Prevent, Prepare, and Respond

Hello, my name is Khoa Nguyen, and I am a second year AmeriCorps member serving with Together We Prepare – an AmeriCorps program that positions its members with American Red Cross chapters throughout the state of Michigan. Members divide their program time between volunteer services and disaster services. During a normal day, I serve as the Volunteer & Youth Services Coordinator to recruit, orient, and train adult and youth volunteers to serve in different American Red Cross departments such as disaster services, transportation, fund development, and health and safety. In addition to my role in volunteer services, I am responsible for allocating my time to teaching preparedness education classes in the Greater Grand Rapids school system and carrying out disaster relief efforts when needed. The latter experience is one of the most rewarding and meaningful elements of my program.

The disaster response experience embraces traits of humanity and empathy. The most commonly occurring disaster in West Michigan is home fires, especially during the winter months. An anecdote of a recent response occurred during the early morning hours of April 14, 2012, when a fire forced residents from 24 apartment units at Boulder Ridge apartments in Wyoming, Mich., to evacuate from their home. I was one of 22 Red Cross Disaster Action Team members called upon to assist the victims. As part of the response effort, I drove the Emergency Response Vehicle, a moderately sized truck loaded with comfort kits, blankets, snacks, and stuffed animals, to the scene of the fire. Upon arrival, I witnessed damp roofing and charred furniture on the lawn. Groups of families huddled outside the apartment complex waiting for confirmation from the Fire Department to see if it was safe for them to enter their apartments to salvage any valuable possessions. Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries, but how would these individuals move on from this disaster? 

The goal of the American Red Cross is to provide the most immediate recovery needs following a disaster. As a result, Disaster Team Members divided into pairs and began interviewing the apartment residents affected by the fire. Critical information obtained during the interview includes identification of family members, statements of how the disaster affected the family, degree of damage from an assessment, and medical information if appropriate. Afterwards, the Red Cross formulates a recovery plan for the families. A recovery plan may consist of providing temporary housing, allotting funds on a credit card for food and clothing, writing referrals to other agencies, or a combination of all three actions. Additionally, the Red Cross provided families with directions to obtaining a fire report, removing the smell of smoke out of their belongings, and contacting their insurance agencies if applicable.

Though this occurrence was one of my own disaster response impact experiences, other AmeriCorps members in the Together We Prepare program have participated in numerous other disaster relief efforts and have many stories of their own impact. Members have confronted other types of disasters such as winter storms, floods, and tornadoes. Although they are Michigan’s AmeriCorps members, many members have been sent throughout the country when a large-scale disaster occurs in another state. As Together We Prepare program members, I have been continually awed by their ambitions and amazed by their accomplishments, knowing that we are in fact making a difference.

AmeriCorps Invasion

Hi, I am Luke Docherty, a second-year AmeriCorps member serving with Downriver CARES and the Guidance Center. I am placed within The Guidance Center’s Juvenile Justice Day Treatment Program in Southgate, Michigan. I serve with youth ages 13-17 on juvenile probation and help transition them from their placement/detention centers to community-based schools. Downriver CARES (Community, Action, Resources, Enrichment, and Service) has 53 full time and 10 part-time members serving Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. The Downriver CARES AmeriCorps program is truly special because all of our members participate in a group service event every Friday with different Metro-Detroit non-profit organizations and our placement sites.

The 2012 Michigan’s AmeriCorps Week started on Monday, May 14, at the Belle Isle Conservancy for AmeriCorps members in the Downriver CARES, City Year Detroit, and Urban Safety Project programs. In total, 130 AmeriCorps members, volunteers, and AmeriCorps Alums came out to help restore the Belle Isle Zoo. The day was spent clearing fence line, removing invasive species, and performing general clean-up.



Following the Metro-Detroit area service project, it was time again for the Russ Mawby Signature Service Project. Each year, members from all of the AmeriCorps programs within the state join together for this group service project. This year, the project was located in the Grand Traverse area. We partnered with amazing local non-profits in the area, including SEEDS, the Conservation Resource Alliance, Habitat for Humanity Grand Traverse Region, the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, the United Way of Northwest Michigan, and the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District.

