Unintended Consequences

This blog is a guest article by Barbara Ernsberger, a previous Michigan's AmeriCorps member who was honored in April 2013 as the Outstanding AmeriCorps Alum of the Year by the Michigan Community Service Commission. In recognition of her award and service, she has been asked to share part of her "Ameri-Journey" on the blog.

Greetings AmeriCorps world! My name is Barbara Ernsberger and I am the Executive Director at Blue Water Habitat for Humanity. We serve all of St. Clair and Sanilac Counties in the Thumb area of the state.  We are an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, an organization that works in over 90 countries worldwide helping families secure decent, simple, affordable housing solutions. 

Sometimes, I have those mornings when I wake up and say “How did I get here? What prepared me for this incredible work?”  I get to do mission work in my own backyard…amazing!

The opportunity to become an AmeriCorps member with the very first class of the Habitat for Humanity of Michigan's AmeriCorps team came to me in January of 2001. I was a mom trying to return to the workplace full time. After taking much time out of the workplace to care for two children with severe medical issues, it was time for me to do something new.

Spending time
with great volunteers.

The AmeriCorps position of Volunteer Coordinator at Blue Water Habitat for Humanity came to me in numerous ways, but I did not think I had the qualifications.  One day I decided to take the leap and apply. The interview was on my birthday, and the position was offered to me directly following my interview. I did not expect that…first unintended consequence. 

When I started serving, I realized so many things in life had prepared me for the position I had taken on. I had volunteered at numerous places in my community including my church, cooperative preschool, and I think most importantly for this position, Boy Scouts of America. I had done everything from actually getting the attention of 80 boys under the age of 12 at one time, to planning events for up to 1,400 for a weekend camp-out. All of that had prepared me to recruit volunteers far beyond my wildest dreams….second unintended consequence. 

Being awarded 2011Affiliate
of the Year at the Habitat
Michigan Banquet by Lt.
Governor Brian Calley.

Following my second AmeriCorps term, the affiliate offered me full time employment. Wow...they wanted to keep me! I stayed on as Volunteer Manager until 2006, when I had to leave due to family medical issues. In 2007, when the mountain of medical issues came under control, I applied for and was hired as the Executive Director. It felt like coming back home!

Since that time, lots of changes have taken place at our affiliate and I am so thrilled to have helped the affiliate grow and make those changes; reaching out to serve more and more families in our community each year.

In addition to our new home construction program, we now do partial and full gut rehabs of existing foreclosed homes in our community, selling them with a zero equivalent interest loan just like we do our newly constructed homes.  In addition we have added a Critical Home Repair Program, our Veterans Repair Corps Program, and the Brush With Kindness Program.  Each of these programs is to help homeowners stay in their homes while addressing health and safety.

Launch of our Scholarship
Program at the local
community foundation.

We also have a much more comprehensive program to prepare our home-buyer applicants for home-ownership. Preparing our applicants on the front end truly makes a difference down the road. Helping our home buyers with financial literacy has become a key part of homeowner preparation.  We launched a scholarship program for Habitat partner families this year as well, providing a small scholarship to applicants for higher education.

I get to actually participate in joy with families as they not only become homeowners, but they become much more confident in themselves and the direction they are headed. It is awesome to watch a family beat the odds and obtain the American dream of a place to call home… all their own!

Sharing an emotional moment
with a new home-buyer at
her house dedication.

There is so much more that Habitat accomplishes worldwide, but my world is right here in my community. And I came to all of this because of an AmeriCorps opportunity…how awesome is that!

Oh, one more thing I want to mention…and this is obviously in no particular order…each of my 3 children, ages 31, 29, and 25, are involved locally in the community they live. A few of the things they have done in their communities are chair the YMCA Fund Development Committee, Chair the Redistricting Committee for a city, organize Art Hops, and sit on the board of the local conservation club. It seems service may be in their genes... unintended consequences!

Receiving the 2013 Outstanding
AmeriCorps Alum Award

And to my great surprise, earlier this year I was honored as the 2013 AmeriCorps Alum of the Year, which why I'm here writing in the blog…unintended consequences of course!

Reflections on 20 Years of AmeriCorps

This blog is a guest article by Diana Algra, executive director of the Volunteer Centers of Michigan (VCM), as she reflects on the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps. Over the course of her career, Algra's commitment to service and volunteerism in Michigan has been longstanding and expansive, including roles such as the first Director of AmeriCorps State/ National programs at the Corporation for National and Community Service and the first executive director of the Michigan Community Service Commission. 

Service…what can one say? For me, national service has been part of my life for the past 25 years. I have been honored with the opportunity to serve at the beginning of many great service organizations…Michigan Campus Compact, the Michigan Community Service Commission and the Corporation for National Service. In each of these instances, I have had the pleasure to serve along very dedicated, smart staff and to meet and interact with great service members in the field.

The most important aspect of all this work has been the dedication and impact that our national service members have brought to communities all over this country. The dedication and hard work that you have undertaken has allowed individuals to recover from disasters, learn to read, increase their education, tend to environmental needs in our communities, increase health education, help individuals keep their homes, improve access to services, and provide basic needs like food and shelter. These assignments and projects have been so important to growing a sense of hope and improving lives in our local communities.

As we come to the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps, we must not lose sight of what has been accomplished and we must realize that there is still much to be done. We must continue to strive to educate our neighbors and family members of the needs that exist and understand that only through the dedicated and committed work of every individual will we be able to make our cities safer, our schools better, and our nation stronger. Many great leaders have spoken about the power of service…but only you can make it happen…only you can take the next step…only you can change the world.

