WCU VISTA cultivates community, gardens, future

VISTA Willie Jones

VISTA Willie Jones hasn't had a life that most people would call traditional or easy, growing up in foster care and periodically experiencing homelessness throughout his adolescence. However, despite a hard road to college, Willie has not only flourished personally, but found he has a knack for helping others grow as well.

Willie serves at Western Carolina University as the AmeriCorps VISTA Community Outreach Coordinator for the Center of Service Learning. In this role, Willie coordinates gleans and is the glean leader for the Jackson County Glean Team, a group which he created. Gleaning, in this sense, means to gather excess crops from local farmers and distribute it throughout the community to those in need. You can get Willie's insider perspective on gleaning from this documentary he put together!

Currently, Willie is spending the majority of his time revitalizing WCU’s Campus Kitchen Garden, which is maintained primarily by students, staff, and volunteers, who then distribute the produce to local agencies that combat food insecurity. Though there are many moving variables in this project, Willie is excited to see how it will turn out, because through all of these partnerships, there is room for a really creative and collaborative venture that, in Willie's words, "will create a more environmentally aware, and sustained community through incorporating organic farming techniques and gleaning. When it's all set in place, we will have a constantly evolving program that is sustainable, educational, and will actually strengthen and be beneficial for the community!"

Willie recalls his first glean at Ms. Bonnie's garden picking apples. "It all started when she came into the office and gave us 10 gigantic jars of apple sauce."

Jackson County Glean Team

It turned out Ms. Bonnie had an apple tree in her garden, and she had more apples than she knew what to do with, so Willie convened some gleaners to give Ms. Bonnie a hand. "As I climbed Ms. Bonnie's apple tree and we exchanged life stories and experiences, I was reminded of my life being homeless, [and] it reminded me of something that was embedded into my mind at a young age: everyone is a person, everyone has a message, and everyone has something to teach you, whether you [think] the information [is] valuable [at the time] or not...and this has made a world of difference in my VISTA year." This reaffirmed for Willie the importance of sharing stories and connecting with these community members in a more meaningful way.

The way Willie learns has helped him shape this shared-story approach to recruiting and training volunteers as well. "In some cases I have to teach myself how something should be done or learned...This...allows me to gain a better connection with not only myself, but [also] my volunteers. It allows me to see things from different perspectives: my struggles, strengths and weakness...I know the struggle of trying to learn the information or method, so that personal experience [helps] me to relate to them on a personal level when I’m teaching them."

Pumpkin gleaning with the Jackson County Team

Eventually, Willie hopes to have local growers and farmers, the Cullowhee Community Garden, the Campus Kitchen Garden, the food pantries at Community Table, The Market, and United Christian Ministries, and educational institutions and programs like Western Carolina University, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Program, and the Dietetics and Nutrition Program at WCU, all working together. Willie notes however, that the most important group to engage is the community.

His biggest hurdle so far has been creating a gleaning calendar so that he can send out a notice to recruit volunteers a couple weeks before (as opposed to a day or two) farmers need their crops gleaned. Coordinating schedules is easier said than done, but ultimately will benefit the community with more fresh, organic produce, and benefit the farmers with a bigger tax deduction.

Revamping the Community Kitchen and gleaning the fields of local farmers is hard work. If you're interested in volunteering, and you are a WCU student, join the Campus Kitchen Garden list serve by either emailing or calling Willie. If you don't go to Western, but are interested in volunteering, join the Jackson County Glean Team Facebook page! By joining either of these groups, you will have access to weekly garden and glean reports. As soon as Willie's gleaning calendar is ready to roll, he will also be placing that information in the local paper. Make sure to read about Willie's Homecoming Food Drive and MLK Day of Service event successes too!

Willie embarked on his journey as an NC Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA back in August, and has been working on Campus Kitchen's organic farming part of the program since January, but Willie isn't new to the environmental or community engagement scene. In fact, his undergraduate degree from Brevard College is in Environmental Science, with a concentration in Environmental Science, and while at school, was the service coordinator for the Multicultural Center. It was here that he met and worked with several AmeriCorps VISTA members, through whom he first learned about AmeriCorps. Immediately he noticed that as an AmeriCorps VISTA, he could combine his degree with two of his other passions; higher education and service, all the while gaining valuable skills, paying off student loans, and staying in touch with his community, family, and friends.