During the 2012 Russ Mawby Signature Service Project, more than 300 Michigan’s AmeriCorps members, alums, and community volunteers helped make a difference for the Grand Traverse region. The amazing service projects lead to some great outcomes including: 6,855 feet of new trails were built, maintained or improved; 100 trees were planted; 600 feet of fencing was removed in a wetland; 450 feet of fence was built; and many other outstanding projects. Together, all of the volunteers and members contributed more than 2,700 hours of service during this remarkable project. The service accomplished made, and will continue to make, a huge impact on the Traverse City communities, as does the service completed in our own backyards.



Though the Russ Mawby Signature Service Project is all about the service, it is also an outstanding way to get to know the remarkable AmeriCorps members throughout the state. Being able to interact and really get to know everyone truly makes this event special, and it truly speaks volumes that a group of people who are unfamiliar with each other can join together and get so many things done. First-year Downriver CARES AmeriCorps member Amanda Severino agrees, stating, “Joining together and sharing in the joys of service puts the AmeriCorps dream in perspective. Knowing that amazing service is being done everyday, not just in our specific programs but all around the state, is a refreshing feeling.”

In closing, I would like to thank everyone who was apart of this year’s Signature Service Project; you all have made this one of the most memorable experiences.

Building Strong Foundations

Hi, I’m Stephen Phillips, a second-year AmeriCorps member serving with the Cherry Street Community HealthCorps team at Cherry Street Health Services in Grand Rapids. Although AmeriCorps members may be known more for their humility and humble commitment to service, I can’t stop myself from bragging about my team, the largest Community HealthCorps team in the country! Given the common misconception that the greater Grand Rapids is a rather well-to-do area of our state, it may come as a surprise that the National Association of Community Health Centers has decided to dedicate so much manpower here. Yet, the reality on our streets shows that Grand Rapidians too are in desperate need of a broad range of services, much of which is met by the incredible efforts of the various AmeriCorps teams in this area.

Among those needs, securing access to affordable and competent health care for all citizens remains an important challenge, and it is our primary focus. Last year alone, our members assisted 21,424 new individuals from historically underserved and marginalized populations in gaining access to health services. Whether serving as an interpreter, outreach specialist, case manager, or in another capacity, our members strive to eliminate the barriers that have kept so many from living at their healthiest and, in doing so, build healthier communities from the ground up.

The commitment that my fellow Cherry Street AmeriCorps members and I have made to strengthen our communities through service often takes us beyond the familiar setting of the health center. On April 27, we put our commitment to the test once again by assisting Habitat for Humanity of Kent County in preparation for one of their largest events ever. That event, which took place the following day, assembled more than 400 volunteers from a local church to take part in a massive collaborative effort to construct completed frames for multiple homes over the course of a few hours.

Our participation as the ‘backstage’ volunteers for the event, although maybe less exciting and attention grabbing than putting together the finished products, was vital to its success. Responsible for ensuring that all necessary components of the frames were ready for assembly, our members drilled, cut, ripped wood, chalked and rigged jigs, and more, all with the enthusiasm of a group that recognized its larger purpose and understood its role. Our purpose was not to garner attention for ourselves or perfect our carpentry skills—although it was fun to throw around that construction jargon—rather we were there to lay the foundation for a successful event which would strengthen our community by giving families what they need to be successful; in this case, quality, affordable housing.

After I had some time to reflect on this experience with Habitat, I came to the realization that the role we fulfilled as so-called ‘backstage’ volunteers truly mirrors the roles that we play in our day-to-day service positions. Just as we provided the Habitat volunteers with the materials and tools necessary for success, so too do we try to provide our patients with the tools and information they need to overcome their challenges and lead a healthier, more productive life. With little fanfare and lots of compassion and patience, we sit ‘backstage’ as our patients learn to lead their own lives.