Thank you all for your “servant leadership” today and in the years ahead.

Right Choices for Youth

Greetings! Michigan AmeriCorps members! My name is Charisse Welborn and I am currently serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA for the Michigan Workforce Development Agency. I am the Youth Development & Volunteer Coordinator for the MI GEAR UP program at Ferris State University. 

GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. GEAR UP increases the number of low-income, minority, and first-generation students who are prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education. The program includes interventions such as tutoring, mentoring, rigorous academic preparation, financial education and college scholarships to improve access to higher education for students and their families.

GEAR UP works with K-12 students. Students must start the program by the 7th grade, and can continue the program in high school and college. GEAR UP is an effective solu­tion for creating systemic change and influencing academic achievement, as well as improving high school graduation and college enrollment rates among low-income students.

Overall the program serves more than 580,000 low- income, minority and disadvantaged students in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories. GEAR UP has been instrumental in preparing students for high school graduation and success in post-secondary education.

In our state, the Michigan GEAR UP (MI GEAR UP) Program is a collaboration between the Michigan Workforce Development Agency and the U.S. Department of Education. Together they partnerswith15 public post-secondary institutions, the Michigan Department of Treasury and Partnership for Learning. Their purpose is to provide services to 38 public secondary school districts and 77 school buildings throughout Michigan as they strive to achieve their goal of improving entry into post-secondary education of students from the targeted areas.

As I reflect on my terms of serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA, I have been blessed with many opportunities. I was able to serve as a Michigan AmeriCorps LeaderCorps member for 2012-2013.  LeaderCorps gave me the opportunity to gain valuable professional experience. I participated on the Outreach and Communications Team with six other AmeriCorps members. On this team I was able to have a hand in creating the Michigan AmeriCorps newsletter and creating the video showcasing the 2012-2013 LeaderCorps members and their respective programs. 

As an AmeriCorps member I'm sure you know how overwhelming it can be at times, but knowing I was a part of a significant and impactful team where I was able to build other networks and relationships with other Michigan AmeriCorps members assured me the service I was doing wasn't going unnoticed and that I was a part of helping make the world a better place.

Through this opportunity I inherited a powerful network. The individuals I served alongside were doing valuable things in their communities - changing lives every single day in so many ways. LeaderCorps definitely taught me that even small changes can make big differences.

AmeriCorps VISTA and LeaderCorps have been life changing for me. I would never forget this experience and everything that it has taught me. Through the opportunities I have been afforded, I have truly learned what it means to serve.

Helping Homeowners Find Foreclosure Alternatives

Hello Michigan’s AmeriCorps blog readers! I’m Kim Chipps. I am in my second year serving with the Michigan Foreclosure Prevention Corps (MFPC) as a Foreclosure Prevention Project Manager at Elder Law of Michigan (ELM). I am also part of Michigan’s AmeriCorps LeaderCorps.  

The MFPC has been in service since 2009 and is a statewide program with member placed at foreclosure counseling agencies across Michigan. These members increase the capacity of housing counseling agencies to serve homeowners facing foreclosure to taking on critical supporting functions so they can focus on the clients most in need. For the 2012-2013 AmeriCorps years, we have 20 full-time AmeriCorps*State member serving. During the 2011-2012 AmeriCorps year, MFCP members were able to provide triage and referral services to 5,570 new clients who sought out housing assistance services. An additional 14,995 individuals were reached through community outreach, mailings, and presentations. MFPC members also reach 246 individuals through financial literacy outreach. Of those individuals surveyed in financial literacy presentations, 88 percent indicated an increase in financial knowledge. 

For the past two years at ELM, I was given the opportunity to help develop and define ELM’s new Housing Counseling Services program from scratch.  Participating in developing this housing counseling program and watching what it has grown into has been a truly rewarding experience. I can proudly say that ELM’s Housing Counseling Services now works with clients to try and find alternatives to foreclosure on a daily basis. 

For those of you not familiar with foreclosure it is the disruption of someone’s life. Foreclosure can happen to anyone. It happens to people from all kinds of different backgrounds from hourly wage earners to doctors to retirees. Foreclosure does not just affect one individual home on a block; it affects families, whole neighborhoods, and local communities alike. With foreclosure it is important to not to wait to get help, the earlier one starts learning about all their options to prevent foreclosure the better their chances of finding an affordable solution to their foreclosure situation. 

I believe that one of the most important aspects of my service over the past two years has been providing clients with a financial education and educating them on how to utilize foreclosure options. Armed with a financial education, individuals can not only try to resolve their foreclosure situation but move forward in their lives with a solid foundation for making financial decisions.  On a daily basis I am amazed by the strength and perseverance our clients show as they move forward during one of the most challenging times of their life.

As and AmeriCorps member, I took an oath to “get things done for America.” After serving with AmeriCorps I have seen how sometimes doing the smallest things like listening to someone’s story for an extra five minutes or helping an older adult apply to a program online can make all the difference in “getting things done.” I have enjoyed my service and hope to continue to “get things done” for my community where ever my future takes me. 

As I end my second year of service with AmeriCorps, I am very proud of the efforts and impact that my fellow MFPC members and I have had on the lives of homeowners trying to fight foreclosure in Michigan.

You can find more information about preventing foreclosure in your local Michigan community by visiting the Community Foreclosure Response Toolkit at www.miforeclosureresponse.org.