Hump Month Blog #4: Note to self: a beloved community doesn’t have to be perfect

This is our fourth and final post in our Hump Month blog series! All month, our 2014-15 VISTAs shared their thoughts at the half-way point of their 12-month service commitment.

Please note: Any opinions expressed on the VISTA VIEW blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions, or policies of North Carolina Campus Compact, the AmeriCorps VISTA program or the Corporation for National and Community Service.

By Hannah Paek

AmeriCorps VISTA at East Carolina University 

Hannah with the volunteers on
Make a Difference Day

Ever since I got the email from Perdita asking for a Hump Month blog post, I had been racking my brains on what to write about. At first, I was worried that I would have nothing to write about. But now I realize that that might have been an “easier” problem – I could have made something up, for all anyone would know. The actual problem, though, is that there are too many blog-worthy topics. Do I write about this crazy period of transition that both endlessly frustrates me but also humbles me? Should I write about my wonderful co-workers and supervisor who have helped me (and are still helping me) get through these transitions, and discover and unpack my self-identity? Do I focus on my work in my office at East Carolina University, or should I share more about the sense of community that I feel in “West” Greenville? 

I decided to try to incorporate all of the above into one blog post – so bear with me, it might get messy.

Exactly one week before MLK Day of Service, everything that could go wrong, went wrong – some were my mistakes, others were things that were out of my control. Whoever’s fault it was, I was the one that had to rectify all of those mistakes. I thought that because Make a Difference Day went pretty smoothly (some bumps here and there), MLK Day would go just as smoothly, if not more. Nope. Having everything blow up in my face a week before D-day really freaked me out. All the way up until the day of service, I was nervous. This was going to be bigger than Make a Difference Day; this was a day celebrating Dr. King; this was an entire day that I organized. If it was a bad day, I would be R U I N E D.

Not really.

ECU Students Volunteering
on MLK Day

The day went as smoothly as any day of service could go. We had a solid kick-off with breakfast, speeches, and a brief pre-service reflection activity. Students went off to their service sites, then participated in a post-service reflection activity. This activity involved them drawing out their own vision for a “Beloved Community” and coming up with 3-5 ways that they wanted to live out this vision. Students came back for a closing ceremony where they had an opportunity to share their illustrations and their commitments.

Numbers-wise, it was a successful day – we nearly doubled Make a Difference Day’s numbers and last year’s MLK Day. But what made this day particularly memorable for me was the blow-up from the week before and the post-service reflection activity.

This day of service wasn’t about me. It was about the students, it was about community. The theme for this day of service was “Beloved Community.” I wanted the day to be about envisioning this and living this out. Yet there I was, a week before the day of service, crying with frustration because of everything that went wrong and thinking up all the ways that this day of service could go even more wrong.

I almost let the logistics and the administrative details make me forget about the meaning of this day. I almost let my desire for a perfect day tear me away from why I’m in this field to begin with.

At the closing ceremony, a few students from each project site shared about their experience. Hearing them make their own connections from their project to Dr. King’s vision for the “Beloved Community,” and listening to them talk about what “Beloved Community” means and looks like – this! This is why I love what I do and this is what inspires me.

2015 MLK Day of
Service at ECU

You know how in interviews, the employer asks the potential employee “What’s one of your weaknesses?” and one of the clichéd responses is “I’m a perfectionist.”? (*rolls eyes*) Well, that’s me. (*rolls eyes again*) I don’t think I truly realized why that’s a weakness until I sat down with my supervisor, post-blow-up, to unpack this.

As a young professional, I think it’s easy to let perfectionism get the best of you – especially if you’ve been a perfectionist for the past 20+ years. You want things to go well, you want to get recognized, you don’t want to be known as THAT woman/man that messed up, etc. But what I’ve been realizing is that sometimes those mistakes and those “failures” (for lack of a better word) are very much necessary to sober you up and keep you focused. In this field of work, especially, where education, children, social justice, and community involvement intermingle; it’s important for you not to get caught up in the numbers or the attention.

I am here to serve. I am not here to teach, to help, or to advise – because that would imply that I’m better in some way. I’m not. I’m here to grow and learn alongside everyone else through what I do – and that’s service. Individuals and communities always make mistakes. But it’s how you respond to those mistakes that determines what kind of individual and community you build. So embrace those imperfections instead of being critical of yourself and others because of those flaws. Embrace them to raise yourself and others up into a stronger community.

