts to the 2009 MNA SuperConference by conducting an on-site service project engaging conference attendees, exhibitors, and AmeriCorps members. Fifty fleece blankets were created and donated to the Department of Human Services Wayne County Central Operations. The blankets will be given to area youth being placed in foster care.

But beyond these events shining a spotlight on the good work of AmeriCorps, the recent signing of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act by President Obama further propels the efforts of AmeriCorps and national service beyond today. With the passage of this landmark legislation AmeriCorps will be expanded and strengthened in several ways:

• Growing the annual number of AmeriCorps positions from 75,000 to 250,000 by 2017 focusing their service on education, health, clean energy, veterans, and economic opportunities.

• Tying the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to the maximum Pell Grant level (now at $5,350 but set to increase over time).

• Allowing older Americans serving to transfer their education award to a child or grandchild.

AmeriCorps will play a critical role in our state’s economic recovery. In 2009, more than 1,200 members will serve through 367 nonprofits. The demand for nonprofit service is at an all-time high. AmeriCorps will help expand their capacity to serve more clients, to provide more services, and to improve the quality of service provided. At a time when the media would have us believe there is little to celebrate AmeriCorps provides hope.

As the week progresses, I encourage you to discover AmeriCorps for yourself…whether that is visiting www.americorpsweek.gov to discover a local service project to participate in, logging on to www.michigan.gov/mcsc to learn about AmeriCorps programs in Michigan, or browsing www.nationalservice.org to discover how you can become a member.

Michigan's AmeriCorps Member Council - Posting #21

Hello again, my name is Bridget Ferrigan and I serve as an AmeriCorps*VISTA through Michigan Campus Compact. VISTA deals primarily with reducing poverty through indirect service and capacity building. Michigan Campus Compact utilizes the VISTAs in its program to create sustainable programs at member campuses around the state to reduce poverty in the local area and build connections between the campus and community through volunteerism and service-learning.

One of the main impacts of poverty is hunger. I’m sure we have all been hungry at some point in our lives—forgetting to eat on a busy day, skipping breakfast when we’re running late to school or work—but many of us, including me, have not experienced real hunger. I’ve never gone a day without eating something (even during those grueling finals weeks during college, I’d manage to find a muffin and coffee when I didn’t have time to have a real meal while writing a few 20-page papers). I’ve never had to choose between buying food for my family and having a safe place to sleep at night. I’ve never worried about going blind because of a lack of Vitamin A in my diet. We didn’t worry when the broccoli my mother once planted in her small vegetable garden failed miserably because we could just go to the store and buy some. I’ve never truly worried about having food.

I recently went on a week-long alternative spring break trip with 18 students and two faculty members from the college at which I serve to the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. On this trip we served at the ranch and learned about poverty, hunger, and sustainability. Heifer has bases all around the world where they donate animals and educate communities on the proper care and well-being so they can pass on the gift. Heifer also provides training on environmentally sound farming, medical care, and self-reliance.

Most of our week was spent being educated about Heifer International and what they do for people around the world, as well as doing service around the ranch and learning about sustainable practices with farming, animals, and the environment. It is one thing to hear statistics and to watch videos and see pictures of those in poverty, but it’s another thing to deal with conditions these people face daily. Towards the end of our week there, our group and groups from two other colleges stayed overnight in the Global Village, part of the Heifer Ranch that represented six living situations from around the world (a cabin in the Appalachian Mountains, a small house in Guatemala, a refugee camp tent, a bamboo hut in Thailand, makeshift shelters urban slums, and a Zambian brick hut). We were broken up into “families” and some were given resources baskets of food and cooking utensils; one person was “pregnant” and another had to deal with some physical disadvantage such as an immobile limb or malaria. Not everyone received resources—they would have to bargain or beg if they wanted to eat or have a fire.

In the end, all the groups came together to cook dinner so that everyone would have something. Cooking food for nearly 40 people when one has a stove and countertops is hard enough. We did it during a cold, rainy night with wet wood that made smoky fires and ended up with just enough for everyone to have a few vegetables and a spoonful each of rice and porridge. My family group was assigned to the hut in Thailand, so we huddled together to block out the cold wind that blew through the bamboo walls and tried not to think about how badly we needed to go to the bathroom, since trudging along the muddy path to get to the composting toilet (AKA “squatty potty”) through the near-freezing rain was not something we truly wanted to do. However, we were lucky—two groups in the Urban Slums had leaky roofs and couldn’t avoid getting wet or sleeping in a puddle. In the morning, breakfast was not an option since the constant rain had flooded every one of the fire pits. We performed morning chores, which ranged from feeding the various animals to washing the dinner dishes and chopping wood.

While it probably sounds like a terrible experience, every single one of the students and advisors came out with a new appreciation for what they had in their lives. The point was not to experience poverty so that we come away with pity for those who live with it on a daily basis, but to understand their situation so that we may work with them to improve it, and to go back to our homes and educate others. This extends many of the ideals of what we do as AmeriCorps members—we learn to give a hand up, and not a handout, by living and working with individuals and communities and building sustainable programs and educating those who have the power and ability to change and improve the world.

Have you ever had an experience that changed your view of a certain group, or of the world? Did it motivate you to educate others about it and work towards change, and how so? With AmeriCorps Week coming up, I know a lot of us will be working together to change our world!