Making a Garden Grow

Hello everyone, I’m Eric Shovein and this year I am serving with a brand new environmental program in Lansing called the Power of We Consortium. The program is rather unique in that it’s concerned with getting people in touch with nature, and restoring trails in order to do so, but also food security and nutritional education for people through the implementation of community gardens. Everyone says the green movement is “the thing to do,” but what I don’t think the naysayers realize is that although some of these things we are doing may be popular at this point, they are nonetheless positively impacting people on a regular basis.

My specific mission is to start community gardens on Ingham County Land Bank properties in order to turn urban blight, and government owned properties, into something more beautiful, and more productive. It’s actually one of only a few Land Banks with a gardening program in the state of Michigan. The program is also organically set up to bring food into food deserts (areas without any easy access to healthy food).

To somewhat digress, Land Banks acquire foreclosed properties when no one else purchases them and are put in charge of revitalizing them. The properties therefore usually end up being in lower income areas where the housing demand is even lower than other areas in this slumping economy. The gardens are therefore in areas where people need the supplemental healthy food in their homes.

Aside from the Power of We program and its ideals, this year of service has definitely been a challenging year. It’s challenging because I started with nothing other than an idea, but it’s also been very successful to this point because I’ve started the gardens I wanted to. I literally walked into my first day of service knowing nothing about gardening, and had no direction other than an concept for which I’ve strived to accomplish. From there I started to do the thing everyone loves, and networked for almost three months to find every community center and every gardening group in Lansing. It was definitely frustrating for a while, but as the network grew I knew the gardens would also grow.

Since the winter things have rapidly changed. I have currently started 18 gardens, all of which are growing fairly well. Each garden is feeding at least a few people, with some feeding upwards of 20 families, plus beyond just feeding, it’s getting people outside and providing outreach for the future as neighbors see and are intrigued by the new gardens.

Overall, I could not be happier with choosing to serve with AmeriCorps. It’s both a challenge mentally and financially, but the benefits for others and for you personally are amazing. Beyond helping the amount of people I have, I have been able to essentially run a business with a small budget backing me. Given very little supervision, I’ve been able to develop my own business plan; do outreach, fundraising, networking, volunteer, and worker management; and basically create my own blueprint for the future. Of course I think things can and will change in the future, but the leadership skills AmeriCorps helps develop within you are incredible. It’s an overall enriching experience that cannot be matched in most “real world” positions. Then again the real world is changing and programs like this are expanding annually.

A Reflection of Service

Hello, this is Beth Leonard again with the Michigan Primary Care Association, or MPCA. I am currently serving my second year as a Health Advocate at a homeless and domestic violence shelter. I am happy to be sharing my experience as an AmeriCorps member; however I must admit that witty, anecdotal story-telling produces anxiety in me.

Having the deadline for this blog posting written in my calendar weeks prior to now, I prepared in advance to obtain some inspiration; well, not exactly inspiration, as the families and children I work with daily gives me plenty of inspiration, but here I am referring to help with the writing, and stories of service from my MPCA members across the state! During our last program’s quarterly training (motivating networking opportunities held with fellow MPCA members from all over our great state), I asked if each member could send me a short bit of what meaningful service they are providing to individuals at their service sites.

Reading through the stories I received back from our members, it struck me as to how similar the healthcare needs are of individuals, families, and children all across our state. Even though no two life situations are ever the same, every person deserves the right to have decent, affordable health care in our country. And even with the increase in gaining access to services, there are those that may need a little extra help with all the required steps in actually obtaining those services.

It goes without saying that we are experiencing a very difficult time financially in Michigan right now. It seems everywhere I go I hear from someone who is without (or knows of someone without) medical insurance and is in need of assistance to be able to afford quality health care. Although the federal government did recently pass the Healthcare Reform Bill, there is still much to be done in our cities and towns across the country in increasing access to quality care and advocacy for our most vulnerable citizens.

Whether the need involves an 18-year-old whose parents have given up on her, a former restaurateur who recently depleted his life savings with two children needing health coverage, or fixed-income seniors needing help paying for expensive, life or death medications, it is only decent for all people to be treated with dignity concerning their health.

Here are some excerpts of what I received from my fellow MPCA AmeriCorps members:

I was able to direct the client to other resources, as she has the ambition to further her education, and assist her with healthcare benefits and food assistance.