Campus Compact VISTAs lead 1300 volunteers on MLK Day of Service

On Monday, January 19th, we celebrated the life and legacy of one of the most prominent role models of this country-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In addition to being the leader in the fight against racial inequality, Dr. King is also a preeminent figure in the fight for social and economic equality. On MLK Day, communities across the nation came together in a day of service to continue Dr. King's dream of a just society.

Our AmeriCorps VISTAs have each dedicated a year of service to fight poverty all across North Carolina. For the past few months, many of our members have been planning MLK Day of Service projects to mobilize students and community members for not only a day of service, but to use this day as a catalyst for a long term increase in community-engagement. This year, our VISTAs provided service opportunities for over 1300 volunteers who served for a combined 4600 hours.  

UNCA Volunteers
encourage reading

At UNC Asheville, VISTA Jess-Mara Jordan serving with the Key Center, mobilized over 140 volunteers who worked at nine different service project sites From organizing donations at Habitat ReStore, making arts and crafts for children, to beautifying the streets in Downtown Asheville, the volunteers collectively served for approximately 900 hours. Jess-Mara also spoke of how it warmed her heart to see “everything and everyone, including our new Chancellor, come together for my second MLK Day of Service at UNC-Asheville. Last year was record-breaking and it felt great to see so many people invested in service but to see that the culture has not only remained, but is still growing has made every late night and every little detail worth it.” Read the UNCA News Feature.

Volunteers at HPU
packaging meals 

VISTAs Kemi Ademuyo, Anna Mahathey, and Shannon Barr of  High Point University‘s Campus Support Program’s Office coordinated an entire weekend of events. On Monday, January 19^th, 679 volunteers decided to make it a day ON and volunteered at 20 different community sites in High Point, collectively serving over 2000 hours in a single day. Volunteers participated in a street clean up, packing essential items for the homeless, preparing and cleaning a community garden at the Macedonia Family Resource Center, painting and sprucing up various churches and spending time with senior residents at the Piedmont Christian Home. They also packed over 20,000 meals with Stop HungerNow and hosted a field day at the Hartley YMCA for the children. Our Executive Director Leslie Garvin stopped by to help out as well. The volunteers and their projects were also featured on the local news here.

VISTA Hannah Paek at East Carolina University's Volunteer and Service-Learning Center coordinated a Day of Service with the vision of celebrating Dr. King’s legacy of creating a “Beloved Community.” Over 240 volunteers led by student leaders participated in an opening ceremony which included a screening of the I Have a Dream speech, serving at 10 project sites and a closing ceremony which allowed the volunteers to share their visions and hopes of a “Beloved Community.” The volunteers were featured in this news segment. 

6th Annual Read-In at
WFU

VISTAs Naijla Faizi and Natasha Vos with Wake Forest's Pro Humanitate Institute collaborated with Winston-Salem State University and Hand-On Northwest NC to host the 6th AnnualRead-In. Over 160 volunteers participated to work with 115 elementary school aged children. The children were encourage to read, learn the history of the civil rights movement and each were presented with three free books. Naijla worked with several on-campus and off-campus organizations to make the Read-In a success. She collaborated with the sororities at Wake Forest University who hosted a book-drive for the Read-In that collected enough books for not only this year, but also the next! Our own VISTA Leader Catherine Casteel dropped in to participate in the Read-In. 

VISTA Kali Hackett at UNC Greensboro Office of Leadership and Service-Learning coordinated 9 projects with 70 volunteers throughout the city. In addition to mural painting at Youth Focus, street cleanup, baking goodies for hospice patients, some of the volunteers also participated in the Day of Service event hosted by the Greensboro Volunteer Center at the Four Seasons Mall. NC Campus Compact Program Coordinator Chad Fogleman also stopped by to participate in a service project with the volunteers.

App State students
volunteer with
Hospitality House

VISTA, Brittany Johnson with the Hospitality House of Boone, led a team of 20 volunteers who cleaned, painted and did minor repairs at the Welcome Home Thriftique as part of the MLK Challenge. The volunteers also got a chance to visit the Hospitality House and learn about its services. Brittany shared that “My favorite thing about this day of service is that students choose to have a day on rather than take a day off for the sake of helping others. The students who volunteered at the Thriftique were so excited to dive into the work needed. Their teamwork and passion made a huge difference for our project. I was thrilled to be able to share our cause and purpose with them. These student volunteers accepted and completed the challenge, proving that anything is possible and how working together can create change.”

Our VISTAs continue Dr. King's legacy day in and day out, as they tirelessly work to build the capacities of their community organizations and universities for the growth of a more engaged and better-served society. They believe, as Dr. King did, that “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

VISTA Quarterly Report: Leveraging Resources for Long-term Impacts

Here's an update on how our VISTA members are mobilizing North Carolina's communities and

VISTA Willie Jones grows garden
program, Photo Credit: Tanner Hall

 continuing to fight poverty with the power of higher education!

