​Hello! My name is Melissa Gonzalez and I am currently serving with Urban Neighborhood Initiatives (UNI) in Southwest Detroit. At this point, I have about two months left of my service year. One thing that I can say about this year is that it has definitely been a year of growth for me. I have loved my experience here at UNI and I will definitely miss serving here, but like they say all good things must come to end. As cliché as that may sound, it is true. My work here has given me so many learning opportunities that I couldn’t have received anywhere else. 
 
You might be wondering what have I have been up to since my last blog several months ago. Well, it has been quite busy here at UNI as we have been gearing up for summer, one of our busiest times of the year. I have been helping to prepare for our summer youth employment program. Every summer we are allotted 225 youth employment slots given to us by Connect Detroit. We hire youth within our community to work with us in our programs or through one of our many partners within the community. The summer youth employment program is a chance for youth to gain work experience as well an opportunity for them to gain exposure to different career opportunities and post-secondary options. We do this through our professional networking event, where we invite different professionals from a wide range of fields to do a speed networking event with our youth. Youth receive college exposure through our college field trips and our scavenger hunt.
 
I have also been helping with our 9th grade counts program that will be implementing for the first time this summer. I have been in charge of recruiting mentors for the program who will help the program coordinators facilitate workshops and activities throughout the summer. The 9th grade counts program is a chance for middle school students to get college and career exposure.
 
These last few months will definitely be a busy ones for myself and UNI. As my service year comes to end, I am working on my legacy binder to hand over to the person that will take my responsibilities. Hopefully, they will have an idea of what I have been doing and how to do the activities that I have been working on this year. I have not only had a great learning experience, but I have also enjoyed working with my coworkers. I have grown so much throughout the year and I have to thank this year of service for allowing me to grow both professionally and mentally. 

Hello everyone, my name is Melissa Gonzalez, and I am a first-year Pathways to Employment AmeriCorps VISTA serving at Urban Neighborhood Initiatives (UNI) in Southwest Detroit. Southwest Detroit has a very special place in my heart. I grew up in this community, so it feels good to finally be able to give back to a community that gave so much to me. These last three months have been a huge learning experience for me. I have learned how to manage a full-time job along with full-time school. It has definitely been a challenge to balance both, but, somehow, I have managed to accomplish it so far.
 
The first three months of my VISTA service have kept me busy with attending conferences, applying for a grant, and helping youth apply to college and scholarships. Since UNI is not located in a school, it is a little bit harder to reach out to youth and help them apply to college. However, after reaching out to them individually, I have helped a couple students apply. One student, in particular, has really been a pleasure to work with. We have been able to build a meaningful relationship, and I have been able to see them grow in my short time as a VISTA. I knew I made impact on this youth when on Thanksgiving I received a text from them saying how grateful they were for me and that if it wasn’t for me they wouldn’t have gotten a job or been accepted to any colleges. The text was a very heartwarming message and made me think that I had made an impact on someone during my service.
 
I am also gearing up for a financial literacy event, Show Me the Money Day, that will take place by the end of the January. This event will educate youth on a financial topic of their choice. I met with the Youth Advisory Board at UNI and asked them what they would like to see for Show Me the Money Day. After taking their ideas into consideration, we decided to host two workshops: the first on credit and the second on how to fill out their W-2 forms and read a check. In preparation for the event, I need to reach out to partners and coordinators to finalize the details for the event.

I can go on and on about what is planned for my year of service here at UNI. My major goal in the next few months is to meet and build relationships with skilled trades and see if they would like to partner with UNI to improve youth employment. I will be creating a spreadsheet of businesses, new and old, that we have built relationships with and write about our experience with them, whether or good or bad, so the next VISTA at UNI can understand our experiences with those businesses and pick up where I leave off. I am excited to see what is ahead for the rest of my service term, and I hope your VISTA service is going great!