The Time is Now

As many know, Sargent Shriver was a key figure in the world of service. Influential in the development of the Peace Corps and VISTA programs, Sargent Shriver left a legacy of service for all. His unswerving commitment to seeking justice both abroad and within our own country is the backbone behind AmeriCorps programs.

My name’s Jenny and I recently had the opportunity to take part in leading a discussion with a group of AmeriCorps*VISTA, State, and National members from throughout Michigan. During the training we viewed The American Idealist, a documentary of Sargent Shriver’s life and legacy. After the viewing we had an honest discussion about our own personal experiences with AmeriCorps and the ideals we saw in Sargent Shriver. Two things stuck out in our discussion:

The first thing we all saw in the movie and that resonated with our own lives is that personal satisfaction from our service does not stem from affirmation. Though personal affirmation is a good thing, we seem to feel a deep sense of satisfaction when we see change for the better within people from the community or in policies which affect them. We are here to serve and everyday we have the opportunity to bring change and growth within our organizations and communities. It is this responsibility of service that keeps us serving. We serve for the folks who don’t have a home or those who have no health care coverage. We serve for the youth in school so they can have diverse experiences and a quality education. We serve to conserve the wildlife in Michigan and keep our natural resources healthy. It is from this motivation that Sargent Shriver developed these programs and it is from this motivation that we carry them on.

The second thing that stood out in our discussion is that the time to serve is now. We noticed huge similarities in the social and economic contexts in which Sargent Shriver was making an influence and today. We are experiencing record high unemployment rates and many people are without health care coverage. We are seeing government funding cut for schools and youth enrichment programs. Additionally, funding for the arts and wildlife preservation is also scarce. This is the situation we find ourselves in and the situation we find many of the people we work with. Members at the training expressed a sincere commitment to their service during these difficult economic times in our country.

Listening to AmeriCorps members’ stories of action and motivation were inspirational to me. I was grateful to be a part of the discussion. I walked away feeling proud to serve as an AmeriCorps member and motivated to continue to do my service well.

Have you viewed The American Idealist? If so, what did you think of Sargent Shriver’s impact on our country and service?

Opportunities to Connect!

Hello again! My name is Matt Reaume and I am an AmeriCorps*VISTA serving with the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC). What a whirlwind week! This last Wednesday, March 17^th found MCSC and Corporation for National and Community Service staff manning an information booth on National Service and volunteering at the Bon Jovi concert held at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

The effort was a product of a partnership between Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Foundation and United We Serve. It was a great opportunity to reach out to concert goers and provide them with information on how they can find local opportunities to volunteer and serve their communities.

In addition to rocking out, I am also happy to report some exciting news coming out of the Cross-Stream initiative as we approach the 2010 AmeriCorps Week!

Over the course of the last several months much progress has been made on developing an online, searchable database comprised of every National Service program located in Michigan. This convenient resource will allow those interested in connecting with other organizations to better locate local programs with similar focus areas to partner with. This tool will be available within the coming months.

In addition to the database, another important component of the Cross-Stream initiative will be the delivery of an electronic newsletter which will, among other things, share examples of Cross-Stream collaboration opportunities and successful collaboration efforts.

And speaking of collaborative opportunities, AmeriCorps Week is fast approaching! The MCSC will be hosting two webinars which will provide an overview of AmeriCorps Week resources, project planning tips, how to engage the media, and a chance to share your project plans and ideas with others. These webinars will take place on Tuesday April 13^th at 10:00 a.m. and Friday April 16^th at 10:00 a. m. as well. To register for the April 13^th date, click here – to register for the April 16^th date, click here.

If your program is interested in collaborating with another stream of national service for an AmeriCorps Week service project or outreach event, we would love to hear your story to be included in the upcoming Cross-Stream newsletter! Feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, or ideas that you may have at reaumem@michigan.gov.

Every 23 Minutes

Every 23 minutes, somewhere in the world, a Habitat house is completed.

When I first heard my Program Director say that fact during orientation I was in awe. Every 23 minutes, somewhere in the world a Habitat house is completed – now that’s a lot of houses. I knew by becoming an AmeriCorps member I would be a part of something big, a powerful movement of people getting things done, but I had no idea just how big and how great the impact would be.

My name is Lisa Beedon and I’m serving my second term with Blue Water Habitat for Humanity in Port Huron as their Volunteer Recruiter. Michigan’s Habitat has 77 affiliates serving every county in the state. In 2009, the affiliates built or rehabbed 235 homes in partnership with people in need.  Currently, 3,225 Michigan families live in a Habitat for Humanity homes. 

