Lee Xiong - "Poe-like lansing"

Reporting from the gloomy but ever-so-vibrant city of Lansing, Michigan, I serve as one of the VISTA Leaders for the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) Civic Engagement (CE) AmeriCorps Program. It has been an exciting last seven months and we are gearing up to the highly anticipated recruitment season for our 2015-2016 VISTA cohort. But before recruitment is in full gear, I am taking this moment to reflect on what has happened in the last seven months. 

I moved to Lansing after living twenty years along the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. The first couple of months was hard, as I was accustomed to seeing the lake but that was not a problem for long. In fact, it rained so much in Lansing, I forget how much I love water now. Aside from the gloomy, Poe-like weather, Lansing has an amazing AmeriCorps Alumni network and an even more amazing community that truly understands national service. Being in an area that is filled with passionate individuals and groups that values service and understands leveraging state and community efforts to make a greater impact, has been very rewarding and quiet honestly, very refreshing. Probably one of the most wonderful thing about being in this environment is having the opportunity to serve alongside the tireless, innovative, and magical staff at Michigan Nonprofit Association. 

So, what have I actually been doing in the last seven months, aside from complaining about the weather and learning about the community? I have been busy, very busy. The MNA CE AmeriCorps VISTA program is the biggest VISTA program in the state of Michigan, with 34 members throughout the state of Michigan and yes, we even have members in the snowy Upper Peninsula. In the last seven months, we have had three regional trainings on grant writing and College Positive Volunteerism, four Post Pre-Service Orientation Trainings, and a massive Mid-Year Training, where we squeezed in all VISTA members and their site supervisors into a room. Don’t worry, we had plenty of coffee and candy to keep the energy going. We even visited almost all 26 VISTA site locations and did not get stuck in snow. That is an impressive thing if you understand the geography of Michigan and how crazy the weather can get here!

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Even though we have been able to reach these massive milestones, for me, the heart of my service is the little things I get to do every day and month for and with our VISTA members. My co-VISTA Leader, June LaVernway and I help support the whole VISTA cohort but I directly communicate with the VISTAs in west and north Michigan. I have an amazing team of VISTAs who have charisma, spunk, character, and a bright future. Serving with these individuals has been an inspirational and exhilarating experience!