Our measurable impact from the past four months:

• $49,495 cash and grant resources generated
• $7,221 in-kind resources generated 
• 1,751 volunteers mobilized
• 13,070 hours of service performed by volunteers

To date, our VISTAs and the programs and organizations they support have improved the lives of individuals:

• 176 low-income people received housing-related or financial literacy services
• 180 at-risk students completed participation in an education assistance program
• 117 at-risk youth/mentor matches were sustained for the required time period
• 11 new service programs met needs of low-income people or at-risk K-12 students and 72 new volunteer recruitment, management, and training processes supported these service programs.

VISTA Jess-Mara Jordan promotes Open
Doors' Annual Art Auction on the news

VISTA Jess-Mara Jordan transformed the STRIVE mentoring program at Open Doors of Asheville into a UNCA service-learning class for credit, and created a mentor curriculum which includes training on cultural competency, non-parent role models, college exposure, and much much more. Jess also volunteered at "Open Doors' Annual Art Auction" which raised $100,000.

VISTA Willie Jones turned his gleaning program into a gardening club to create a critical base of volunteers year-round. He and the new club members gleaned and secured 712.5 pounds of food this past quarter through the Fill-the-Bag Food Drive, which goes to the Community Table and other Cullowhee food pantries supporting over 25,000 people over the course of a year. His work was featured in this local news article. Apart from Willie's primary gardening and food distribution projects, he also helped raise over $3,000 for "The Unbroken Circle" Fundraiser, to support the victims of the mudslide in Oso, Washington and their families in Western North Carolina. Willie also participated in the "Cullowhee Fire Fundraiser", to benefit the victims of a fire which consumed 3 local businesses and left almost 30 workers displaced. 

VISTA Brittany Johnson secured a building location for Hospitality House of Boone's Thrift store! Once the store is operational, it will create a sustainable source of revenue for the organization. She is now developing a volunteer and recruitment program for volunteers to work at the store, teaming up with ACT to recruit Appalachian State University students. The 5k Memorial Day Fundraiser, notably named the "Color Blast", will support start-up costs for the thrift store.

VISTA Jacob Lerner with the Marion Cheek Jackson Center in Chapel Hill piloted a landlord research team to better determine students' relationships with landlords and what impact these relationships have on the community, and has also developed a student outreach team to help build networks among neighbors, learn more about what neighbors' issues, and connect folks with information about the Jackson Center. Jacob also supports volunteer efforts at the Heavenly Groceries food ministry, which welcomes close to 80 people each day, who then go home and feed their families. Jacob also had $600 worth of food donated to feed 300 people for the Marion Cheek Jackson Center's annual May Day Celebration.

HPU Bonner Leaders tutor students at
the Macedonia Family Resource Center
Photo Credit: HPU Bonner FB page

VISTA Anna Mahathey at High Point University worked with the Bonner Leaders Program to develop Bonners Chats, inviting students and community members alike to discuss and learn about poverty, food insecurity, and other social justice issues specific to High Point. Their Chats included topics entitled "Childhood Literacy, Poverty, & the Impact it has on Children in School," , "Putting a Face on Homelessness," and "Immigrant and Refugee Justice," The chats engaged over 50 people.

VISTA Bevelyn Ukah at Guilford College launched the African Youth Initiative (AYI) Youth Advisory Board with 5 youth and 4 interns. In collaboration with the board, Bevelyn secured a $1,500 grant from the Community Foundation Teen Grantmaking Council  to support AYI Youth Ambassador operational functions. This advisory board creates space for youth ownership, learning, and creativity, and has most recently been focusing on food security. They have partnered with the Food Youth Initiative through the Center for Environmental Farming Systems to discuss forming a community garden and supporting local food education. 

VISTA Erin O'Donnell works with low-income Wilmington residents who not only participate in the Rent-A-Farmer CSA Produce Box program and Feast Down East's Fresh Market, but who also collaborate in planning and implementing new Feast Down East Projects. Erin worked with local farmers to donate $265 worth of fresh organic produce to these programs as well.

VISTA Ariel Mitchell at Lenoir Rhyne hosted several food drives for her community partner, Centro Latino, her largest spanning 15 days to end on National Volunteer Week. They collected over 200 food items to support Centro Latinos' emergency food bank. 

VISTA Takira Dale at Duke University's Community Service Center incorporated a donation drive into her Alternative Spring Break "Dive Into Durham", to donate 150 hygiene kits for Urban Ministries of Durham.

