Americorps Volunteers Helping USA National Games Committee

Bravo to Cedar 3, our bunk mates from Mobile, AL, on their awesome job with the Special Olympics and a great media hit. Click the link below to see a video of their great service work. I miss ya, motha lickas!

Americorps Volunteers Helping USA National Games Committee

Day 236: She Thinks My Tractors Sexy

Here follows a condensed account of the second half of our Round 4 project with Vinton Parks and Recreation Department, in pictures:

While the rest of my team is busy converting a flood damaged garage into an park pavilion...

my teammate and I pruned 8 trees.

While pruning said trees, we came upon a nest with some baby birds in it. We did our best not to disturb them too much, however, we did an awful lot of gawking and picture taking.

Another task given to the landscaping crew was to clear the riverbank of plants and brush to allow for a better view of the river. On the left is uncleared bank and the right side has been (mostly) cleared.

We hung flags for memorial day and did some weed whacking of Memorial Park (the old-fashioned way, with a SCYTHE, yeah, like a grim reaper scythe...nutty).

Our next task was to build a flower bed with 60 pound cinder blocks. We dug a trench for the first row...

Then it rained and was not so much a trench anymore, but a moat.

So, what was the solution? Siphon the water out with a hose...I had trouble keeping a straight face. You can imagine all the innuendos; we did.

But I sucked it up (literally) and got a little dirt and who knows what else in my mouth. Four hoses and ten minutes later: no more moat.

Now on to the best part of the week for which I have no pictures. Today I got to drive a tractor. That and the dozen or so community members who regularly stop by our work site to introduce themselves and thank us for building the pavilion and riverside green-space is the highlight of the week.

Day 201: I'm on a Boat!

It would stand that after spending 7 weeks in the supposed "wettest city in the USA," Mobile, AL, and receiving little more than a trickle we would move to Dubuque, IA, to live on a 1930's Mississippi River Dredge Boat and get a downpour on day 2. It is warm here, but wet. Earlier today we were getting what seemed like gale force winds and my mobile weather alert on my phone warned me of a tornado watch. Welcome to the Midwest. I am again typing on my little Blackberry keyboard because a boat museum certainly doesn't have Wi-Fi. It is disturbing how dependent we do become on technology. My first day of training was today with the City of Dubuque Sustainability Initiative. We had several great presentations and, while some of the logistics are proving to be trickier than hoped, the plan to install 200 energy kits in low- income homes in 3 weeks is underway. No pressure. We have had a chance to walk around the city and Dubuque is quite beautiful, diverse and at the leading edge of Green initiatives and it has so much cooperation from the community and businesses nationwide. The Mississippi River is stunning and obviously at the heart of this city. Looking across the river you can also see Wisconsin and Illinois. Tomorrow is the first Farmer's Market of the summer season and I just hope it isn't rained out because it sounds like it will be quite an event. So, for now I am just in my bunk enjoying the rain safe and dry inside. I guess I'll pick up a book, not much else to do with braving the elements.
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Day (yeah, figured it out) 195: In the NEWS!

http://www.kwwl.com/global/story.asp?s=12369314

CEDAR FALLS (KWWL) -- Last July a major storm tore through Cedar Falls, leaving a wake of destruction in its path. A number of homes were damaged and around 400 trees had to be taken down.

On Saturday the City of Cedar Falls is getting a makeover with the help of dozens of volunteer, planting new trees all over the city.

"Just about 400 trees were removed from around the city. This effort to plant about 360 of them just on the city parking area between the sidewalk and the street is what we're focusing on in the spring," said Field Coordinator, Mark Pingenot.

This is just the begging for this project. Cedar Fall Utilities, the City of Cedar Falls, and Trees Forever are working together put all of the trees back, not just those on city property.

"This fall we hope to partner with Trees Forever and Cedar Falls Utilities again and replace trees on private property so residents of Cedar Falls that had trees come down in that windstorm will probably receiving information from CFU later this summer about that," said Mark Ripplinger, Park Division Manager.