Willie volunteering for MLK Day of Service

Outside of the office (and the garden!), Willie lists some of his favorite past times as working out, backpacking, bouldering, rock climbing, and gardening. Originally hailing from the very flat Cincinnati, Ohio, it sounds like Western North Carolina may be the perfect place for Willie! Apart from all the fun in the sun, Willie also enjoys playing with animals, taking pictures, watching Netflix and HGTV, hanging out with his girlfriend, and "EATING."

"I think my girlfriend and I spend a lot of our time, and a lot of my VISTA stipend, eating!" Willie says enthusiastically.

After completing his VISTA years, he will have the skills and tools to conquer his next challenge; graduate school. Willie plans to attend graduate school for Higher Education and Sustainability, so that he can continue helping communities grow, develop, and become sustainable. Willie Jones is taking his growth and his story with him and he has a clear vision for his future.

"I’m striving for creating highly educated and environmentally aware communities throughout the world."

Mid-term progress report: VISTAs in the news

Since our 2013-2014 cohort of NC Campus Compact VISTAs began service in August 2013, they have made headway building the capacity of campus-community partnerships that serve low-income people. Here are some impressive tallies from our mid-term progress report (August - December, 2013):

2013-14 VISTA Cohort with Supervisors

• 20 VISTA members (including 1 VISTA Leader)
• 1,934 volunteers mobilized    
• 10,611 hours of service performed by volunteers
• $28,017 in cash/grant resources generated
• $39,568 in non-cash resources raised

Here are some stories and news clips from the past 5 months of our VISTAs fighting poverty with the power of higher education:

VISTA Willie Jones serves in Cullowhee at Western Carolina University in partnership with Community Table. Check out his Documentary of Gleaning and the Jackson County Glean Team he has created! Read more about the Jackson County Glean Team, and read about their Homecoming Food drive!

VISTAs Melissa Rogan and Erin O'Donnell serve in Wilmington at Feast Down East in partnership with UNC Wilmington. Hear what Melissa has to say about Feast Down East at the 3rd Annual Parking Day! You can also watch Erin in a documentary on Food Deserts!

VISTA Brittany Johnson serves at the Hospitality House of Boone in partnership with Appalachian State University. This November, for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, Brittany organized the 3rd Semi-Annual Hunger Games Event to raise awareness of food access issues and host a food drive to support Hospitality House's food pantry. More than 3000 food items were donated as a result of the Games and word spread widely through the local news circuits!    

Whether you are in the far east or the far west of the state or somewhere in between, Willie, Brittany, Erin, and Melissa can serve you up a large helping of information on food security issues.

VISTA Devin Corrigan serves in Greensboro at UNC Greensboro in partnership with the Interactive Resource Center for people experiencing homelessness. Though Devin's main focus is Economic Opportunity, she also planned a slew of events during Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week last November, and she will be the first to tell you that food security and economic opportunity go hand-in-hand.

VISTA Anna Mahathey serves at High Point University in partnership with West End Ministries. Anna works in the Office of Service-Learning, which recently launched a Reading and Writing Center. Anna also helped coordinate 26 different MLK Day projects that turned-out over 400 volunteers!

VISTA Shifra Sered serves in Greenville at East Carolina University in partnership with the Third Street Community Center where she attracted the local media to highlight TSCC's future plans.

VISTA Elizabeth McIntosh serves in both Madison County and at Duke University with the PAGE Program, which stands for the Partnership for Appalachian Girls' Education. In the past couple of months, Elizabeth helped launch the organization's new website with all of the students' digital stories on it, and National Public Radio hosted PAGE's Director where she speaks in-depth about the new organization. Notably, Elizabeth is the first VISTA to serve in Madison County for 44 years, after the last VISTA in 1970 was murdered. Elizabeth has picked up the mantle of her predecessor however, and has been largely welcomed in the community. 

VISTA Dalton Hoffer serves in Pembroke at UNC Pembroke in partnership with the Pembroke Housing Authority. Check out Dalton's video of Pembroke's 9/11 Day of Service Activities. You can also read Dalton's full story of accomplishments here!