PAGE program youth working on
digital media project

VISTA Elizabeth McIntosh recruited 7 interns to support the PAGE summer program, an educational enrichment program for which she recruited 30 middle school girls. The program is set to launch on June 17th. Elizabeth developed a new partnership with Hot Springs Learning Center, and received sponsorships from both local groups such as the Presbyterian Women's Association, as well as groups at the corporate level including the Community Foundation of Central Florida. Most recently, she received a donation from a local family to start a Farm to Table initiative to address food insecurity in Madison County, and at PAGE's summer camp, where the participants will learn about healthy eating and farming.

VISTA Camille Smith spearheaded the Wake Up and Read Book Drive, which collected over 67,000 children's books to increase literacy in Wake County!

VISTA Sarah Cohn at the Community Empowerment Fund in Chapel Hill trained and supported 25 volunteer advocates this quarter, who in turn worked with 176 people experiencing homelessness to provide housing-related support. Forty-three of those 176 folks also attended financial literacy classes. Not only does Sarah match volunteers with clients, this quarter she also created an impact evaluation framework for CEF. The framework lays a foundation for CEF to improve data collection methods over time to better understand how CEF can meet client needs.

VISTA Shifra Sered recruited teachers and designed the program for "Arts on Third Street," in which 40 low-income youth in west Greenville participated. Shifra's primary achievement has been the creation of  a 30 page volunteer manual and the design of a volunteer orientation to support educational programming at the Third Street Community Center.

Queens University mentor with his
Sedgefield Elementary mentee

VISTA Christina Hudson sustained mentor relationships of Queens University students as pen pals, lunch buddies, and
after school care tutors and classroom assistants to students at Sedgefield Elementary. These efforts were supported by the elementary school's new emailing system informing volunteers of different opportunities to get involved. Christina also teamed up with Promising Pages to donate 398 books to Sedgefield, enough to start a new library.

The North Carolina Campus Compact VISTA impact spreads far and wide, and with it goes the word about AmeriCorps VISTA. One of our VISTAs shared, "I spread the word about AmeriCorps everywhere I go. I personally feel I can't tell people what I do or am trying to do without promoting AmeriCorps."

Read more about our VISTAs' work on Alternative Spring Break trips and MLK Days of service, and Devin Corrigan's large-scale MLK Day event in Greensboro. And if you missed our earlier project updates, learn about the rest of their work.

UNCP VISTA stages huge events where community is the star

"I feel like you have to have passion to do this kind of work. I have a strong passion and pride for the community that I work with here in Pembroke," says Dalton Hoffer, NC Campus Compact's AmeriCorps VISTA working in the University of North Carolina at Pembroke's Office for Community and Civic Engagement.

UNCP volunteers fill emergency food bags.

Five years ago, Dalton moved to UNCP from the small North Carolina town of Sneeds Ferry to pursue a degree in Public Relations. At first, he wasn't sure he was going to stay, because he'd been looking for an experience in a bigger school and city than the small fishing town where he grew up. After becoming involved in community service, he realized Robeson County was large and its community welcoming.  Robeson County is, in fact, the largest county geographically in North Carolina, but it also has the highest poverty rate of any county at 30.6%.

Dalton grew attached to the place through volunteering with UNC Pembroke's Office for Community and Civic Engagement, eventually becoming a student service leader. Dalton recalls, "As a student leader I developed my passion for service and empowering others to do great things [and] VISTA allows [me to continue] all of those."

Dalton checking-in students for MLK Day service projects

As an AmeriCorps VISTA, Dalton primarily does student outreach on campus to introduce students to service. He has coordinated various days of service including the Freshman Day of Service, the Back to School Bash, and the MLK Day of service where he recruited over 200 volunteers to work at 10 community organizations! Aubry Swett, Director for the CCE Office where Dalton works beautifully summarized the day's events:

"One group worked at the on campus community garden near the Pine Cottage north of campus. Two other groups worked at local soup kitchens, My Refuge and Lumberton Christian Care, preparing and feeding members in the community. UNCP's largest group worked with the Robeson County Church and Community Center (RCCCC) doing a total five projects. Those projects included but were not limited to: power washing windows, moving furniture, cutting wood, organizing the food pantry, cleaning products, sweeping and mopping the home store. This group also built a ramp at a local community member’s home, creating access for her to easily become more engaged within the community. Partnering with the Lumberton Housing Authority another group engaged local K-12 students in a Reading Party led by students from UNCP and RCCCC.  Children danced, read books, played games and did activities focused on healthy eating. Another group prepared 140 food bags and organized the clothing house for clients at Borderbelt AIDS Resource Team (BART). Other student volunteers served at the local Odum Home across the street from the University organizing and cleaning their food pantry. The group that served at the Rape Crisis Center prepared and organized 156 hygiene bags for future clients that will be in need. The last groups served at the Humane Society walking, washing, and playing with cats and dogs alike." NC Campus Compact's own Leslie Garvin, Associate Director, jumped in to the action as well, saying of the event, "I was really impressed with Dalton's organization of so many different volunteer opportunities. Tons of people turned up, and I had a lot of fun!"