Dozens of volunteers are lending a hand including a group from AmeriCorps NCCC. This group is based in Vinton, but its volunteers are from all over the country including Lauranne Gallitto from Myrtle Beach South Carolina.

"I think it's definitely something I will take with me for the rest of my life. It has made me more aware of different issues in the community and in the country and so I'm really proud to serve in this program," said Gallitto.

Cedar Falls Utilities along with its' Cedar Falls Trees Program donated $13,000 to the project.

"For the utility it's an energy conservation program because trees have a lot of energy conservation benefits especially in the summer by shading peoples homes and of course they are very beautiful and have many other environmental benefits," said CFU Marketing Manager, Betty Zeman.

Online Reporter: John Wilmer

Day, yeah, still not sure: Nature Inspires

These are the days that I want to remember: the almost perfect days. I say almost perfect because perfection is always striven for but never achieved, thus is the ever elusive nature of perfection. So, my nearly perfect day began with an independent service project (AmeriVocab: ISP) at the beautiful grounds of the Mobile Botanical Gardens. In preparation for their annual plant sale we were relocating plants from the growing area to the "marketplace." Though the work was hard, and I forgot my gloves, it was very fulfilling and inspiring to be working among the trees and flowers. Lunch was prepared for us and the veggie chili and bread pudding were especially yummy. We finished work about half an hour early and were able to peruse the grounds before leaving. We walked through the azalea garden, the fern garden, the Japanese Maple garden and the texture garden. I got to enjoy the first blooms of my favorite flower: the daffodil. After work today I made a quick detour into personal efficiency at the library to finalize my tax extension then back "home" to the double-wide. Having been inspired by the gardens I decided to do a trail run for PT today. Once you get past the heaps of trash at the entrance to the trails near our abode they are quite nice and eventually lead to a spring where some kind soul laid a few foot bridges. This could be an excellent spot for a hammock and a good book. After my run we had a team activity planned which I was looking forward to with a bit of trepidation. Who knew I would take such a liking to TIE-DYE??? While most of my team dyed one shirt I dyed 3 and plan on adding my "curtain" to that number as well. I was so giddy my housemates were laughing at me. We are undoing the rubber bands tomorrow and I can hardly wait. I feel like a child on Christmas Eve. After tie-dye and the discussion that followed, Cedar 3 (the other team in the double-wide) made baked ziti and chickpea salad. Delicious! Post-dinner our housing got a well-deserved community cleaning and then I got a well deserved shower (not community). And, so, here I lie with my Crackberry in hand typing yet another blog post on this dinky keyboard. Our weekend is over and tomorrow we return to the work of Habitat for Humanity. Only three days of work before Spring Break and then I'm off to New Orleans. Well, here's to near perfection and hoping for a whole lot more of these days.
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Day, gee, not sure: Overwhelm

Life sure flies when you're "Getting Things Done for America" as the AmeriCorps slogan (or AmeriSlogan, if you will) goes. I saw my blog yesterday and realized that over a month and a half has elapsed since the last time I surfed on over to the AmeriBlog and added anything. I could use the fact that my current housing in a converted double-wide trailer in Mobile, AL, does not have any internet access as an excuse, but then I have an internet enabled phone that I pay a ridiculous amount of money for that I can type on just as I am doing right now at 11 pm. So, why do I choose right now to add to the so called inter-web-space-net record of my AmeriJourney? Perhaps it is the existential "future" discussion I just extricated myself from that is still going on in the kitchen. Perhaps it is because the journey is now more than half over and I am missing a chunk in the record. Let's not get started on chunks, oh my. Perhaps it is just because I can't sleep right now for so many reasons. Perhaps I just had a fabulous day striking a set at a wonderfully welcoming, cheerfully appreciative local theater company with my team and I don't want the day to end. Perhaps it is all of these things that have converged to finally compel my distraught thumbs to type on this ludicrously small keyboard. I am in awe at the situations that I have found myself in during the course of my little existence and my AmeriSituations are no exception, yet, I am regularly reminded that "I chose this" and I chose it for a reason. I have yet to determine the reason, but I have a strange faith that it is out there (or in here) somewhere. As I watch my teammates discuss and fret over major life decisions (schooling, moving, jobs, money, marriage) I am reminded of how I feel about the future. That whatever your decisions may be, they are yours and they can never be wrong. External sources may say, " that was a mistake and here are the external consequences," but we are all here to learn something and it is our choices that determine that course of learning. I have faith that where ever you are is where you are supposed to be and it is how you learn from your situation the opens or closes doors. I have faith that my teammates will make the right decisions for them because what they choose will be right. They are the architects of their futures. I look forward to watching how their lives after AmeriCorps will unfold (and I am equally curious about my own).
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Day 114: More of Oak 7 in the News

