Experience is the Best Teacher

Hello my name is Tamika Davis-Moore, and I am a second-year AmeriCorps member serving with the Michigan’s Campaign to End Homelessness AmeriCorps program. My service site is the Community Housing Network (CHN) in Troy, MI. The Community Housing Network is dedicated to providing homes for people in need and access to resources to create sustainable communities.

At CHN I serve as the PATH outreach specialist. PATH stands for “Projects to Assist in Transition from Homelessness.” I do street outreach to individuals that have severe and persistent mental illness and who are homeless. The program is unique because we have to be creative in building trusting relationships with individuals who feel they have been let down and taken advantage of by various systems and people. In the past two years I have assisted more than 300 individuals with resources and 44 people with permanent housing. It has been a very rewarding experience!



One of the most successful individuals I’ve worked with had been homeless for six years. When I met Terrance at the soup kitchen, he was sleeping outside when the shelter was full, and in need of physical and mental health treatment. I coordinated services with mental health and the free health clinic. Soon after, I gained his trust and he started substance abuse treatment. I then coordinated services with SSI/SSDI so he could receive benefits. Six months later I was able to find him housing. He achieved what we in the program call the “four legged stool” to remain sustainable (benefits, housing, supports, and daily active living). I shared Terrance’s story and he and I were invited to speak on the importance of the program. I am very proud of Terrance, who is still doing very well.



My year as a LeaderCorps member has been challenging, yet very rewarding. I enjoyed meeting new people and learning about their programs and the important role they play in the community. I have increased my public speaking skills and networked with people to build lasting relationships. The Russ Mawby Signature Service Project, which took place May 16-17 in Lansing, was a great experience that showed me how people can make a huge difference in lives and communities when they come together.

My AmeriCorps service and involvement in LeaderCorps has made a positive impact in my life. I gained experience and skills that will advance my future in the human services profession. Experience really is the best teacher.

AmeriCorps...The Road Less Traveled

Hello my name is Michelle McGlaun, an AmeriCorps member serving as a HealthCorps Navigator. The AmeriCorps program through which I serve is Community HealthCorps, a National Direct program operating in several states throughout the U.S. My service site is the Cherry Street Health Services (CSHS) at the Heart of the City Health Center. Cherry Street's mission is to improve the health and wellness of individuals by providing comprehensive primary and behavioral health care while improving the access of those who are underserved. 

In order to accomplish this goal, Cherry Street offers services at 25 sites throughout Michigan. This makes CSHS the largest federally-qualified health center in Michigan.  At Heart of the City, I am in Patient Services where I perform patient outreach.  In short, I connect our clients to different types of resources that they need.

One example of how I am able to help connect patients with the resources they need is the recent case of a patient whom I helped to apply for Medicaid. This client had previously been denied Medicaid because he had not been declared disabled. After he was denied, he tried to get several jobs but because of his medical issues, he was unable to keep jobs for long periods of time. 

After he lost his last job,  I decided to try again to help him apply for disability and Medicaid. I met with him and together we filled out the Medicaid application. After that, I pulled together all of his medical records and the other information required to apply for Medicaid. Because I helped to pull all of these records together, they were available for review by the judge who was determining the patient's disability case. Once the judge was able to actually see all of his medical conditions, the client was approved for Medicaid and disability. 

Many people had given up on this gentleman and his case since he had already been denied for disability several times. But as a result of myself and other CSHS staff who decided to try one more time, we were able to help him get approved for disability and Medicaid services that will help improve his life.

With only six weeks left in my second year of AmeriCorps service, I am grateful for stories such as these which have made my two years of service a great benefit to me.  I have been able to serve a vast amount of clients at Heart of the City and I have also been able to volunteer with several different organizations through out Grand Rapids.   

Even though I have enjoyed my service year, it has also come with its share of challenges.  Like when the resources available are not enough to meet the needs of the clients, or when a client I have helped has unexpectedly passed away. But I have been able to use both the triumphs and challenges to my advantage, because they have taught me how to be a better communicator, leader, and a more compassionate person.