Teresa Baker
Oakland Primary Health Services
Pontiac

I have helped hundreds of members of this community get their medications. It’s good to know I have given peace of mind to people who find themselves in a frightening place in their lives.

Ila Coltas
Family Medical Center of Michigan
Adrian

This family was ready to do whatever necessary to get the help they needed and I was willing to and able to guide them in that direction. About a week later I received the cutest thank you card, and I quote, “Thanks a lot for all you did for this family and for being so professional and nice to us.”

Mia Puryear
Detroit Wayne County Health Authority
Detroit

Other AmeriCorps members and I realized that the crying woman’s child in the lobby of our health center qualified for health coverage, and about 30 minutes later she left with insurance covering her child.

Sarah Abou-El-Seoud
The Wellness Plan Medical Center
Detroit

With the help of the insurance application processing office, we had the application expedited, and to the mother’s relief, her son was approved for coverage immediately, ensuring next week’s surgery would be taken care of.

Natsumi Asanuma
Michigan Primary Care Association
Lansing

Obviously through AmeriCorps, one is given the opportunity to impact life for the better in a community, but one may not know that being a member also creates an expansion of essential professional skills including but not limited to: meetings, conference calls, fund development, and creating and delivering presentations. Most significantly, AmeriCorps has also provided what I believe to be the greatest part of any life’s work: satisfaction in knowing you are making a difference – a proven, tangible, change for the better. I look forward to putting these real-life experiences to use in the future. And, to carry the commitment of service forward, I’ve convinced my mom to serve a year with AmeriCorps when she retires next year!

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share how wonderful my AmeriCorps experience has been!

One Conversation at a Time

“So, tell me about your service Rhonda,” I said bending over to pull a luscious and prolific green plant from the ground. I was standing in a field of garlic mustard – an invasive plant that is crowding out native vegetation in much of southwest Michigan – on the banks of the Kalamazoo River. I was one of 10 women, each of us quietly plucking tall plants from the ground, adding to the arm load we were already carrying. When our piles became too heavy, we would pick our way back to the bike path where garbage bags had been stationed for collection. All around us, AmeriCorps members from across the state were busy removing other invasive plants – Tree-of-Heaven, dame’s rocket, honeysuckle, and buckthorn.

My name is Abigail Ertel, and I was part of the “River Crew” for this year’s Russ Mawby Signature Service Project. Although I am a second-year member serving with Huron Pines AmeriCorps in Grayling, this was my first time joining more than 350 AmeriCorps members, Alums, VISTAs, and community volunteers in Kalamazoo’s Northside Neighborhood on May 14^th and 15^th. Volunteers helped build playgrounds, fence community gardens, paint houses and buildings, and complete the clean-up along the Kalamazoo River corridor. Michigan’s AmeriCorps and Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity accomplished a great deal during the weekend, but in addition to physically completing projects, it was a time for members to make connections and to better understand the impact AmeriCorps has on Michigan’s communities.

As Rhonda began to tell me about her term of service, I was struck by the scene unfolding around me. As each person diligently pulled, cut, or piled brush and plants along a mile of riverfront, they were learning about each other. There were quiet conversations describing programs, laughter over shared interests, and soft murmurs of understanding as one member could relate to a difficult time another had experienced in their program. I began to realize the situation I had found myself in on the river was familiar. It was being repeated over and over again at each volunteer project my program coordinates.

Signature Service Project was a chance to see how AmeriCorps is strengthening communities on a grand scale, but for me, my experience in Kalamazoo helped illuminate the bigger picture of my program’s service in Northeast Michigan. While serving the Northside Neighborhood of Kalamazoo, we created our own small community right there on the banks of the river. We were depending on one another to complete the tasks given to us, and building relationships along the way. It’s true that for most of us, these relationships will remain in that moment – we won’t make weekly phone calls or visit each other’s homes – but the memory will stay with us. I began to realize that Huron Pines AmeriCorps is also creating a community of people invested in conserving Northeast Michigan’s natural resources.

Our projects provide community members the opportunity to participate in hands-on river, wildlife, and forest restoration work. While some of our volunteers know each other before arriving at a project site, they are more often strangers at the beginning of the work day. As they sample bugs from a river to determine water quality, they may ask each other why they decided to attend the event, or as they place large woody debris on a stream bank creating fish habitat, they may ask about each other’s families, jobs, or interests. No matter what the question, they are learning about and investing in each other, and celebrating the results of the work they are doing together. Their decision to participate in that particular project provides a greater understanding of what Huron Pines AmeriCorps is doing to conserve the natural resources of the area, but also highlights that there are other people in the community who  believe this work is important. These volunteers find strength in their common interest and are more likely to volunteer again, knowing there are others who believe these efforts are essential to the health of their community.

