Hello, my name is Jeanette Devito and I am currently serving with the Carson City- Crystal Area School District. I have been working with the students and the parents of the community to help families in need find the resources that they need. I run and manage the Care Closet during school hours, and I am still currently collecting items for donations. I recently connected with the local Dollar general and built a relationship with them regarding the items in the store that penny out. The phrase “penny out” means that stores like Dollar General, are trying to get rid of items on their shelves, so that they can make room for other products. Normally they get sent back or thrown in the trash, but I am now going to start collecting the clothing and needed items, like toothpaste and toothbrushes, on a regular basis.

I also encourage many students and parents to get out into the community and help one another out like we did during one of our major events called the Serve-a-thon this past fall. In the Serve-a-thon, students got to get out of the classrooms and complete a myriad of service projects, ranging from cleaning school busses, to making tug toys for dogs out of old t-shirts, to weeding planters around the school. This is a helpful way to teach the students and the parents useful skills to prevent future poverty. A great example is that students who are able to introduce themselves and interact with community members and local businesses are more likely to be successful. It also gives them opportunities for potential employment and other opportunities to gain other experiences. Basic skills are not always taught at home and are necessary for being successful in the workforce.

​I anticipate this year to be a little harder than most with all the virtual learning going on. It's difficult to teach students and parents in person skills when not in-person. I look forward to finding new ways to work alongside Carson City Schools in teaching the youth of our community skills to help them be successful adults.

​When I joined the VISTA program, I already knew Washtenaw Literacy pretty well. I’d been tutoring for several years, and was also serving as a mentor and site coordinator. I knew everyone on staff in one capacity or another. Possibly because of this experience, I went in not realizing just how steep a learning curve there was ahead of me. (At times the curve felt like a vertical line.) I knew about the pivoting Washtenaw Literacy did immediately following the shutdown. In the haze of chaos and the desire to hide away from the world, I was aware of updates talking about how staff was reaching out to tutors and learners to pilot a virtual tutoring program. Eventually, I emerged from my metaphorical blanket fort to come back to tutoring. I was assigned some new learners and reunited with a few old ones.
 
And then came August, and I started at Washtenaw Literacy as an AmeriCorps VISTA. Wow. Remember what I said about that steep learning curve? Suddenly I wasn’t just tutoring in the Virtual Tutoring Program. I was coordinating it. The Program Manager described it as building an airplane while flying it. She’s right. While I knew staff had been hustling to make the transition as smooth and painless as possible for tutors and learners, I had no idea how much effort they’d had to put in to make it work. And suddenly, I was in charge of a large segment of it.
 
In some ways, this has been an intimidating experience. It’s a lot to take on all at once, even when you are supported, as I was and still am. I conduct learner orientations, place learners and tutors together, and track their progress. I provide necessary support to tutors, some of whom are brand new, and some of whom are experienced tutors exploring this strange new realm of online tutoring. I’ve been assisting with Virtual Tutor Training, and in December I’ll be leading the training. (Attendees will include the Program Manager and at least one tutor who’s far more experienced than I am. No pressure.)
 
On the other hand, I’ve been able to make my own tweaks to the program, and while I wouldn’t make any major changes on my own, it’s freeing to be able to make adjustments that support tutors without having to run everything by someone else. This month I’ve started scheduling Tutor Coffee Chats, where tutors can connect. Initial response has been good. I’ve adjusted the Tutor Monthly Update to start including resources for tutors. Even something as small as adapting the Update email to be screen reader-friendly is an important change.
 
Washtenaw Literacy mentors commit to providing additional support for tutors and staff. Now as a VISTA, it’s like that, but on a much, much larger scale. The broader scope means I’m able to support more tutors, and in turn support more learners. More than once, I’ve had a tutor get so excited when I make a suggestion that makes their tutoring easier, or in one specific case, gave the tutor the impetus to get back to tutoring her learner, rather than just keeping in touch.
 
As a tutor (yes, I’m still volunteering), I already know we make a difference for our learners. As a VISTA, what I’m enjoying most of all is helping tutors make that difference.

Hello! My name is Delesiya Davis. I was born and raised in Lansing, MI. I graduated from a wonderful school  called the University of Michigan with my BA in Women’s Studies and History and a minor in Judaic Studies. While this is my first year with MNA, I am a second-year VISTA. My previous VISTA year I served in Miami, FL working with an organization named Girl Power. As my year ended, I realized that I wanted to switch gears a bit and focus more so on the education sector. Now a year post graduation, I had come to realize just how much getting an education impacted my life and the amount of opportunities that had suddenly become available because I had a BA. I had always wanted to give back to my own community, so I began to look for opportunities back in Lansing. Luckily, I stumbled across MNA, which introduced me to my current site, the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN).

