Alum Spotlight: Monica Palmeira

Monica signing her VISTA oath at PSO!

Monica Palmeira was the first VISTA at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center in Chapel Hill, 2012-2013. During her year of service, she helped the young non-profit improve its organizational systems and strengthen a partnership with Heavenly Groceries, a food ministry serving the Northside community. Through her work there, Monica learned she is “passionate about housing and neighborhoods.” When her term ended in 2013, Monica headed west to Sacramento, California. An internship with Housing California led Monica to her current position at the California Coalition for Rural Housing, one of the oldest affordable housing coalitions in the country. We spoke with Monica recently to learn more about her work and the lessons she took from her VISTA experience.

Before we talk about what you’re doing now, I wanted to ask if you have been back to the Jackson Center lately. Have you?

Monica (first row, far right) with the 
Heavenly Groceries team.

Actually, I visited last fall for a friend’s wedding. And I went by Heavenly Groceries to say hey to Ms. Gladys and they had just gotten new t-shirts so that was really cool. Pretty much every time I go back I’m given some kind of responsibility at the food ministry - I’m required to go pick up food or do something. Whenever I see Ms. Gladys she immediately puts me to work… it’s the best way to be welcomed.

That’s great. So tell us about the work you are doing now.

I am currently working as a Policy and Programs Specialist at the California Coalition for Rural Housing. Our job is to advocate on behalf of our members, which are primarily non-profit affordable housing developers. We try to get policies on the local and state level to incentivize and facilitate the building of affordable housing throughout rural California. So it’s a really cool perspective on this issue, but it’s really a departure from the neighborhood-based work I was doing at the Jackson Center, so the two experiences really complement each other. I’m getting a ton of experience and exposure to issues, but I’m finding myself missing a lot of aspects of my work at the Jackson Center-- like having a strong connection to one place.

What’s your role at the coalition?

At a small non-profit like ours [6 staff], it’s so hard to define roles, but I basically work across all our programs. I host a lot of convening and coalition-building events and conversations, particularly for the policy aspect of things. I plan our annual conference for example. This job has also allowed me to travel throughout a lot of California, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley.

One of the big things I’ve been really involved with: in California we have a pioneering Cap and Trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The money that comes out of the options proceeds is going into this greenhouse gas reduction fund, which can fund other things, including affordable housing. So it’s a really new way of thinking about housing in terms of how can housing be a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: where do you locate housing so that people drive less? How do you co-locate housing and transit so that people are less dependent on cars? What are the impediments to walking and biking? I get to convene people to strategize how we can do this and design programs especially that address these issues in rural areas. 

How did you wind up working with that organization? 

When I moved out here I knew I wanted to work in housing and -- similar to the way the VISTA program can work, I got an internship experience that let me get my foot in the door. And through that I met the people I work with now.

It’s funny ‘cause my VISTA experience has been a cool thing to talk about. My boss actually moved out to California from Connecticut as an AmeriCorps person, and several of the executive directors of organizations or housing developers we work with-- a lot of them came to California through the VISTA program. So it’s been a fun connection to say we’re all VISTAs and we have a kind of VISTA pride. 

So it’s a program that’s been around for a long time and I think that it has a legacy of plugging a lot of people into nonprofit work.

Yes, VISTA is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Oh yes, and some of the people I was referring to may have been part of some of those first classes! There are VISTAs from a long time ago, and they’re still here and working for some of the organizations they served with.

Wow! Well, what do you like about living in California and what do you miss about North Carolina?

Monica and fellow Chapel Hill VISTA
Sarah-Abdul Rauf at a 2013 Habitat build.

Oh my gosh, I think about this all the time. What I love about California is that it’s incredibly diverse. People are from everywhere, and there are lots of Spanish-speakers, which for me is a really cool thing. My family is Portuguese and growing up [in Kinston, NC], I didn’t know any other kids whose parents were immigrants. But here that’s very normal and in some ways it’s very comfortable to be here.