Building Houses, Building Hope

Hi all, my name is Travis Boeskool and I serve as the community outreach and development coordinator at Habitat for Humanity in Lansing, Michigan. My position here is just one of many that are part of the Habitat for Humanity Michigan's AmeriCorps program. Our members serve in many different capacities including construction liaisons, site supervisors, volunteer coordinators, family services, and outreach functions. We volunteer at sites from Detroit to Muskegon and from Lenawee County into the Upper Peninsula. 

My fellow members and I all serve to advance the underlying goal of Habitat for Humanity; to provide every human being with safe, decent, and affordable housing.  In my capacity as the community outreach and development coordinator, I attempt to accomplish that goal through meeting, listening, and speaking with the community our affiliate has targeted. We are in the process of launching a repair program for low-income homeowners and half the battle involves making sure we are meeting the needs that the community itself identifies.

Many of my peers interacted with Habitat for Humanity (HFH) in their hometown early in life, whether it was through churches, their parents’ companies, or just out of an early commitment to service. I, however, wasn’t lucky enough to encounter the ‘Habitat Model’ until the summer of 2011. Of course I had heard of Habitat for Humanity before but I thought of it in the way that many do- that organization that Jimmy Carter founded that gives away houses to ‘poor’ people. Well that belief could not have been farther from the truth.

That summer I embarked on a bike trip that changed my life. I teamed up with 33 other passionate young adults from across America to ride our bike across the country and raise money and awareness for affordable housing through a wonderful program called Bike & Build. To me, the adventure of moving under my own power from Charleston, South Carolina to Santa Cruz, California was the draw, but I took away much more. As the nation’s foremost provider of affordable housing, most of our stops to build homes during our trip meant working with Habitat.

Through the seemingly endless history and safety presentations, as well as by volunteering on the job site, I came to understand the genius in Habitat’s model. It is best explained through this simple phrase, “a hand up, not a hand out.” By utilizing a primarily volunteer workforce, Habitat is able to sell homes to partner families at a zero-percent interest mortgage, creating a significant savings over a traditional mortgage. Our homeowners come from an incredibly diverse background but all have a few things in common. They must work closely with the affiliate in construction of their new home, as well as the homes of partner families, spending sometimes 500 hours on the construction site and volunteering at other non-profits to complete their ‘sweat equity’ and purchase their home.

After graduating from Michigan State University in May 2012, I was a little lost on where to go next, until I found out that my local affiliate had an AmeriCorps position open in community development. I signed on right away and dove into the service my position required.

I quickly realized that trying to effect positive change in a community is not easy. Not everyone is ready for it and the ‘solution’ isn’t always readily apparent. I have talked to neighbors in our target community whose first reaction was, “Oh we know this, people like you have come before and they all left without changing anything.” The skepticism some of our neighbors express can be frustrating, but it is easy to understand, too. Most people want to see their neighborhood improve and frustration is natural when big promises are made and nothing is changed.

That is why we are taking what we think is a more effective approach. We are partnering with local community based organizations and associations, but most importantly, we are partnering with the residents themselves. My role means that I spend time going door-to-door, talking with my neighbors (I live in our target area), attending community meetings, and really listening to the concerns our residents’ voice. A quick example: At one of my recent outreach presentations, a neighbor I was acquainted with approached me wanting to talk about a local community garden. The garden was in the process of being paved to allow neighbors with wheel chairs access, but the man doing most of the bricklaying had hurt his back and couldn’t do the labor anymore. The garden needed to be completed in two weeks for a potluck they were holding to encourage neighbors to get out and meet each other. Her question was simple; could HFH Lansing supply any volunteers to lay bricks and tidy the garden before the potluck? While our base of volunteers generally prefers construction, I was able to put her in touch with a local group seeking volunteer opportunities to work in the garden.

That is what I am hoping to leave behind after my service. Sure, I hope my affiliate continues to fix up our neighbors houses, but more importantly I hope

the neighbors are able to make those important connections with each other and continue to improve their own neighborhood. I truly believe that positive change like this only comes when the residents themselves are intimately involved with each other.

In closing, I want to say that service, and in particular my AmeriCorps service, has inspired me. I am now able to see that extra value that comes from doing ‘work’ you truly believe in. I hope that every person has the opportunity to have their life enriched in the same way that my volunteering has mine. So, on that note, Let’s Get Things Done!

