Elizabeth City VISTA connects campus to community school

ECSU VISTA Marion Hudson describes his service in 6 words.

When he began his VISTA service at Elizabeth City State University in August 2012, Marion Hudson had some advice for fellow VISTA Tiara Pugh, who was new in town: "Elizabeth City is what you make it: if you aren't willing to go out and do something, you're gonna be bored."

From his experience as a student at ECSU, Marion knew the largest city in northeastern NC had plenty to offer, despite its rural surroundings. As an undergrad, he was involved in many volunteer and service activities with his fraternity Kappa Alpha Si, and his experiences working with kids at a nearby alternative school drew him to the VISTA opportunity at his alma mater. The VISTA positions would be used to increase the university's involvement with H.L. Trigg Community School, the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank County Public School System's alternative school for middle and high school students who have difficulty succeeding in a traditional school setting.

"I was pretty familiar with Trigg. We did service work over there such as putting on Black history programs and homework help," he recalls. "I knew the kids could use extra support."

As a VISTA, Marion worked to coordinate university student volunteers at Trigg, while Tiara planned enrichment programming that leveraged university resources, including career exploration days and college access programs. Marion also recruited and coordinated volunteers for ECSU's campus-wide community service events such as the MLK Day of Service. For Marion, working with Tiara was a "very, very great thing. Whenever I got stuck she would give me ideas. If one of us was hesitant, the other would say let's do it."

One of his proudest accomplishments this service year was the "Extreme Makeover" project for the Trigg school library. During Trigg's spring break week, ECSU volunteers spent several days re-painting the library and re-organizing materials, including new books and supplies collected

VISTA Tiara Pugh (R) sprucing up the Trigg school library.

through an earlier donation drive on-campus.

"The principal told us at the end of the year that was the most help they'd received in a long time," he recalled.

This past spring, Marion decided to re-enroll for a second year of VISTA service. He will continue working with ECSU students and with Trigg, and he is excited about a plan to develop Project Shadow, a college access program that will let Trigg students "shadow" ECSU students to see what college is like.

Already this year, Marion has had success, working with ECSU and Trigg administrators to create 4 work study positions to staff the Trigg school library that he helped renovate last year. (The school does not have a full-time media specialist.) He is also organizing a charity basketball tournament for the 9-11 Day of Service and Remembrance. In the year ahead, he'll keep working to help others "go out and do something" in the Elizabeth City community.

"The work has impacted me because it taught me to use patience with people and situations and not to let it deter me from my ultimate goals. Between H.L. Trigg and Elizabeth City State University, using the VISTA program, it's in the process of bridging the gap between the two and it's a lot closer than it's ever been."

Lighting it up - more VISTA project highlights!

MLK Day of Service was a big event for many of our VISTAs this term, as reported in a January blog post. VISTA Takira Dale, for example, helped to coordinate a MLK Day Read-In that drew 70 volunteers from 3 Winston-Salem-area campuses (Wake Forest, Winston-Salem State, and Salem College) to work with over 50 children, ages 4 -10. Participating kids were from Title I schools or agencies serving at-risk youth. The college students served as reading buddies for the day long event, which included fun activities geared to literacy, safety, civil rights history, and healthy eating.

VISTA Tiara Pugh and her supervisor work on MLK Day.

Elizabeth City State University, VISTAs Marion Hudson and Tiara Pugh coordinated an MLK Day event with the help of funds from NC Campus Compact's MLK Day Challenge Grant. The event drew 180 volunteers who served during the day at a dozen different host sites. The event was a partnership with two other local higher ed institutions, College of the Albermarle and Mid-Atlantic Christian University. 

Lenoir-Rhyne University VISTA Ariel Mitchell reports exciting new programs with her community partner, Centro Latino of Hickory, including a kids tutoring program that began in January and a new elder care program called "Adopto Un Abuelito," which will pair Centro Latino volunteers with elderly residents in the community to provide food assistance and companionship. Partners on the project include Meals on Wheels, the Backpack Project, and a local church. Having convened partners and given input on program design, Ariel will focus now on organizing food-donation drives to support the project.

At Virginia Tech, VISTA Alejandra O'Connor has implemented several improvements to ESL and citizenship programs offered by the Roanoke Redevelopment & Housing Authority (RRHA) and the Coalition for Refugee Resettlement (CRR), a Virginia Tech student organization. Alejandra worked with the RRHA to develop a statement of program goals, and she created a basic reading comprehension and citizenship knowledge assessment to be used in ESL classes. Happily, two of the students Alejandra supports passed their exam and became citizens this period.


Saarah Abdul-Rauf, UNC Chapel-Hill VISTA, established community mentors at Volunteers for Youth (VFY) in Chapel Hill. Saarah worked with the SMART mentoring program, a group at UNC previous providing mentor support for VFY, to transition to a community-based mentoring program.