Dalton & service leader Evan Long
act to engage student volunteers.

Through these one-day events, Dalton says, he hopes to "engage students to participate in more powerful and meaningful experiences." For instance, Dalton's main project is developing and implementing the Brave Impact Mentoring Program as a partnership between UNCP and the Pembroke Housing Authority (PHA). Dalton works closely with PHA's Director of Residential Services, Sandy Jacobs, to create the mentoring program so that it both fits the needs of the participating high school youth as well as appeals to other area high schoolers. On the UNCP side of things, Dalton recruited and now manages the Brave Impact TEAM, consisting of 18 UNCP students. As part of the program's design, Dalton led the students in a weekend retreat, not only to be trained as mentors but to collectively lay the foundation for what the program will look like.

Dalton recounts of the retreat, "I brought Sandy in the second night and we had a little fire where we got to roast marshmallows and create smore’s while we discussed the needs of the youth we will be working with.  I really thought I would have to kind of push or ask questions.  However, once we all circled around the fire,...just about everyone was asking questions and sharing backgrounds and personal history and I was amazed by how much passion they had and [had] developed for the program. After we talked for a while, we sat [around the fire for another hour] reflecting on the weekend so far and what our hopes for the program were.  At that point I realized that the TEAM we created was headed in a really great direction."

The TEAM now meets every other week with Dalton to develop and fine tune the programs and activities, and the program is set to launch this week!  "We expect hiccups, however we should be prepared enough to iron out the wrinkles" says Dalton confidently. As a hands-on kind of guy, Dalton loves to jump right in to his work, but for the mentoring program, his planning has paid off, and he has still gotten to implement a learning-by-doing approach by having his mentors help plan the program together! "That's why we put "TEAM" in all capitals," Dalton said. "We wanted to emphasize that we were all in this together."

Saying Dalton's only star role is his VISTA work would be a major understatement, or a minor understatement, if you take into account his minor in Musical Theatre. While an undergrad at UNCP, Dalton acted in many productions; he played Seymour in "Little Shop of Horrors," Amos in "Chicago," and Wilbur in "Charlotte's Web." Dalton says he is "planning on playing a part in the musical they are doing this spring at UNCP, “Man of La Mancha.” Dalton's passion for engaging others reaches throughout his work, whether on or off the stage. After his VISTA service is over, Dalton wants to pursue a master's degree in higher education. "I love pushing students out into the community and learning to engage in a new experience," says Dalton. "I have never had the same experience twice here in the great and powerful, yet small Pembroke, NC."

If you want to learn more about the work going on in Pembroke, NC or you want to get more involved in the opportunities Dalton and the Office of Community and Civic Engagement provide, give Dalton a call! This Spring the CCE Office will host their last UNCP Day of Service for the year on March 29th, and could be the perfect opportunity for you to engage your own passion.

Campus Compact VISTAs Mobilize Communities in Honor of MLK

This Monday, January 20th, marked the 21st annual holiday celebrating one of America's greatest role models, Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King not only fought for racial equality, but also strove against wealth inequality, and believed in the power of education and access to education to create a more just society.

For months, North Carolina Campus Compact VISTAs have been planning to launch various MLK Day projects state-wide, not only as one time events, but as platforms to increase volunteer engagement in their local communities in the long-term. This week we want to highlight projects supported by our VISTAs. Collectively, our VISTAs mobilized over 1200 volunteers who served over 2700 hours, all in ONE day!

VISTA Devin Corrigan stationed at the UNC Greensboro Office of Leadership and Service-Learning headed up the large UNCG contingent of volunteers in collaboration with Bennett College and Greensboro College. Our own VISTA Leader Carla Davis joined the group to serve.