Crossroads for Youth gets help from AmeriCorps - The Oakland Press News > Local News: The best place for news in and around Oakland County

By MONICA DRAKE
Special to The Oakland Press

Click to enlarge

An 11-member team of young adults from across the country will be working with at-risk youths throughout February at Oxford’s Crossroads for Youth campus.

“You hear about places like this and you have these images and stereotypes you put on these kids. But they’re really just like any other kid anywhere,” said Katya Muller, a 24-year-old from Texas.

Muller is part of the team volunteering at Crossroads. The team members are all from AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, known as NCCC.

The group is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service and aims at providing opportunities for young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 to improve the environment, enhance education, increase public safety, help with disaster relief and assist in other unmet human needs.

The team arrived at Crossroads on Jan. 11 and will leave on Feb. 26.

Crossroads for Youth is the NCCC team’s second stop in their 10-month long commitment with AmeriCorps.

Their first project was in New Orleans, helping to rebuild homes after Hurricane Katrina.

“Working with Crossroads for Youth is an opportunity my team and I are ready to take on. It’s a big change of pace from our last project, so we’re eager to begin,” said Dave Elwood, an NCCC member from Maryland.

Crossroads for Youth is a nonprofit organization that works with at-risk youth ages of 12 to 17, providing a supervised environment to help children make positive changes in their lives. Many of the children live at the facility for a period of time and are provided with work-related and academic education, counseling and specialized education.

Crossroads’ Vice President Susan Dittrich said she had attended an AmeriCorp seminar in October 2009, which was when Crossroads applied to have NCCC members come to their campus.

“The kids are loving it. They love their AmeriCorp people,” Dittrich said. “These people are so energetic and so driven. It’s really a wonderful program.”

The application submitted by Crossroads for Youth was selected by NCCC because it demonstrated a need to provide sustainable resources for youth, said Angela Sarrels, NCCC’s Community Relations Specialist.

Members of the NCCC team were given formal training by Crossroads’ counselors when they arrived. Once the training was completed, team members began helping the staff teach life skills, carried out administrative work and helped to organize community service opportunities, field trips, recreation and arts and crafts programs.

The team is also mentoring the youth, helping kids with homework and eating meals alongside them.

Tracey Zambeck, director of Development and Agency Relations, said the members visit with the kids who don’t have anyone to visit them, which she said means a lot to the kids.

In addition, the team is aiding in renovating buildings on the campus.

“(Crossroads) has so much need here that we’re not just doing one thing. We’re not just doing construction; we’re not just working with the kids. We have an opportunity to really understand the whole breadth of their program,” said Emily Kentta, a 24-year-old member of NCCC from California.

Members of NCCC teams must be ages 18-24 and complete at least 1,700 hours of service during the 10-month program. Members receive room and board, a stipend for essentials like shampoo, and an education award after their 10 months of service are completed.

“(NCCC) finds young adults who really want to make a difference,” said Janet McPeek, president of Crossroads for Youth.

Crossroads for Youth also is looking for volunteers for a variety of different activities, especially after the 11-member team leaves.