I would probably never have met Rhonda if it had not been for Signature Service Project, but that brief encounter has redefined the importance of community service for me. Now, every time I volunteer or attend a service project I’ll be making an effort to connect with those around me because I know it only enhances my experience. As I continue to coordinate projects and recruit community volunteers for Huron Pines AmeriCorps, I will draw on my experience in Kalamazoo as the moment where I really began to understand that volunteering is about more than successfully completing a project – it is about building community.

As my service winds down…

I am Dawn Gould and I serve with Downriver CARES AmeriCorps. Now that May has come to a close, I look to the summer and serving in summer camp. This will be our second year running this free and educational camp for community children in River Rouge. This year the camp is doubling in size, with approximately 110 children participating, which means more staff and more AmeriCorps members will be on hand. Our program has just added 10 new members for a summer term and I was able to meet them over the last week of their training. They are eager and enthusiastic and I am excited to get to know them better.

I will be finishing up my second term of service in August although it went by far too fast. I have so many great memories that I’ve made with people I will call friends forever, thank you Downriver CARES members!

As I look ahead to August when I will be moving on from Downriver CARES, part of the AmeriCorps Pledge comes to mind...

“I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.”

Serving with Downriver CARES for two years was profound. In addition to all the great experiences, there is also the reward of learning new things and meeting incredible people, but also helping the community with our Friday service events. Every Friday a different Downriver CARES AmeriCorps member plans an event. They range from serving food in a local soup kitchen to tearing down an abandoned house in the city of Detroit. Coming together with the rest of Downriver CARES every Friday makes our program unique and determined to get things done. That is something I will miss.

I am proud and humble to be able to call myself an AmeriCorps member (soon to be Alum)! Thank you for the opportunity to experience service in a way I never could have imagined and a special “thank you” to my program director, the individuals of Downriver CARES, the Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council, and those I met along the way!

What a “Thank-You” Note Can Do

Recently I received a beautiful "thank-you" card that included pictures of one of our client's children and grandchildren. The card displayed a simple message, “Thanks for fixing our grandpa, Thanks for fixing our dad.”

My co-worker delivered the letter to me while my head lay on my desk as I wished for a miracle to come and silence the phone. The morning was chaotic due to major scheduling issues with the monthly Free Colonoscopy and Endoscope clinic. In general, the mail I receive to my site is copies of bills that need to be handled or completed applications for the patient assistance program medications. Needless to say, I was not excited to lift my weary head to tackle a new pile of work.

I looked at the letter and was surprised to see it was in a small envelope and carried some weight – not likely a bill and definitely not an application. I peeled back the flowery sticker that sealed the envelope and pulled out a homemade “thank you” card. Those two words pack a lot of power, especially on a terrible, horrible, not-so-very-good day. This card brought tears to my eyes and color back to my face after dealing with the chaos surrounding the day. I felt terrible that I couldn't entirely recall who the client was and as it turned out the client was involved in the previous Free Colonoscopy and Endoscope clinic.

I called the client to thank him for the card and describe the wonderful timing of it, he mentioned with great detail how he and his family were overwhelmed with gratitude for the doctors who donated the service. The clients' condition was significantly worse than his doctor thought, the procedure saved his life. The client is now recovering and making significant changes to his life owing it all to the second chance awarded him through our services.

My name is Cathy LaPorte and I am serving a second year of AmeriCorps at Project Access as the clinic referral specialist and the patient assistance program coordinator (PAP). Project Access is a physician volunteer program that provides a community of healthcare to the uninsured and low-income population of Kent County, Michigan. We are a relatively small office providing access to health care for the more than 74,000 people who are uninsured in Kent County.

During my time with Project Access I have adhered to the philosophy "The noblest charity is that which eliminates or reduces an individual's dependence on charity." As a member of the Cherry Street HealthCorps team I have the privilege of seeing (or hearing) successful stories of clients in need who learn to help themselves out of a difficult situation. Serving with Cherry Street HealthCorps at Project Access has provided me many opportunities to see individuals move beyond depending on charity into a life of sustainability.

To learn more about Project Access or Cherry Street HealthCorps please visit: www.projectaccessmi.org and www.cherrystreethealth.com.