I knew that MCAN was a good fit for me when I read their, now our, mission statement. MCAN’s mission is to “Increase college readiness, participation, and completion in Michigan, particularly among low-income students, first-generation college-going students, and students of color.” Given that I fit all three of those categories, and that that those are also the communities that I want to create change in, MCAN was the obvious choice for me. Thankfully, they felt the same way about me.

During my time with MCAN, I have worked on a number of projects that I feel have had an impact on moving the needle on college access. The project that I am proudest of is hosting several webinars that were a part of our “Admissions Updates” webinar series. In my previous VISTA year, a lot of the work that I did was on the back end of things. For this webinar series, while I did much of the prep work which was on back end things, I also got to be front and center during the webinars. This was very rewarding and I felt that my talents were being utilized, while also pushing me outside of my comfort zone. Ironically, I am not the biggest fan of public speaking, however, I plan to be a lawyer and eventually run for office, makes perfect sense.

While I did enjoy my first VISTA year experience, I wish I had known about this AmeriCorps position at MCAN when looking for post-graduation options. MCAN is an amazing organization that really cares about their mission. In my short time being here I have witnessed nothing short of everyone being all hands on deck and rolling with the punches as they come. This is an organization that I am proud to be a part of and proud to represent!

​Hello everyone!
 
My name is Cyerra Haywood and I am a first-year AmeriCorps VISTA member currently serving as the Collective Impact Coordinator at the Flint & Genesee Literacy Network (FGLN) in Flint, MI. My VISTA Assignment is to build capacity in partnering organizations by engaging in activities that provide, support, and/or facilitate access to workforce development resources and services intended to improve employability. In short, I provide backbone support to organizations that in turn directly support the people of Flint.
 
My first year of service is already going very well and I have made many connections in my community. One of the most exciting aspects of my service is creating communication materials I actually am able to see circulated among the community, and see how these materials that I’ve made support the community. I have loved attending meetings via Zoom and learning about various organizations and what these wonderful organizations do to help the city of Flint, especially when it comes to the water crisis. Everyone that I have worked with genuinely loves this city and the people in it, and that is the driving force behind the work that they do.
 
I attended school in Washington, D.C., so for the past four years I have not been as active in my community as I wished to be. However, this opportunity to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA has been the perfect post-graduate opportunity. I am so fortunate to serve with such an impactful organization and to have this chance to boost FGLN’s impact. In the past few months, I’ve been lucky to contribute to a myriad of projects, such as being asked to serve on a review committee for the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce. I am also helping FGLN facilitate a community conversation around equity in education, especially as it concerns the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to assist with the coordination of virtual gatherings and trainings. I’m excited by all that I’ve done in the past few months and look forward to what will come next!

Hi everyone!
My name is Carisma Ayala and it is my first time serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA. I am currently serving as the Alumni Coordinator at Alternatives for Girls in Detroit, MI. My main focus is helping girls who have graduated high school and are now attending a 4-year university by learning a new program and supporting them in ways I am able to. Some of my service duties include coordinating college tours for girls in our After School Program, collecting progress reports from girls to track their grades, coordinating workshops for our Asset Building Program and learning the GradSnapp program in order to benefit the girls in programming.
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The most exciting aspect of this first quarter of service has been meeting everyone who is on staff, interning, and volunteering at Alternatives for Girls. At my first All Agency Meeting, I was excited to see that the meeting was lead directly by the CEO. The staff at Alternatives for Girls is predominately female. It has been so nice to see, considering that it is my first time being involved at a non-profit agency. Those that I work alongside motivate me to work harder and make the time I have spent so far very enjoyable. 

In addition to coordinating multiple virtual college tours for our girls, I have also been coordinating a panel for the girls who are interested in cosmetology school or other trades. When I was in high school, I knew of other options besides a 4-year college, but I never had hands on interactions or information given to me about them. I think it’s important to educate our girls the best we can so they can be confident in the decisions they make, and then support them in their choices.

In the past two months I have had brief interactions in-person at my host site. Every Friday our department has been coordinating a contactless drive-through food drive due to COVID-19. I have got to safely meet everyone, meet some of the families we serve, and help in ways that I am able to. I have learned more about the families that are tied to the girls that I serve and hope that this knowledge will help me tailor some of the ways I interact with the girls and utilize GradSnapp. Many of the projects I have been working on are all in progress and will hopefully have some milestones completed soon for my personal and VISTA goals.