PS. Habitat for Humanity was founded by Millard Fuller in 1976, not President Carter.

Making a Difference in Michigan

My name is Anji Reynolds, and I proudly serve through the Power of We Consortium AmeriCorps Program as the Gardening Educator AmeriCorps member at the Allen Neighborhood Center (ANC) in Lansing. Here at ANC, we build programs that focus on health, housing, food security, economic development, and building social capital on Lansing’s Eastside. Most of my time as the Gardening Educator is spent in the Hunter Park GardenHouse, a 30’ x 96’ urban greenhouse located in Hunter Park, just down the street from ANC. The GardenHouse serves as a hub for year-round garden education and a community gathering space, and is fueled by volunteers on a daily basis.

Before my service year began, I spent months at the Hunter Park GardenHouse as a volunteer and intern, and it has really become a second home for me. As a Michigan's AmeriCorps member, my role is to bring in presenters for our food and gardening workshops, as well as to lead volunteer groups and teach gardening education to our Youth Service Corps (our youth program for 11-17 year olds). This summer, I will also be going into the neighborhoods and helping neighbors with home gardening and maintenance. Teaching people how easy it is to grow their own food, as well as how they can save money and eat healthy, has been a great experience. I feel lucky that I have the opportunity to make changes in my community at a very basic level, and have fun doing it.

Leading up to this point in my life has been quite a personal journey for me. Most of my childhood and my college years have been spent in East Lansing, just a jog away from where I currently serve. For a long time, I remember wanting to leave town (and really the state) and begin some fantastic life I thought existed elsewhere. Michigan cities are struggling – and I did not want to go down with them. After some unfulfilling professional experience, I ended up jobless and halfway around the world. When my bank account ran dry, I found myself moving back home to East Lansing with a very negative attitude.

Realizing that my grand plans for travel were squashed, I had some decisions to make. I had the choice of wallowing in a jobless, apathetic funk or actually DOING something to change my life and my city. I was tired of hearing about the economy and the plunging morale of people. I spent way too much time waiting for someone else to fix those problems and never considered that I could do anything about it. AmeriCorps has been a life and attitude changing experience that has given me so much confidence and a feeling of ownership for the place I live. I can’t imagine leaving Michigan now.

This past month, more than 300 Michigan’s AmeriCorps members joined me in changing my city when they gathered in Lansing for the annual Russ Mawby Signature Service Project. It was the first time the project had come to Lansing, and my fellow Power of We AmeriCorps members and I worked hard to put together plans for the 2-day event. Having never attended a Signature Service Project, I was excited, but unsure what to expect.

My role as an emcee and a LeaderCorps member for the event gave me a unique perspective: during those moments of speaking into the microphone, I was face to face with hundreds of bright, eager members. In addition to being nervous to speak, I was caught off guard by how inspiring that image was. Here I was, standing at the Capitol and talking to a crowd of people just like me. People who want change, who want to improve their lives and the lives of others, and who want to lead by example. Members young and old who were willing to give their time and energy to service. Michigan residents who care and are willing to get their hands dirty for the sake of moving forward. And here they were, helping make my city a better place.

As the service project pressed on, I got to serve with and get to know so many people, who are doing SO many cool things. After seeing the changes made to my own host site and other sites around the city, I couldn’t help but feel proud – and you should too. While I get to see the changes we made every day, it may be hard for some to relate now that they are back in their own cities. But I would like to personally thank each and every member for their participation – Lansing is beautiful because of you.

I am continually inspired through my service. Even on the hard days (because believe me, there are plenty of those), I try to remember something my dad has said to me for years: “little victories.” Real change is not always immediate. You have to be patient and persistent even when it’s hard. AmeriCorps has been a saving grace for me, and has helped foster career and personal goals I never thought I’d pursue. If there’s one thing this experience has taught me it’s that service is valuable and necessary – YOU are valuable and necessary! YOU help your cities and neighborhoods progress into the places you will want to raise your children some day. YOU are putting Michigan back on the map as a place to live and work. And YOU keep me going when the going gets tough. Thank you!