UNCP volunteers register for MLK day

VISTA Dalton Hoffer with UNC Pembroke's Office for Community and Civic Engagement organized various volunteer opportunities throughout Robeson County. Over 200 volunteers worked at 10 community partner sites on 13 projects. Projects ranged from feeding 100 people at a soup kitchen, making 140 food bags for BART (Borderbelt AIDS Resource Team) clients, hosting 11 kids at a reading party, building a ramp for an elderly woman, cleaning local churches, and making 156 hygiene bags for clients for the Rape Crisis Center to name a few. Our own Associate Director (and MLK Day grants coordinator) Leslie Garvin pitched in at Pembroke.

VISTA Shifra Sered in East Carolina University's Volunteer and Service-Learning Center organized five different project sites in the City of Greenville. Exactly 100 volunteers showed up in all and worked 250 hours at 8 different community sites.

HPU students pack food bags

VISTA Anna Mahathey with High Point University's Service-Learning Program organized thirty-five volunteer opportunities for HPU students and community members throughout the City of High Point. Approximately 400 volunteers showed their servant hearts in High Point, collectively serving 1690 hours at 13 different community sites. Volunteers worked with 25 children at the Read-in/Field Day event, and 60 children at the Zumba-thon, where volunteers also made 33 blankets for the elderly in the community. Volunteers also cleaned a mile of roadways, cleaned and beautified 40 feet of median, prepared, packaged, and distributed 360 meals to a local homeless shelter, and packaged 20,000 meals with the help of Stop Hunger Now. VISTA Program Coordinator Chad Fogleman also stopped by to serve. See the HPU volunteers on the news here.

VISTA Camille Smith with the Raleigh College Center (RCC) at the Chavis Heights Community Center worked with their Raleigh Fellows through RCC's Raleigh Promise program to put on a two-week clothing drive ending January 21st with a fashion show. Volunteers helped sort the clothes and modeled them at the finale fashion show.

VISTA Takira Dale with Duke University's Community Service Center gathered volunteers from Duke, Durham Technical Community College, and North Carolina Central University and teamed up with Million Meals Packaging Program. A total of 300 volunteers showed up and together packaged 100,000 meals! Read about it in the Herald Sun!

VISTA Anna Donze with Wake Forest University's Office of Service and Social Action organized a campus wide Read-In promoting literacy and volunteerism, where over 150 volunteers showed up. Anna worked with several organizations, one of which was El Buen Pastor, with which she works on a regular basis to coordinate WFU student volunteers.

ASU volunteers lend a hand

VISTA Brittany Johnson with Hospitality House of Boone organized a group of nine students to repair an old house that the Organization will be able to sell for additional revenue. After making repairs, Brittany led the students through a reflection on their day of service, and, having extra time, cleared space in the attic so that Hospitality House can start accepting clothing donations for their soon-to-be Thrift Store. The volunteers also went out into the community to collect needed items for the Thrift Store.

VISTA Jess-Mara Jordan in UNC Asheville's Key Center for Community Citizenship and Service Learning organized 8 different project sites for volunteers.

VISTA Christina D'Aulerio with Queens University of Charlotte's Center for Active Citizenship teamed up with the local nonprofit, Right Moves for Youth to host various volunteer opportunities throughout the City of Charlotte.
VISTA Willie Jones with Western Carolina University's Center for Service Learning helped put together various volunteer opportunities for WCU students, and will host another day of service on January 25th!

VISTA Ariel Mitchell with Lenoir-Rhyne University's Community Service Office organized a group of 12 volunteers to head over to the Hickory Soup Kitchen, where they made 100 food bags, 253 treat bags, and 46 one-gallon bags of dog food. The Hickory Soup Kitchen serves approximately 250 individuals a day and served 80,000 plates of food in 2013.

Feast Down East VISTAs organized building of raised beds.

VISTAs Erin O’Donnell & Melissa Rogan with Feast Down East worked with volunteers to give Wilmington's LINC Urban Farm some TLC. Thirty-six volunteers worked a total of 141 hours to build 54 4'x4' raised beds, and clear space for the beds to be placed. Timothy White of Food Corps said of the event, "not enough can be said about the fantastic partnership that made this all happen. The organizing efforts of FoodCorps, AmeriCorpsVISTA, Cape Fear Crop Mob and Feast Down East truly show that many hands make light work."

This cohort of NC Campus Compact VISTAs are part of a tradition of Campus Compact VISTAs leading MLK Day projects. You can read about our 2012-2013 VISTAs' MLK Day projects here and here.

Our VISTAs have done an outstanding job of collectively mobilizing over one-thousand volunteers for a single day of service. More amazing though, is the work that each of our VISTAs does to build the capacity of their community organizations and universities to better work together to serve the community.  Martin Luther King Jr. "refused to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation", just as our VISTAs refuse to believe it. And so these emerging leaders continue Dr. King's legacy and vision, knowing all too well that "we cannot walk alone."