I am a second-year MNA VISTA serving at Vassar High School in Michigan’s Thumb Region. Vassar is a small, rural community that has lost much of its manufacturing base and about half of its residents over the past decade. It is a picturesque town that has the Cass River running through it and has that wonderful small town feel. Full disclosure, I know and love this community because I have lived here for more than twenty years.

My VISTA Assignment Description (VAD) is focused on bringing the school community, the community at large and the senior parents together in order to help students make a smoother transition to their “next steps” and manage to complete their plan. We have many potential 1st Generation College Students and our entire school gets free breakfast and lunch. Before I began last year, very few first generation students were managing to complete even the first year of college or finish an apprenticeship. The goal was to set the transition base during my first year and then support the graduating seniors in the summer and fall during my second year of service.
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My first year of service was going very well and I felt I was making in-roads into true capacity building that would allow a smoother transition for seniors and deeper and more helpful support during their first year after graduation. We instituted a new first annual fall Next Step Palooza which was a wonderful school event for senior parents and students and was well supported by the community.  It included a pizza meal, a wonderful prize drawing (of college items) compliments of our local businesses and a chance for students and parents to get help from local college reps, a Financial Aide officer and military representatives. It was a huge success with more families attending than for any college open-houses in recent school memory. After the holidays, our Career and College Committee (including a MI Works JMG Teacher, a MCAN volunteer and myself) were gearing up for a wonderful twin event to the Palooza to be called the Next Step Shindig which would be another school event with opportunities for parents and seniors to have breakout sessions on empty nesting, campus safety, college budgeting and the like. Then everything changed in one fell swoop on March 13 (and yes, it was a Friday the 13th!) when school closed due to the pandemic, not to re-open until the fall.

When Vassar High School re-opened, students had the choice of two different on-line plans or coming back Face to Face under strict CDC guidelines. About two-thirds of the senior class chose to come back face to face. We wear masks at all times, only staff and students in the building (not even parents allowed) and buildings close by 5 every day for sanitization. Students are getting used to the new guidelines and being real troopers. However, it has changed the school environment and either cancelled or extremely limited many important and special events, including homecoming and the Next Step Palooza.

I remember that in one of our monthly zoom MNA VISTA meetings in the late spring,  our wonderful VISTA leader (and now MNA VISTA program manager) Meridith Murley said, “For everyone, but especially for VISTA’s it is all about how you pivot in order to continue to serve.” Well, I got to thinking that was the same sage advice that I heard in other words from my grandmothers many times… like “Thinking Outside of the Box” and “More than One Way to Skin a Cat”. So, I decided that bringing the seniors, their parents, the school community, and the community together to work towards a smooth transition was absolutely imperative – even in the midst of a pandemic where we could not all come together to an event.

The outcome has been a wonderful virtual Palooza….we have named it the Next-Step Pop-up Palooza with a popcorn theme. Each student took home this week a popcorn box with a variety of materials on college, military and apprenticeships including how to instructions on the FAFSA. Students and their parents get to pop a bag of popcorn and come up with questions that parents and seniors have that will be answered in next month’s high school newsletter in the counselor corner. Of course, the hand out is a box of popcorn with large kernels that have room for writing the questions! Students and parents also get to play Baker’s Bingo which includes a sweet treat for baking (cookie or brownie mix). While the treats are baking, parents and seniors play bingo centered on discussion questions that will bring them closer together and let them talk about this tough up-coming transition for everyone in the family. There is some college swag for everyone and of course, the explanation of the drawing. For every item done and/or returned, parents and students receive entries into the drawing for wonderful set of prizes including a laptop, a mini fridge and a Keurig coffee maker for students and gas and grocery cards for parents. The box also included a thank you flyer to 15 wonderful business and community support groups that care about our students and donated prizes. Students were thrilled with their popcorn boxes this week and as they fill out FAFSA, do college applications, talk to college reps and play Baker Bingo and Pop-up Questions, we know they are still having a version of a Next Step Palooza. The special virtual drawing will be shown in their mentoring classes on the first class day in November. So, I guess Meridith, the pivot was made… or maybe it is just “Making Lemonade (or in this case popcorn) out of Lemons (or kernels)”!

​Hello everyone! My name is June Urdy and I am a third-year AmeriCorps VISTA serving for the first time at the Mott Community College (MCC) Workforce & Economic Development department, focusing on job coaching for individuals age 50 and up. My service assignments include: helping recruit older jobseekers for employment assistance, leading skill building workshops to enhance employability for older workers, arranging career coaching appointments, and helping with job fairs.

The mission of MCC is to provide high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services that cultivate student success and individual development and improve the overall quality of life in a multicultural community. The MCC Workforce & Economic Development department has more than 18 program divisions dedicated to enhancing economic opportunities for people in the community from youth to senior citizens.