During the past three months, some VISTAs also supported innovative local and regional alternative breaks. More on those in a future post!

VISTAs organize, serve on MLK Day

Over the MLK Day weekend, many NC Campus Compact VISTAs will coordinate service events for their campus and community host sites. Others will serve on projects with fellow AmeriCorps members.

At Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, VISTA Takira Dale is supporting the MLK Read-In Day on January 19th to promote literacy and service to young children. Participating children will receive a book on the theme of civil-rights, and volunteer reading buddies will read and complete community service activities with the kids. Takira is working in partnership with other national service members from HandsOn Northwest NC and student volunteers from WFU and partner campuses Winston-Salem State University and Salem College. Read about the event in the Winston Salem Chronicle.

At Lenoir-Rhyne University VISTA Ariel Mitchell expects over 50 volunteers to serve in honor of MLK Day at 5 community sites, including two local soup kitchens and her community partner, Centro Latino.


In Durham, VISTA Jeri Beckens is managing a canned food drive to help local food banks, part of Duke University's larger MLK Day of Service event. Led by former Campus Compact VISTA (and current Duke Durham Neighborhood Partnership staff member) Neil Hoefs, Duke's MLK Million Meals Event sets a goal to engage 1,000 volunteers to package thousands of meals through Stop Hunger Now.

In Wilmington, Feast Down East VISTA member Erin O'Donnell will team up with a local Food Corps volunteer to organize community and campus volunteers to build the LINC garden. LINC is a local non-profit that helps ex-offenders and at-risk youth become productive community members.

At Elizabeth City State University VISTAs Tiara Pugh and Marion Hudson are using an NC Campus Compact MLK Day grant to organize a event with two other local campuses, Mid-Atlantic University and College of the Albermarle to carry out an MLK Day of Service at various community sites.

In Chapel Hill, two Campus Compact VISTA's, the Jackson Center's Monica Palmiera and UNC Chapel Hill's Saarah Abdul-Rauf, are working with the Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate Program to host a discussion dinner in honor of MLK Day so participants can talk about how to improve education for children.

A number of other Campus Compact VISTA members will coordinate service events in their communities this weekend, including Queens VISTA Christina D'Aulerio, UNC Greensboro VISTA Anya Piotrowski, Durham Tech VISTA Sally Parlier, Wake Tech VISTA Jennifer Evans, Virginia Tech VISTA Wyatt Taylor, UNC Asheville VISTA Sara Brown, and ECU VISTA Elizabeth Corney.

VISTA Profile: Tiara Pugh

First-year VISTA Tiara Pugh is already an AmeriCorps veteran, having served last year with NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) in the Pacific Region, a far cry from her hometown of Siler City, NC. She is now serving at Elizabeth City State University to build a strong partnership with the H.L. Trigg Community School, an alternative school for middle and high school students.

CC: What previous volunteer work or experience led you to
becoming a VISTA?
TP: I did AmeriCorps NCCC these last 9 months. I have worked in the rain, snow, and ice planting trees and chopping wood in the North West and worked in the blistering 100 degrees of Utah searching for beaver habitats while wading in waist deep water and closing roads. It was hard but all worth it in the end.

Tiara served last year with NCCC in the Pacific Region.

CC: What drew you to the project at ECSU with the H.L. Trigg Community School?

TP: At NC Central University, my alma mater, I majored in psychology with a minor in child development. I eventually want to end up in the education field but I don't know for sure if I want to teach just yet. I did an NCCC round in south central LA and saw first hand what a low income school is like. It was my favorite placement but also my most challenging. I served at an elementary school doing after school tutoring and the kids were both challenging and loveable. I worked with 2nd and 3rd graders. I wish I was super woman so I could help all children succeed in school! My VISTA project gives me a chance to know more about the NC education system and how I can help low income school systems succeed.

CC: Tell us a little more about your work with Trigg.

TP: Marion Hudson (another NC Campus Compact VISTA based at ECSU) and I are working to start a tutoring and mentoring program to support the school. We're recruiting ECSU student volunteers, training them, and setting up the program. We've also spent time in the school observing and talking with staff, and we've seen needs like new weight room equipment and grade-level reading material, so we are working with groups at ECSU to donate used equipment and put together a book drive.

CC: You're a North Carolina native, but you're new to Elizabeth City. How is it so far?
TP: They have a farmer's market here on Saturdays so I've been down there and it was nice. I also went to a football game that was fun. Everyone here has been really friendly.

CC: Tell us something about yourself that not many people know.
TP:  I want to travel as much as possible. India is a must see for me so I hope to get there one day. I'm a great dancer! No, just kidding, but I love to dance.