VT VISTA supports engagement with Head Start

As an alumnus of the University of Virginia, VISTA Wyatt Taylor knew a little about in-state rival Virginia Tech. But since he began serving in the VT Engage office to strengthen partnerships with New River Valley Head Start, he's begun to feel like a true "Hokie." (Whatever that is.)

"People rib me about it in the office," Wyatt says of his alma mater. He doesn't seem to mind. Even a winter snow storm that postponed his biggest service event couldn't chill his enthusiasm for Blacksburg. In the fall he enjoyed hiking and other outdoor pursuits, but he spent much of his time visiting community Head Start sites as part of his work to strengthen VT's partnership with the agency. An added bonus has been the community of other VISTAs in the area: "We get together and have pot lucks."

VT volunteers clean a bus used to transport Head Start kids.

Recently, Wyatt coordinated one of VT's premier service events, the MLK Day Care Face Lift. Originally scheduled for January 26 but postponed due to winter weather until February 9, the project sent 53 students to five local Head Start day care centers to clean, paint, and spruce up facilities. The event continues work begun by previous VISTAs, but Wyatt's emphasis has been on connecting student organizations - like VT's men's lacrosse team - directly with Head Start centers so they can continue a volunteer relationship beyond the MLK event. Wyatt also conducted a needs assessment of sites during the event planning stage to ensure the day of service met centers' most pressing needs.

Wyatt has worked with the New River Valley Head Start system to conceive new ways for VT students to support the children. For example, a new bus buddies program will utilize VT student volunteers as bus monitors to accompany children to and from centers. Wyatt has also worked with students and faculty in VT's Agriculture department to create garden boxes at five Head Start centers. A group of students is designing and implementing age-appropriate lesson plans that incorporate gardening activities.

Wyatt Taylor (far left, VISTA shirt) with student volunteers.

Also in the fall, Wyatt helped coordinate service placements for VT's Week of Engagement and the campus's Remember Serve Learn initiative, which involves students, faculty, and staff in service to commemorate tragedies of 9-11 and the Virginia Tech school shooting on April 16. Wyatt included several local Head Start sites in those events. In the spring, he is looking forward to facilitating ongoing connections between student organizations and the New River Valley Head Starts, clarifying student leadership responsibilities, and strengthening the new service efforts.

His own experience doing community service as an undergrad led him to VISTA. "The idea of student engagement is one I put a lot of stock in," he explains. "It was a big part of my college experience." A native Mississippian with two university professor parents, Wyatt sees the Campus Compact VISTA experience leading him to a career that blends higher education and community engagement.

"Coming to VT was a great option for me," he says. "It couldn't have worked out better."

MLK project updates and recent site visits

The blog has been quiet for a couple of weeks, but our VISTAs have been busy. We have news to share from MLK Day service events and recent visits to four VISTA host sites.

Though some MLK project sites had plans disrupted by winter weather, our VISTAs supported much successful service on MLK weekend. In Raleigh, VISTA Jennifer Evans served at Wake Tech Community College's meal packaging event with Stop Hunger Now and later as part of the United Way's service day. Check out the local news report on Wake Tech's event, which features Jennifer's supervisor, Melody Wiggins, director of WTCC's Office of Volunteerism and Leadership. In Wilmington, Erin O'Donnell (Feast Down East) served with a Cape Fear Crop Mob project at LINC farm, working with local AmeriCorps members from Food Corps and other VISTAs from the QENO project. In Winston-Salem, Takira Dale (Wake Forest) helped organize the annual MLK Day Read-In, which collected new and donated books for kids and enlisted the help of community members and students from Wake Forest, Winston-Salem State, and Salem College. In Elizabeth City, VISTAs Marion Hudson and Tiara Pugh coordinated the service component of a day-long celebration, also partnering with other local higher education institutions. These are just a few of the great projects our VISTAs supported for this national day of service.

We have also made several site visits to meet with NC Campus Compact VISTAs, supervisors, and community partners to learn more about the things our members get done.

Sally (L) and VISTA Leader Rachel Rogers

First, we braved the ice to visit second-year VISTA Sally Parlier at Durham Tech Community College. Focusing on food security issues on her campus and in the community, Sally has worked with community partner Briggs Avenue Community Garden to develop plots for DTCC students and staff, coordinate volunteers for garden workdays and win over $1700 in grant funding to expand the garden. She has also started an on-campus food pantry to serve some of the low-income students on campus. Check out this great story in the Durham Herald. For the rest of her term, Sally will continue to connect DTCC with the Briggs Avenue garden, refine systems she's created for managing the on-campus food distribution, and build structures so the college can continue this work beyond the VISTA term.