   

VISTA Jacob Lerner serves in Chapel Hill with the Marion Cheek Jackson Center in partnership with UNC Chapel Hill. Jacob is working on an initiative to funnel community-minded students to off-campus rental housing in the Northside neighborhood, on the theory these students will make better neighbors. In a continuing effort to build relationships with students and community members, Jacob has also helped organize UNC students to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity's program, A Brush with Kindness, to rebuild the porch of a long-standing community member.

Our VISTAs provide support for their communities in so many ways, seen and unseen. Check out even more of their achievements here for their MLK Day highlights!

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."

CEF VISTA empowers student volunteers to support community members

VISTA Sarah Cohn

August 9th, 2013 marked Sarah Cohn's first day of work as an official AmeriCorps VISTA at Community Empowerment Fund, but she was no stranger to CEF. In fact, when Sarah wasn't working toward her undergraduate degree in Biology from UNC-Chapel Hill, she was volunteering at CEF. Sarah first started working with CEF-Latino to keep up her Spanish fluency after studying abroad in Spain to complete coursework for her Spanish minor. She spent two years volunteering as a student Advocate, and once graduation rolled around, she couldn't pull herself away just yet. Lucky for her, two Americorps VISTA positions at CEF opened up during her last semester, so she applied for the Advocate Program Coordinator Position through North Carolina Campus Compact's VISTA program, and now has a hand in shaping CEF's future.

Initially founded as a project of UNC-Chapel Hill's Campus Y that connected students and local people experiencing homelessness, CEF is now a non-profit organization that still relies on student and community leadership. CEF offers a variety of opportunities to community members seeking a sustainable transition out of poverty through its financial education Member/Advocate pairing system. CEF pairs two volunteer Advocates with each Member (client) to work toward building assets and finding better housing and employment. Along with two volunteers, Sarah spends most of her time coordinating these pairings and continually checking in to provide support to both Members and Advocates as they work toward the Member’s goals. Not only is Sarah coordinating Advocate/Member pairs, she is also creating volunteer Advocate training, and updating CEF's Advocate/Member database. 

"I’m excited to have a part in building a Member-Advocate pairing system that runs smoothly and effectively," Sarah said. "I want to put processes in place that will allow the next Advocate Program Coordinators to be able to match Members and Advocates, follow up, and provide ongoing support to all pairings – without anyone falling through the cracks." 

CEF, founded in 2009, started off with only seven people and now that number is close to four-hundred! With its rapid growth, CEF needed a new pairing system. Before Sarah and her two volunteer recruits came on board, the Advocate Program Coordination  responsibilities were managed by one part-time volunteer!

"The VISTA program has been a great way for me to stay involved with CEF. I am so honored to have even a small part in building the infrastructure that will allow CEF to keep up with its growth in the future!" says Sarah."

Though Sarah spends much of her time and passion at CEF, outside of work she enjoys hiking, playing soccer, reading, cooking (and eating all those delicious things she whips up!) studying languages, and running around with her dogs. As for the future, Sarah doesn't yet have any steps set in stone, but she is considering what graduate school programs would be the best fit for her. In the meantime, Sarah hopes her position at CEF will help her develop professionally and learn more about social services and public policy.

"I have already learned a lot!" Sarah recounts enthusiastically. "No concrete plans yet. Maybe another VISTA term [with CEF, but] until [graduate school I] want to work in lots of different roles."

In the meantime, CEF, on the boundary of UNC's campus, is always looking for new volunteers. Approximately one-hundred and fifty students, as well as close to 40 community members from Durham, already volunteer, but new faces are always welcome. This Spring, the UNC Campus Y committee, Homeless Outreach Poverty Iradication (HOPE), from whom came the founding members of CEF, are hosting a fundraiser called "Box Out". People interested can get involved in several different ways. They can volunteer on the "Box Out" committee, sign up to be a program coordinator or team leader, or register as an individual!

"New volunteers are always welcome!" exclaims Sarah. "Being a CEF Advocate is the perfect way to spend one-on-one time serving fellow community members and, most importantly, getting to know people different from yourself. As an Advocate, I can say that working with CEF teaches many life-changing lessons, a big one being that the people you work with aren’t really different at all – we’re all in this together!"

