Service for All!

Hello again! I’m Kathleen Egan and I just began my 2^nd year of service as the AmeriCorps Inclusion VISTA for the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC). Since I last wrote, my term of service has provided some amazing experiences and allowed me to meet some truly inspiring and awesome people.

As the Inclusion VISTA, my goal is to support and encourage people with disabilities to see volunteerism and national service as a way to build job skills and interpersonal relationships. Part of my service involves assisting the MCSC’s Statewide Inclusion Team. This team is comprised of representatives from a wide range of state agencies, independent businesses, and advocates for the advancement of a more diverse service population. I, along with six representatives from the MCSC Inclusion Team, recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the 2011 Symposium on Service and Inclusion: Improving the Member Experience Through Intentional Strategies. This conference was hosted by the National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP), which is an agency that provides training and technical assistance related to the needs of individuals with disabilities in national service programs.

Over the course of three days, I attended a variety of workshops, learned how other states are promoting inclusion in their national service programs, met fellow Inclusion VISTAs from other states, and heard from some truly inspiring AmeriCorps alumni. The AmeriCorps members and alums who spoke at the conference served in a variety of areas, and came from vastly different backgrounds, but all had the same message; during their year of service, they all gained skills they would never have never gained elsewhere and made lasting friendships and connections to their communities.

One of the most interesting speakers was Scott Carter. Scott served two years as a VISTA with a statewide program that helped youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities transition out of the school system and into the workforce and independent living through Person First self-advocacy centers. Out of the 13 VISTAs in his program, six are individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. He and his program director, Mary Bryant, also hosted a workshop talking about the ways their program has successfully helped Nevada youth with intellectual or developmental disabilities become successful and independent members of their community. They also spoke about the leadership opportunities and success that having a blended VISTA cohort provides.

The Symposium was an amazing place to learn more about what is happening on a national level. There are so many projects and initiatives in place, and it was very exciting to hear stories from throughout the country (and territories!), as well as to hear people talk about the impact national service has had on programs and individuals. The Symposium also helped me learn more about what some of my fellow Inclusion Team members do on a daily basis and what inspired them to get involved with Inclusion. The timing of the conference was also very fitting, as December is a great time to reflect on the past year and to give back to the community around you. Being in Virginia with hundreds of fellow national service participants was a great reminder of what service can accomplish! Happy Holidays and all the best in the New Year!

Member Celebration...And Beyond!

Hello! My name is Rachael Wilber, and I am a second-year AmeriCorps member serving with the Superior AmeriCorps program in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I am originally from Ontonagon, Mich. and currently live in Calumet, Mich. Superior AmeriCorps currently has 46 full-time members, the majority of whom serve in school districts throughout Houghton and Baraga counties. We have a handful of members in other counties serving through nonprofit agencies as well.

I am one of the members that have been placed in a nonprofit. I serve as a program coordinator for the High Five program at Big Brothers Big Sisters. I match volunteer high school mentors with elementary school children who have been referred to me by their teachers. We meet once a week for one hour. The students work as mentoring matches by working on homework, playing games, making crafts, and/or just hanging out! This provides additional one-on-one time to the elementary students while providing a sense of responsibility for the mentors. I train the mentors for four weeks (one hour per week) prior to introducing the matches, which meet for the entire school year. Last year I saw some amazing transformations and I look forward to seeing even more this year!

On November 17^th, I had the opportunity to attend the Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Celebration along with seven other members from my program. We left Wednesday morning and arrived in Lansing that evening. On Thursday morning, we checked in at the Member Celebration and had a one-of-a-kind experience. After the morning kick-off, we went to our choice of several workshops. They all seemed wonderful! I chose a workshop called “Zombie to Zen,” which discussed methods for calming your mind when feeling overwhelmed. After the workshop, we had a very moving keynote speaker, Craig Bowman, who is the president of Common Ground Consulting. He was absolutely phenomenal! After Craig’s talk and lunch, we went to another set of workshops. I went to a workshop about teambuilding that was led by three members, including a fellow LeaderCorps member, Kathleen Egan. It was very informative and maybe even a little fun… ok, it was a blast!!! The day ended with the swearing-in ceremony led by Acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Robert Velasco.

As a LeaderCorps member, I stayed after the Member Celebration for the LeaderCorps meeting, which took place Thursday evening and all day Friday.

I think LeaderCorps is going to be my favorite part of my AmeriCorps experience. We have only met once (or at least MOST of us have only met once), but the chemistry was surreal. Not only were we very proactive and motivated in our discussions about projects and goals for the year, but we were also cracking jokes and laughing within minutes of meeting each other. This is a very lighthearted group that is looking forward to “getting things done!”

I truly love being an AmeriCorps member. I have the wonderful opportunity to serve in not only one, but three school districts. This has allowed me to experience different subsets of the local students and get to know different administrators. I am currently working on my Masters in Elementary Education so I have also been able to make connections for observing classrooms and student teaching. AmeriCorps has opened so many doors for me and I hope our program continues for MANY years! There are so many people that would benefit from it as much as I have (not to mention the folks out there we actually serve!). Oh, and did I mention AmeriCorps is where I have met my best friends? I’m amazed by the connections that are made when you get together with a group of people that want to make a difference in their communities!