The Cherry Street AmeriCorps team will continue to engage our communities in this way. By laying the foundations upon which success is built, we will make our communities healthier and stronger. I look forward to continuing my service year with such an exceptional program, and I’m excited to see what impact Cherry Street and other area AmeriCorps programs will have on our city and this region over the coming months. The sky’s the limit!

Mental Notes on Mentoring

 Mentoring. What is it, exactly? Is it to help one navigate through their life? Is it to encourage and help one to begin to see the ‘big picture?’ Or possibly, could it be to help make adjustments, change tendencies, break or make habits? Are there methods that work better than others? Can I get a handbook?! Hi, I’m Mark Haskin, and as you can tell, I have a few questions about what it truly means to mentor.

I suppose I can sift through these questions by taking a cross section of what I’ve learned through my experiences as an AmeriCorps member and a mentor to youth.

Here at the Neighbors Plus Alternative Suspension Program (ASP), mentoring seems to be only a piece of what we do although I’ve found that it’s fingerprints are found throughout all of the activities I’ve been involved in during my two years as an AmeriCorps member with the Faith in Youth Partnership in Holland. The Faith in Youth Partnership is an organization that partners AmeriCorps members with seven local community agencies that serve the disadvantaged youth who live in the greater Holland area. At the Alternative Suspension Program, we serve 6^th- 9^th grade students who are part of the West Ottawa School District on Holland’s north side and have been either suspended or expelled from school. This voluntary program is offered to students free-of-charge and is made known to each student and guardian at the time of suspension/expulsion.

Though the program offers each student the opportunity to remain on track with their schoolwork through collaboration between the ASP staff and their individual teachers, the underlying goal of the program is to shed a light on the options and choices each student has in regards to their future. While doing this, we’re constantly reminded through our discussions with our students of the importance of perspective. As a middle school student, all we know is what we’ve been taught through our own family’s practices and actions. A child who grows up in a home of all factory workers, police officers or musicians may see few other options than becoming an assembly line manager, bailiff or a harpist. A child who knows only one way of life will most likely view any another option as foreign, thought it may seem quite normal to adults/staff members.

I’ve learned that when mentoring youth it is important to value the student for who they are, right now. Not for who they have the potential to become or even who we as mentors hope they will become, but simply, for who they are. It is important to value and acknowledge the positive qualities and characteristics that each student possesses in the present. It is important to recognize and seek to understand the values that they hold onto so tightly, and learn to appreciate these, even if they are different than our own.

Through academic progress and assisting students in achieving more than they imagined possible, we at ASP encourage students to dream of what they could become someday. By helping to make the difficult become understandable, the stressful to become do-able, and the impossible to become possible, students begin to develop self-confidence, self-motivation, and self-pride. One student, who has a particularly difficult time concentrating on math, recently told me that he didn’t want to take a break with the rest of the students because he wanted to keep working on his assignment! Knowing this student for quite some time and knowing that his reputation as a tough guy was on the line, I waited until the other students left the class room to jokingly ask, “Geeze, ya nerd, giving up your break to do math? What's gotten into you?” He responded, “What!? I’m not a nerd! It's just fun now that it isn’t hard anymore.” I answered, “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” I continued, “And I guess you don’t have to be a nerd to be good at math, huh?” “Nope!” he fired back with a smile.

At ASP, we sometimes have students for only a few days, and others for the length of an entire academic year. Naturally, the depths of relationships vary from student to student. During my two years of AmeriCorps service, I’ve learned that when mentoring youth, the deeper you allow yourself to be known, the more weight your words and actions hold. It is important to empathize with their pain and genuinely celebrate in their joy.  I think to do this, the mentor needs to have something on the line. To have given part of themselves to the other. Not simply time, energy or other resources – but themselves.

Through my experience, I guess this is what I’ve found to be true. Mentoring isn’t changing another person, having a list of goals, or even simply giving time and resources. It is the giving of a piece of one’s self to another.