CEF does not focus simply on serving needs; its Member/Advocate approach is about building community. Members and Advocates learn together, and Sarah learns along with them. Sarah focuses on making the best pairings possible, which requires getting to know a lot of faces. She attributes her ability to remember so many people to being a visual learner. In class, Sarah used to draw her notes out into pictures and diagrams to help her process the information, no matter what the class.

There is one big take-away for Sarah, though. "I am constantly moved by one aspect of my work at CEF above all others," Sarah says. "And that’s gratitude. Our clients express so much gratitude and positivity towards the work that we do, and volunteers are always grateful to be part of such an inspiring community."

With MLK Day right around the corner, North Carolina Campus Compact encourages everyone to find opportunities to engage with your own inspiring communities.

For two VISTA sites in Chapel Hill, building capacity is about building relationships

Last week, NC Campus Compact visited two of our "community-based" VISTA host sites in Chapel Hill, NC: the Marion Cheek Jackson Center and the Community Empowerment Fund. Both sites are intimately connected with the university, but both engage students in new and exciting ways as they tackle tough community issues.

VISTAs Jacob and Sarah work at community agencies in Chapel Hill.

The Jackson Center grew out of oral history projects started in 2005 by UNC Communications Professor Della Pollack in the historically African-American Northside neighborhood. Today, the Center is an independent 501c3 "public history and community development center" that works to preserve affordable housing and family-owned housing in the neighborhood, empower residents and youth, and build community among traditional residents and resident students.

Working closely with the historic St. Joseph C.M.E. church next door, Jackson Center staff and volunteers support a variety of projects and partnerships that improve the quality of life in the neighborhood, including the Heavenly Groceries food pantry, which serves residents in need 5 days a week, and A Brush with Kindness, a partnership with Habitat for Humanity that provides exterior improvements to local homes. The Center also distributes a monthly neighborhood newsletter, organizes community events, and continues to collect and share local history through projects like Fusion Youth Radio.

Jacob in the festive office of the Jackson Center

Jackson Center VISTA Jacob Lerner is working to develop administrative systems, including a contact management database, that support all this work. He works with other Jackson Center staff to streamline the oversight of 9 UNC Bonner interns, and he continues to support the operations of the food pantry. But he is also laying the groundwork for new programs, including a partnership with the university's Good Neighbor Initiative (a project of the Office of Greek Life) which supports students living off-campus. The Jackson Center will help develop an orientation for off campus students to the neighborhood's history, help train a team of "off-campus RAs," and create opportunities for students and long-time residents to meet and convene. He is also helping to develop an "early alert" system which helps the Center stay informed of local and individual issues that impact housing. At the heart of Jacob's work is his efforts to develop relationships with and between neighbors and students. This has been the part of his VISTA work he likes best so far: facilitating introductions between students and community residents and seeing community and university volunteers work together to address hunger and improve housing. Read Jacob's recent update on his work in the Northside News here.

Just down Franklin Street at the center of downtown, the Community Empowerment Fund (CEF) provides savings opportunities, small loans, workforce development, and relational support to unemployed and underemployed individuals. CEF began on campus as a project of UNC's Campus Y. Today, the student-run organization is a 501c3 non-profit that recruits, trains, and coordinates about 150 undergrad and graduate student volunteer "advocates" who work every week as "case managers" for the organization's 400 or so member clients.

VISTA Sarah and Supervisor Maggie West.

Sarah Cohn worked with the organization as a volunteer when she was a student at UNC; now that she is a VISTA, she is working to improve the structure and coordination of volunteers, as well as the volunteer intake process. Sarah has helped refine the team structure and develop more robust orientation and continuing education for advocates and team leaders. The volunteers meet weekly for training, reflection, and collaborative problem-solving, sharing information that can help address specific issues their member clients are facing. In the months ahead, Sarah will also help CEF analyze its member intake process and the system for matching members and volunteers. Like Jacob at the Jackson Center, the systems, processes, and trainings Sarah develops are all in the service of creating strong and beneficial relationships between members and advocates. Read Sarah's profile on the CEF blog!

