VISTAs report project successes in the new year

NC Campus Compact VISTAs recently submitted their Interim Reports detailing activities and outcomes from January 1 - March 31. They have done so much good work that we can't share it all here, but we will share some highlights!

VISTA Sara Brown (kneeling in jeans) with Kotlowitz and students.

Sara Brown, UNC-Asheville's VISTA, had an op-ed published in a local Asheville newspaper, The Urban News. In her piece, "An Unheard Voice - Cost Over Kids," Sara urges school district decision-makers to clarify plans for students and staff of the William Randolph School, an alternative school serving middle and high school students who are at-risk of not graduating. Sara has worked since August to strengthen a partnership between UNCA and Randolph, engaging college student volunteers as tutors and mentors and organizing enrichment opportunities for Randolph students on UNCA's campus, like a February 21 visit with Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here.

Sally Parlier, Durham Technical Community College VISTA, was responsible for opening the Durham Tech Campus Harvest (DTCH) Food Pantry. Since opening on January 22 the Food Pantry has had over 750 visits and served more than 150 individuals. They've also collected approximately 2,400 lbs of food and raised $1,761 in cash donations. Sally has also developed a new partnership with Jordan High School. Her work has received attention from local media, as in this February report on WTVD:

Before finishing her term of service in February and starting a VISTA Leader position in Tennessee, UNCG VISTA Anya Piotrowski shared her magnum opus: the IRC - Tranisition Greensboro Community Garden Manual. The manual is an incredible accumulation of organic and permaculture garden techniques, planting schedules, garden design documents, and volunteer orientation materials that will enable future garden coordinators to manage the site (and local volunteers) year-round. If you are interested in a copy, contact Anya.

At Warren Wilson College, VISTA Jacqui Trillo reports exciting news: her partner organization Homeward Bound has hired a part-time Volunteer and Donations Coordinator who is taking on some of the duties Jacqui managed during the fall. Jacqui has helped the new staff member transition into the position by training her on volunteer and donation management materials, systems, and tools that Jacqui developed in the fall. Jacqui writes, "I know that my work last semester was constructive because some of the ideas she first suggested were ones I had already either implemented successfully or had tried and found to be unsuitable for the needs of HB." Capacity-building!

Elizabeth Corney at ECU reports that she has worked with the university's Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations to secure a $2,000 donation that will support the Campus Kitchen project next year. To help win the gift, Elizabeth compiled service numbers, photos, and a letter. In this final year of VISTA support for the CK project at ECU, Elizabeth has made sustainability a priority, creating a work study and a graduate assistant position to support the project and preparing a Campus Kitchen manual which will guide future coordinators.

Check the blog later this week for more project highlights!

Warren Wilson VISTA welcomes Asheville homeless home

Jacqui Trillo came to Asheville for "the sunshine," but she stayed at Warren Wilson College for the service. Now a NC Campus Compact VISTA at her alma mater, the Washington state native helps others make a home in Asheville through her work with Homeward Bound. In her role as a VISTA with Warren Wilson's Service Program, Jacqui is deepening a partnership with Homeward Bound by supporting the agency's new Welcome Home Project.

The project supports homeless people's transition to permanent housing by providing donations of furniture and household goods - everything from beds to dish towels - along with move-in assistance from student volunteers. "The reason this project is important," Jacqui says, "is it helps people get into the mentality of living in a home, rather than viewing it as a place to set up a temporary camp. The Welcome Home Project can start to give clients that sense of permanence."

Jacqui is creating and implementing systems and procedures to organize donation collections, volunteer coordination, and neighborhood outreach; and she acts as a liaison between college student leaders and the agency's case managers. She's created donation lists for the organization to post on its website and a system of online Google documents that students and agency staff use to manage donation inventory and volunteer scheduling. She is also found unused space on campus to hold excess donations for the agency, and she's organized student teams to conduct neighborhood outreach and collections each week. She's even connected volunteers from the local Junior League and nearby Mars Hill College to Homeward Bound activities.

One of the project's biggest challenges so far has been the lack of public housing units available for move-in's, as several complexes underwent renovations in September and October. But now that repairs are complete, move-in's have picked up. The project has accomplished three move-in's so far, including two last week. "It is so nice to meet the people who are moving in," she says. Jacqui expects the pace will pick up in the coming months. "We've been trying to do these all semester, and now the week before finals we are just getting going!" she laughs.

During her student days at Warren Wilson, Jacqui spent a lot of time doing community service. The college's service ethic and the "amazing, active non-profit community of Asheville" drew her to school as a transfer before her junior year. When the Dean of Service, Cathy Kramer, asked Jacqui last spring if she'd be interested in the VISTA position, the former Girl Scout didn't hesitate: "I'd been doing service for so long, it made total sense." Asked what it's like to serve at her alma mater, she replies, "It's funny. I thought it would be more of a challenge than it turned out to be. My prior connections with staff and faculty have been really helpful to build trust quickly. And even though I'm still a recent grad, the students honor that distinction. I don't feel like a student at all - it's really different working full-time."

Jacqui still finds time for some fun, usually involving Netflix or eating. "Mela's Indian buffet on Saturday is one of my favorite things in Asheville," she says. "So good, pretty cheap, and lots of vegetarian food!" Over the holidays, Jacqui will be heading home herself, traveling back to her hometown of Burien, Washington to spend time with her family. She's looking forward to her favorite holiday desert, her mom's "Mexican Wedding Cake" cookies.

In the spring, Jacqui is looking forward to more move-in's, to learning more about public policy related to Asheville's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, and to facilitating new campus and community connections with Homeward Bound. "My goal," Jacqui says, "is to leave behind a system where no VISTA is needed to connect Warren Wilson students with Homeward Bound, and student volunteers and case managers sustain the relationship."

Four VISTAs attend CSNAP Conference

On November 2-3, four NC Campus Compact VISTAs attended the 2012 CSNAP Conference at UNC Wilmington. Sponsored by the Compact, every fall CSNAP (Citizenship, Service, Networking, And Partnerships) brings student leaders from campuses across the state together to learn and share strategies to address community issues. This year's event focused on the theme "Becoming Citizens, Becoming Community," and featured Paul Loeb, author of Soul of A Citizen, as keynote speaker. Nearly 125 students from 18 campuses attended.

Our VISTAs were on hand to lead discussion sessions, share ideas for community engagement, and support the learning of student leaders. Two of our VISTAs led open-space discussions. Lenoir-Rhyne VISTA Ariel Mitchell led a conversation centered around culture and cultural barriers within communities. She connected her work with the Latino community and key community partner, Centro Latino of Hickory, to the greater challenges of working in culturally diverse communities.  UNC Greensboro VISTA Anya Piotrowski facilitated a discussion about community gardening. Anya shared information and expertise she's gained from her project starting a community garden at a local homeless shelter.

Jacqui Trillo, Warren Wilson College VISTA, coached several students who delivered a workshop helping service participants connect their service to deeper community engagement. She also attended a session on building strong partnerships between institutions and their surrounding communities. Jacqui noted how excited students were between sessions, enthusiastically discussing ways to apply what they learned to their own institutions and communities. She believes conversations like these can help build a bridge between students and their communities.

NCSU VISTA Brianna Roach concluded the conference with a powerful recitation of her original poem, "The Elephant in the Room." Students who live-tweeted the event said they left the conference feeling inspired and motivated.

On Friday evening at the conference kick-off, Anya joined other conference participants for a tour of the Wilmington-based film studio, EUE/Screen Gems. The group heard from the head of the Wilmington Film Commission about his work bringing projects to the area, toured the facilities, and spotted Robert Downey, Jr. working on set!