When I first began with Habitat in January 2009 I was nervous… The only time I’d ever swung a hammer was to hang pictures up. I was by no means someone who saw themselves working on a construction site. But as time went on and we grew closer to staring our building season, the excitement was palpable. I couldn’t wait to get out there and see what I could learn and get to know the homeowners and volunteers.

The very first project I worked on began March 31, 2009. We were going to build a garage. Despite the excitement, I was nervous. Soon after getting everyone signed in and once our morning huddle ended the homeowner, Natoya, came over to thank me for being there. She went on to tell me about her family and how much they are looking forward to owning their own home.

Around lunch time, she came back over to me and asked if I had attended a certain elementary school and had a certain teacher. Puzzled, I answered that I had. After a few minutes we realized we had been in the same fifth grade class almost 20 years ago. It was in that moment I knew I was in the right place at the right time.

Background on Habitat & Available Resources
Habitat was created in 1976 in Americus, Georgia, by the late Millard Fuller and his wife Linda.

Many people think it was President Carter who started Habitat for Humanity but it was in fact Millard and Linda Fuller. President Carter and his wife Rosalynn (whose home is eight miles from Americus, in Plains, Georgia) have been longtime Habitat supporters and volunteers who help bring national attention to the organization's house-building work. Each year, they lead the Jimmy Carter Work Project to help build houses and raise awareness of the need for affordable housing.

ReStores are retail outlets where Habitat for Humanity affiliates sell quality used and new home improvement products at 50 to 90 percent off retail.

ReStores are open to the public; anyone can buy items at discounted prices. Materials sold at ReStores are donated by individuals, construction companies, contractors, and building supply stores. Proceeds help fund local Habitat for Humanity homes.

Michigan is home to more than 45 Habitat for Humanity ReStores. Each ReStore sets its own hours of operations. Inventory changes frequently since new items are received weekly, sometimes daily.

ReStores save money and help the community and the environment. Shoppers can purchase new, or gently used, home improvement supplies at a fraction of their original cost.  ReStore customers include homeowners, college students, landlords and builders. Profits allow Habitat for Humanity to build more homes. Tons of building materials are diverted from landfills and put to reuse

Starting this year, Michigan affiliates have stepped up and are building all homes using green and sustainable building techniques.  Every home built will meet Energy Star energy efficiency ratings or above. It is an exciting time to be a part of Habitat.

AmeriCorps – Serving Chicago

There are nearly 1,200 AmeriCorps members serving in Michigan – with thousands more serving across the country.  Please enjoy this week’s posting from a Michigander serving in Chicago.

My name is Dustin Petty and I am a proud Michigander that has temporarily relocated to the city of Oprah, deep dish pizza, and the Daley dynasty – Chicago.

A little over a year ago, I found myself – graduation in sight and an unpleasant amount of student loans in my future – completely unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. But I knew that I liked helping people, having been brought up to believe it was my responsibility to give back to my community (thanks Mom!). When I heard about AmeriCorps, I knew it was the right fit for me.

After a few months of applying and uncertainty, I was hired to serve as an AmeriCorps*VISTA in Chicago starting in November 2009. I would be working with the Chicago Public Schools’ programs Students in Temporary Living Situations (STLS) and Chicago HOPES.

STLS is a federally-mandated program, providing support for homeless students. We will provide transportation to school, uniforms, backpacks, and supplies and advocate for the student’s right to enroll in school without documentation that can get lost when a family becomes homeless.

HOPES is an after-school non-profit initiative offering tutoring and enrichment in 26 of Chicago’s homeless shelters.

Now, with roughly one third of my term of service finished, I feel I can honestly speak intelligently about the homeless situation in Chicago and how it affects young people.

In Chicago, there are more than 13,000 homeless students registered with Chicago Public Schools – a number expected to surpass 15,000 by the end of the school year. Eighty-five percent are African American and approximately 10 percent are Hispanic.

My fellow VISTAs and I (there are 13 of us in total) spend the first half of our days in the office, answering phone calls and attempting to advocate for this population. In the afternoons, we leave our computers and cubicles behind to head to shelters. The shelters aren’t in nice and safe neighborhoods. Most of the schools our children go to are failing. But this is when we feel of use, coordinating the Chicago HOPES tutoring programs and working with these children.