One of the benefits of pairing student volunteers with members is that they learn to navigate complex social service networks and financial issues together. Though the students have some training, they are learning alongside members about how to access services, seek job-training, and develop financial stability. In this sense, advocates and members are very much partners, rather than "provider" and "client."

CEF co-founder and director Maggie West told us she wishes social service organizations in the area had the money and staff to meet the need with professional case management, but local agencies are in fact cutting back rather than expanding. In such an environment, the student advocates can make a difference for people who otherwise wouldn't get the kind of individualized attention and regular check-ins CEF provides.

Building capacity to build relationships that strengthen communities. That's VISTA impact!

VISTA Camille Smith reaches out at Raleigh College Center

VISTA Camille Smith shares info about area colleges.

While a student at NC State University, Camille Smith often found herself working in the Raleigh community. The Anderson, SC native led her alternative break team in monthly pre-trip service with Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, interned with Stop Hunger Now, and organized campus-wide service events as co-chair of the Student Government's Community Service Commission. But since becoming the Raleigh College Center VISTA in August, Camille is reaching out to new people and organizations, and learning about the city along the way.

"One of the highlights for me so far was the 75th Anniversary of the John Chavis Memorial Park, which served as a meeting place for segregated blacks leading up to the Civil Rights movement, and a gateway for community involvement for students of local HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)," Camille explains. "I represented the Raleigh College Center, handing out brochures and our event calendar. It was a great chance to learn the history of the area and get to know the people the John Chavis Community Center serves. It is definitely one big happy family!"

As a VISTA, Camille supports the development of the Raleigh College Center (RCC), an effort hosted by the John Chavis Community Center in southeast Raleigh. The College Center opened in 2012 as part of the Raleigh Promise. The Promise is a collaboration among local higher education institutions, philanthropies, non-profits, businesses, and the City of Raleigh. The group's goal: double the number of low-income youth in Raleigh who earn a post-secondary credential and living wage employment by 2025. As a hub of college information for youth and families, the Raleigh College Center is a key part of the effort.

During her first few months in the VISTA role, Camille has started a weekly newsletter to share RCC events and keep the Promise partners informed. She has also helped coordinate college fairs and financial aid information sessions at Chavis, and worked with the Parks & Recreation Department's Teen Outreach Program (TOPs) to coordinate college visits for groups of local teens. The College Center also offers free SAT prep courses for community youth and has laptops available on site to turn the space into a computer lab.

Camille spends several days a week at Chavis, coordinating RCC programming and collaborating with community center staff. She also works out of NC State's Career Development Center, one of the lead administrative offices for the RCC. Dr. Kelly Laraway of the Career Development Center is Project Coordinator for the Raleigh Promise and Camille's VISTA supervisor.

"I'm thrilled with the College Center, seeing how it's going in a quality direction," says Dr. Laraway. "Camille is doing great. She's innovative, focused, and brings a new perspective to the project."

Major funding for The Raleigh Promise project was provided by a grant from the Gates Foundation. Since the grant period ended last summer, the collaborative has been planning next steps for the Promise project and for the College Center in order to sustain momentum toward its 2025 goal.

Camille looks forward to increasing the College Center's outreach and program offerings in the months ahead, to creating a way to evaluate participant satisfaction, and to streamlining the coordination and tracking of College Center presenters and participants.

Though she now loves living in Raleigh, Camille took some time finding her way to NC State. After high school, she attended Virginia Union University to play volleyball, but she realized it wasn't the right fit. After transferring to State as a sophomore, she became involved in Student Government and in programs organized by the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics, and Public Service, including several alternative break experiences. Camille led two trips to the Dominican Republic during her time at State, and she credits these experiences with cementing her desire to focus on community building. After she graduated in December 2012 with a BA in Political Science and minor in Nonprofit Studies, she learned of the NC Campus Compact VISTA program and the placement at the Raleigh College Center.

In her spare time, Camille enjoys running, attending Wolfpack sporting events, and taking advantage of the many festivals and special events in the state capital. She also volunteers her community relations skills as she spends time with friends who've started a local "community conscious design and apparel company" called Boss Manatee.

To learn more about the Raleigh College Center and receive the weekly newsletter, email Camille at casmit21(@)ncsu.edu.