Chelsea Hart - Taking a Leap of Faith with AmeriCorps NCCC

Hello again everyone! My name is Chelsea Hart and I was a first-year VISTA with the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (EUPISD) last year. My work involved supporting, recruiting for, and marketing the new Early College Program that was being established in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. After my term of service ended in August, I joined AmeriCorps again, but this time as a National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) Team Leader. My time as a VISTA was an awesome learning experience, and I was able to work with people who wanted to have a positive impact on their community. During my service year, I found that the work I enjoyed most was interacting directly with the parents and students that I was trying to help. VISTA also started to teach me the skills I would need for the next step in my personal journey. A major part of my decision to join NCCC was due to my desire to accomplish direct service work and push myself not only out of my comfort zone, but also into a leadership role—something I discovered in my service as a VISTA.
 
If you aren’t familiar with AmeriCorps NCCC it involves teams, comprised of 8-10 members, completing multiple projects that address essential community needs throughout the United States over a 10 month period.  Young adults from all walks of life come to the program with the same desire to make a difference. Through their experience, they gain a variety of new skills, life experiences, and a network of connections to help them find a career they’re passionate about after the program.
 
Last September I was flown out to Sacramento, CA where the Pacific Region AmeriCorps NCCC campus is located. Once there, I started a month of training on how to be a Team Leader for NCCC. We went over our leadership styles, learned how to drive a 15 passenger van, and did small, weekend-long practice service projects. That’s just to name a few of the multitudes of lessons we learned during that time. My favorite part in all of this were the bonds I formed with my fellow Team Leaders. At the end of training I had been given a team name and number; number 5 on the Green Unit, but it was the next month of working with my new team and the 3 rounds of projects to follow that would be the real test. As much as I wanted the Team Leader training to prepare me for everything, it just wasn’t possible. Signing up for this program is a leap of faith mixed with a roll of the dice. You have no idea who you’ll be working with, what you’ll be doing, or the challenges that might pop up along the way. Throughout our time in training we were told we’d need to be AmeriFlexible, and that is one of the most useful lessons I’ve learned during my time with NCCC.
 
At the beginning of October, over 250 young adults poured onto campus after having been accepted into the program and being assigned to the 21 teams that the Pacific Region houses. It was nerve racking to be thrown together with a group of strangers, but it didn’t take long after their arrival for us to start connecting with each other. After training, team building exercises, and cooking meals together, you can’t help but start to build comradery. After our 4 weeks of training we were sent off to our first adventure. I had just over two months of training under my belt and there were still times where I felt like I wasn’t cut out for the job. My fellow Team Leaders and my newfound team, however, quickly helped me to see that I was ready. There was also the knowledge that not only were my team members learning about themselves, I was also learning and growing as a leader.
 
The first project we were sent on was down in Temecula, CA to work with the Meadowview Homeowners Association. We were tasked with restoring a portion of a stream bed that had eroded to 12 foot cliffs. Sadly, there had been a tragedy a few years prior due to one of these cliffs collapsing and trapping a young boy under the dirt. To prevent further issues we worked to stabilize the freshly graded slopes with the help of irrigation, native plants, and mulch. The time we spent there not only taught us about how we could restore areas that human actions had changed so drastically, it was also a learning experience of how to share one shower with nine other people. This was a major part of the getting to know everyone on the team. Also, the Meadowview community welcomed us with open arms. They even went as far as to invite us to a weekly potluck dinner, which provided us ample time to get to know the people our work was impacting. It let us share our stories and how we had all made the decision to join NCCC. Our last night there it was hard to say goodbye. On the other hand we all knew that there was more good work to be done elsewhere.
 
The project that I’m currently involved with is in Redwood Valley, CA. We are building houses for those who lost their homes in the multiple fires that have ravaged the area. We also help out at a local distribution center that provides essential items to fire survivors. So far we’ve worked on finishing a house that another NCCC team started working on last round, building two foundations, and assisting with the local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The part of my time here that has had the biggest impact on me has been talking with the community members and hearing their experiences. People we’ve worked with evacuated and came back to find nothing left; vehicles melted into puddles and houses were just ash and rubble. Every day when you drive through the area you can see that there is healing happening, but some of the scars will take years to fade and may never fully go away. When community members find out who you are and the work that’s being done they’re incredibly grateful.
 
I’ve still got about 4 months left of AmeriCorps NCCC and right now I can’t even think about the end without tearing up a little. The work we’ve accomplished and the relationships we’ve formed in the months we’ve all been together have been life changing. Being an AmeriCorps NCCC Team Leader has been one of the hardest, and most challenging experiences I’ve had so far, but I can reconcile myself knowing that the friendships I’ve made and the work I’ve done will last past our graduation date.