At the shelter I coordinate, I can tell you something special about every single one of our students. There’s the fifth grader who will “borrow” crayons and markers from our supply closet because she wants to be an artist but can’t afford to buy the tools to practice on her own. There’s a third grader who will do anything to avoid reading in front of people because he is afraid of being made fun of when he doesn’t know the words. There’s the ninth grader who doesn’t really like children but when she’s done with her homework, she’ll read a story to one of the little kids.

The thing that amazes me, though, isn’t the vast differences between these children and the ones I’d grown up with. What surprises me is how similar they are to children who aren’t homeless. Yes, the majority of our students may be behind their classmates academically but they just want some attention, to have fun, and the opportunity to prove they can succeed. They just want what every child wants.

For the first few weeks, I found it hard to finish a session at the shelter only to take the train back to my nice, warm bed in my nice, safe neighborhood. It didn’t seem fair.

Once, after an exceptionally long day, I asked my supervisor, the manager of STLS who has also been a social worker for Chicago Public Schools for more than three decades, how she wasn’t always depressed. How knowing the situation of homeless children wasn’t getting any better, how knowing that we had our highest numbers ever didn’t leave her in a permanent funk.

She thought for a second and then assured me that she did, in fact, become depressed sometimes. But the successes – one of our students graduating high school, a family finally getting housing after spending months or years bouncing from shelter to shelter – far outweighed the failures of the system and our society to take care of those who need it most.

I love the service I’m doing and I feel good doing it. There are days I miss my friends, family, and the familiarness of Michigan but here, I am constantly inspired by my fellow VISTAs, supervisors, volunteers at the shelters and, of course, our students. Their youth makes idealism seem like possibility. And I know it may be corny to say that, but if you could witness it too, you’d say the same thing.

In the final analysis, I believe the service of the AmeriCorps*VISTA is to bring to realization a dream American presidents and civic leaders have had for generations: to bring about a great society. A society where no one goes without food, no one goes without shelter, and anyone who wants an education can get one.

We are getting things done for America and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Whose fault is it?

The other day someone asked me, “Whose fault is it?” With a confused look on my face, begging for clarification, the person elaborated, “Whose fault is it that we’re seeing all these foreclosures? Whose fault is it that the housing bubble burst and now we’re picking up all of the pieces?”

I chuckled, hoping the man understood that my response would not be brief and that he needed much of the evening to hear me rant and rave about the intricacies of the issue. Where should I start? We can talk about greedy investors, ambitious banks, overly-relaxed lending practices, exotic loans, or home buyers who bit off more than they could chew. Is it the buyer or the seller? Or is the fault left to plain greed? We debated over these issues for almost an hour and found ourselves disagreeing on most things. It was a frustrating conversation for the both of us as we both ended dissatisfied with where the other person took a stance. But we decided we do agree on the fact that ultimately there is probably not one single player in this game to blame, but several.

My name is Jenny and I have the opportunity to serve as an AmeriCorps Member in Michigan’s Foreclosure Corps. In this program I am able to assist the Inner City Christian Federation, a non-profit agency, in the efforts of foreclosure prevention. This is important because to so many folks, homeownership is a stable foundation in their lives. It provides a sense of security, stability, and pride. It is easy to see why families, individuals, children, and single parents are being shaken by this. Through this experience I have learned the importance of figuring out the reasoning behind the housing crisis. Doing this allows us to deal more comprehensively with the issue and to prevent it from occurring again. More important than figuring out who the culprit is, is to find a solution for the people affected by this.

Who is to blame is not as important as who is affected:

Most significant is the family who called in the other day with foster children. Dad has been laid off from General Motors and they are scrambling to provide and sustain the stability their home provides for their children.

It’s the single mother that stopped by the other day. Her interest rate jumped up, increasing her monthly payment by more than $100 a month and she can’t keep up anymore. Her daughters are both in school.

It’s the man who called because he was in a car accident. He had to take several months off from work and has no current income to make a mortgage payment.

It’s the families who have to decide between paying for food and utilities for their children or paying their mortgage. It’s these people, men and women across the state, individuals and families, who are affected by foreclosures.

I am humbled as I recall the stories and the people that have come across my path who are struggling to keep their home. I remember that I value the pursuit of justice and commitment to service. At the end of the day we may not all agree on who is to blame or how exactly we got here. Maybe something we can agree on though is that there’s an opportunity before us to be a part of the solution – and that’s good common ground guaranteed to be fruitful for the state of Michigan.