Our visit to Chapel Hill offered the chance for a double-dip: we met with our community-based VISTA Monica Palmeira at the Jackson Center and with second-year VISTA Saarah Abdul-Rauf (UNC Chapel Hill). At the Jackson Center (located in the Northside neighborhood in the historic St. Joseph C.M.E. church), Monica has created key systems to manage the Heavenly Groceries food pantry, including a comprehensive volunteer handbook and internship positions that will be filled by UNC Chapel Hill's new Bonner Scholars. Monica also helped plan a community-wide civil rights celebration in November. Check out this local news video of the Jackson Center's civil rights photo exhibit, a center piece of that event.

Monica has an open-door policy at the Jackson Center.

Monica is now working to develop other partnerships with university units, including an upcoming wills clinic with the Black Law Student Association, and she is designing more internships and systems to coordinate volunteers for other Jackson Center programs. Also check out this recent UNC Chapel Hill spotlight article on Monica's supervisor and Center co-founder Della Pollock.

VISTA Saarah Abdul-Rauf spends time each week at her community partner, Volunteers for Youth. Saarah works to support UNC's student-led SMART mentoring program, which provides nearly 30 mentors to young people in VFY's mentoring program. Saarah has coordinated events; created an evaluation to assess satisfaction of mentors, mentees, and family members; and helped to review and refine the mentor training curriculum. Saarah is also the primary liason to the Community Action Center in Pembroke, NC, which is a key partner for the four UNC alternative break trips that visit the area each year. She is exploring other ways UNC can support this community and has created an alternative break partner evaluation that will be used with all break community partners.

Takira with a Demon Deacon.

Finally, this week we visited Takira Dale at Wake Forest University. Takira has created volunteer coordination and operations manuals for the Campus Kitchen project, and she visits kitchen partners regularly to review delivery schedules and offerings and to discuss how the project can better serve the food needs of partner clients. One new effort that has emerged from these visits is the kitchen's nutrition education program, which Takira is now developing. She is also creating a comprehensive training curriculum for students who volunteer as tutors or mentors with children and youth. This effort has led to NERD (Network of Educational Resources and Development), a new coalition of student organizations that undertake tutoring/mentoring activities.

We had the chance to visit a key kitchen and tutoring program partner, El Buen Pastor, a community agency serving Latino families in Winston-Salem's Old Town area. The agency's director was very excited about the ways WFU is connecting to her agency, and she sees the VISTA resource as a great support.

Thanks to all these VISTAs, supervisors, and partners for your hospitality, and keep up the great work!

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.

NC Campus Compact VISTA Alum at White House event!

On August 17, the White House welcomed Katharine Baas and more than 150 AmeriCorps Alumni leaders from 25 states. Katharine is a proud alum of the NC Campus Compact VISTA program! She served 2 VISTA terms with Elon University's Kernodle Center for Service-Learning from 2007-2009. 

In the video above at 30:27, Katharine shares a story of one of her proudest AmeriCorps moments: coordinating Elon's first MLK Day of Service that brought together students, faculty, staff and community members.

The White House event included breakout sessions for AmeriCorps Alums to share their stories with leading officials including Wendy Spencer, chief executive officer, Corporation for National and Community Service;  Bill Basl, director, AmeriCorps; Jon Carson, director, White House Office of Public Engagement; Jonathan Greenblatt, director, White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation; and Mayor John Fetterman of Braddock, PA.

Katharine Baas shares her AmeriCorps story with Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS.

 "I came in not knowing what to expect and left with a view that I was part of something bigger,” Katharine says of her AmeriCorps experience. “As I look back, I know I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without AmeriCorps. As an AmeriCorps Alums member, I continue to serve in my community, and my national service experience has benefited my career goals."

A native of Hillsborough, North Carolina, Katharine has built a career in service. She is currently a Senior Admissions Manager with CityYear Miami and served in AmeriCorps with North Carolina Campus Compact at Elon University’s Kernodle Center for Service Learning from 2007-2009 and City Year Miami from 2009-2010. These experiences ignited a passion for student development through experiential learning. Katharine continues as an AmeriCorps Alums leader, encouraging others to look towards service as a pathway to jump-starting their careers by finding an AmeriCorps program they are passionate about.

Since 1994, more than 775,000 Americans have served in AmeriCorps, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service.  More than 80,000 will serve this year, including the 22 VISTAs of NC Campus Compact's 2012-13 cohort.