A new year of Michigan’s AmeriCorps!

Welcome back to the Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council Blog – my name is Cathy and I represent the Cherry Street Health Services Community HealthCorps team. Cherry Street Health Services (CSHS) is a group of 13 federally qualified community heath centers. The HealthCorps team is a national AmeriCorps program that is health focused and where each member has direct patient contact. There are members of my team at each of the 13 CSHS sites and some members serve with partnering programs. My host site is Project Access, a partnering program which recruits physicians (general practice and specialists) to donate services to qualifying low-income and uninsured people in need.

During the inaugural meeting of the Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council in late November, new people and fresh ideas were met with a warm reception. What a fabulous year this will be. There was amazing energy throughout the rather gray day we spent in Lansing, MI. It was a fun experience for me. I always enjoy meeting new people who are from different backgrounds.

This is what I discovered from the first member council meeting for the 2009-2010 Michigan’s AmeriCorps year: There’s a certain kind of power that can only be derived when you connect with others who share your ambitions. With all of us working in different programs across Michigan, we came together with different ideas of what impacting our community means. However, we all see that it takes leadership and planning to make a successful and long lasting impact. United by a common cause, we unfold a power to accomplish great things. What great things do you hope to accomplish during your term of service?