I get to travel a good bit, mostly south of Sacramento in between the mountain ranges in what’s called the San Joaquin Valley. That region reminds me more of home, especially eastern North Carolina where I grew up. When I go to San Francisco I feel like I’m in a completely different world, but in the San Joaquin Valley I feel like I can navigate the world a little easier. 

I definitely miss the simplicity of life in North Carolina. I miss the warmth of people and how people congregate in like Church traditions. Here there are so many different traditions and a mix of people, which is great, but you miss the sense of unity in some way. North Carolina is very much on the table to move back to, but I love both places as they each have unique opportunities and experiences to offer.

What advice do you have for current VISTAs contemplating their next steps?

Yeah - VISTA is tough because it’s only 1 year, and that deadline can be very daunting. But try to see that deadline as a launching pad or trampoline - try to make the most of that year and think of it as a springboard more than impending doom.

I definitely had a lot of anxiety when I moved out here not knowing anyone. So I just started going to panel discussions and volunteering for non-profits and learning to network which helped me when I interviewed for an internship. So just put yourself out there as much as possible and use this year as an opportunity to push yourself out. 

What’s next for you?

I am looking to doing graduate school in a year or two and getting a master's in city and regional planning. I have a few schools that I am looking at out here but UNC is also a top choice--- and I could even work in Northside again!

Especially having a different perspective now, it would be interesting to go back to school. This job certainly helped but my VISTA experience most certainly helped with that. Studies are enhanced by real life experiences and nothing beats that experience, by doing the work you are able to see where the gaps are and where you want to focus your energy on. I give VISTA credit for helping me realize what I enjoy and what I am passionate about that I can focus on and make the most of any educational opportunities in the future.

This spotlight is part of the latest issue of the VISTA Alumni Network Newsletter

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!

VISTA Profile: Monica Palmeira

Monica Palmeira, from Kinston, North Carolina, is a first-time VISTA serving at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center, a public history and community development center in Chapel Hill. This year, NC Campus Compact is placing VISTAs at community host sites as well as college campuses to better develop sustainable connections with community partners fighting poverty.

Monica (center) during a visit to Parrish Farms

SP: What previous volunteer or work experience led you to becoming a VISTA?
MP: I have actually been involved with the Jackson Center and this work since 2009. I have volunteered with the food program the Center supports, Heavenly Groceries, throughout college and served as a Food Justice Fellow this past year since graduating from UNC. Beyond that, I've spent some time in Honduras working with an organization tackling issues around food sovereignty and worked with the APPLES program at UNC.
What really attracted me to apply for VISTA was the commitment to supporting people working on issues of poverty beyond the capacity of a volunteer. If we're really going to work on these problems, we need to have people dedicating their full time and energy to the fight. I love the idea of being part of a group of people with a similar vision and I'm excited to learn from all VISTA has to offer.

SP: What is the primary focus of your project? What community partner(s) or populations will your project serve?
MP: I will be working as Community Services Manager at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center. The Center works in traditionally African-American neighborhoods in Chapel Hill with preservation and community development. They are a public history center, conducting oral history interviews with residents of these communities and then modeling community development initiatives from the examples of leadership and service those interviews convey. They aim to listen with responsibility, recording the stories of everyday history makers and responding accordingly to help preserve the future of these diverse communities.
I will be working primarily with the Food and Housing Justice initiatives of the Jackson Center, helping with the capacity and sustainability of a key food pantry in the Northside neighborhood as well as with different housing strategies aiming to ensure these neighborhoods and Chapel Hill as a whole are affordable for diverse families. 

SP: What are you most looking forward to during your term of service?
MP: Though I've been involved with this work here in Chapel Hill for a while, this year I will be dedicating my full attention to the Jackson Center and be stepping into some major new territory with housing policy, town politics, and university-community relations. I'm looking forward to being a part of an organization that has so much respect from community residents as well as key town and university players. Probably most importantly, I'm so excited to be working with such talented and inspiring people that believe wholeheartedly in the importance of dreams and community.