Although I am familiar with AmeriCorps VISTA service, I am starting as a beginner at my new service site. I am excited about the opportunity to serve a new group of people and to learn new skills, but I am at the edge of the learning curve and I must not expect to master everything immediately. I still have moments where I feel overwhelmed and unsure of myself. I remind myself that I am never doing this all alone. I am supported by my AmeriCorps VISTA team leaders, the staff at Michigan Nonprofit Association, and the staff at MCC.

We are all working in unprecedented times with a global pandemic affecting how we work, play, and serve. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our lives have changed and we have had to adapt. I miss the easy conversations with people face-to-face, but staying safe and protecting the people I serve is imperative. I am serving at the MCC Workforce & Economic Development offices once a week and serving the remainder of the week from my home. I am getting more comfortable with technology as I attend meetings online in multiple formats. I am inspired by the ways I am still able to connect and serve (and sometimes have fun) despite the necessary restrictions of online meetings, wearing a mask, and social distancing. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to have a positive impact in my community. Together, we are doing great things. 

​It’s a bit cliché to start a blog post with “I don’t know quite what to write about” and proceed to write a blog post but, well, here we are. I’m not quite at the point where I have deep reflections about my first year of service as I go into the second. You can’t quite force reflection and sometimes the ways you’ve grown or changed aren’t always immediately apparent.
 
Just over a month ago, I was serving with Mackinac Economic Alliance in St. Ignace the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Not too far into the UP mind you, St. Ignace is the first town after you cross the Mackinac Bridge. Now I’m serving with Friends In Deed (FID) in Ypsilanti. The town is bigger (WAY bigger if you fold Ann Arbor in), the organization has a different focus, and I don’t have my cat with me (she’s back with my parents). It’s quite a bit to process and get acclimated to while we’re still working through a global pandemic and everything an election year brings.
 
Right now, I’m looking forward to the VISTA Dungeons & Dragons group, meeting people in this new town, and building relationships with FID staff and clients. I’m also physically closer to my family and hopefully can be more present in my nieces’ and nephews’ lives than I was able to be when I was up north. There’s no way of knowing what all will come my way this year, but I’m interested in who I will be on the other side.
 
The high point of my first few weeks at FID was the rappelling fundraiser event. Below you'll see a picture of me hanging out on a hotel roof at FID’s fundraising event. Folks who wanted to rappel committed to raising at least $1000 for FID and its programs. Donations were collected via crowdfunding. They got to rappel down a 14-story hotel in downtown Ann Arbor, supported by an organization that facilitates fundraising-rappelling events across the country. I was in charge of capturing rooftop video for the event livestream. We had great weather and I had a great view of Ann Arbor! An interesting way to kick off my second year of service to be sure.

​There's a peaceful sort of quiet that catches you at first. Stone steeples and small rooves poking out over the canopy of rolling tree-covered hills—it almost feels unreal, certainly anachronistic, but turning around to face again the sprawling gray city pulls you right back.

Walking over to the edge, fourteen stories of air muffling the crowd assembled below, you're struck not by how small everyone seems but how clearly you can still see them. The cheerful faces of friends and co-workers as they await your descent are so plain to see from up here. 

Heart racing, fighting every instinct, but confident your rigging is secure, you lean back over the ledge and gently fall down into your harness—transformed into a human pendulum. Tethered, of course, but freer than you've ever felt.

These past thirteen months with Friends In Deed have challenged, inspired, and changed me in ways I could never have imagined. I can hardly express how lucky I am to have been rewarded with this ceaseless stream of new experiences. And surprisingly, as I think back on it now, what stands out most aren't the obvious things—the events, fundraisers, projects—but instead the subtle things—the way people greet each other in the morning, the funny way we start every staff meeting by sharing something good that's happened in our lives, or just the inherent compassion behind every small little gesture of kindness.

You see, when I started my first year of service, I could have probably been described as a recluse or even a misanthrope. I'd dream of an isolated hermitage in a nondescript rural setting where I could reflect on how I, thankfully, have very little in common with Ted Kaczynski. But spending several months with people dedicated to building community has really given me a new appreciation—a new appreciation for people.

I don't want to offer anyone advice. I don't think I'm in any position to give it, but I can speak to what this experience has meant to me and say, I wish I had been more open from the start. You will do things you've never done before. Hell, you may even go rappelling down the side of a fourteen-story building. It may be exciting, frustrating, or even intimidating at times, but please be assured, no matter where your service takes you, your rigging is secure; you're not going to fall.