"Black History Month 2010: Movers and Shakers"

The "Black History Month 2010: Movers and Shakers" slideshow is up on the Beehive. Go check it out, I bet you will see 2 very familiar faces. Wink. Wink.

http://www.thebeehive.org/special-features/slideshow-black-history-month-2010

-Meg

MLK Day in Austin, TX

Meg here...

I did my Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in Austin, Texas through Hands On Central Texas, a program of United Way Capital Area. I live and serve in North Carolina but was traveling during this time. I still wanted to volunteer so I looked up opportunities in the Austin area. In Austin the day of service was held on Saturday, January 16.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday, drove to Huston-Tillotson University, and checked in for our service project. The room was packed with an assortment of national service volunteers, students, and community members. I knew I was in Texas when I saw burritos for breakfast. They were delicious with coffee and orange juice. The kickoff program included the MLK Oratory Competition recipient, Dr. Richard Reddick (the keynote speaker), and a performance by The Cipher – Austin’s Hip-Hop Project. We also remembered the people of Haiti whose tragedy reminds us to put things in perspective.

After the conclusion of the kickoff we headed over to the Austin Nature and Science Center in Zilker Park, the location of our service project. There we met Ruth, the horticulturist at the Center and about 6 students from St. Edward’s University, a school in Austin. For the next four hours we enjoyed getting to know each other while we cleared beds, swept paths, and raked leaves.

Late Saturday afternoon I had a good nap, my body satisfied from working outside and my mind in a positive place from being part of an important movement. MLK Day of Service is about people coming together, working to make communities better places to live, for everyone. On that Saturday in Austin, I felt like I had been a part of a successful MLK Day of Service!

Outgoing VISTA reports

Hi Outgoing VISTAs,

I want to thank you for the work you've been doing, and to let you know how you can help us one last time. Many of us may be working on similar things in our year(s) here, and I think it would be really great if you could do the following before you head off:

1. Load all your program documents you developed or helped develop, etc onto the Buzz.

2. Post a summary of the work you did here on the blog. Maybe you could cut and paste from various quarterly reports you did.

That would keep us from duplicating efforts, and also ensure your work gets carried on. Laura and Meg, is there any kind of existing comprehensive way this is reported and shared to the VISTAs?

Thanks again,

Ruqiyyah

Overcoming the Greatest Barrier to Success - My Own Self Talk, Impatience, and Resistence

I have been meaning to blog for quite awhile now. And, honestly, even knowing how important the reflection piece is to the Service Learning model, I keep finding time to push it off for something I perceive is more important. Then I had one of those pivotal Vista moments and I knew I had to take time to reflect - to share.

My Service assignment is in New Orleans, a city which is easy to fall in love with, even in all it's challenging post-Katrina nuances. They call it the "Big Easy" for a reason and anyone who has come for Festival Season, Cafe au lait in the French quater, or to participate in the rebuilding projects across the city can tell you that it's a city rich in culture, connection, and creative arts. So it was pretty much without second thought that for most of the first quarter I went with the flow, carried onward without hesitation towards the (let's be honest) partially understood project plan objectives, filling in the Vista Assignment Description measures of progress as I went, one haphazard community connection at a time. And at first, there was no resistance, only joy - only the spirit of New Orleans, of service, and of a willingness to be slightly uncomfortable for the sake of it all. I couldn't even pin point when the shift occurred, exactly, but I am sure that it was just suddenly and overwhelmingly clear that things were amiss.

All of the connection and chaos culminated in a fuzzy vision of too many community assets and needs - disjointed in my inability to connect them and to simply state or easily reach our shared vision for success in our respective missions. I was a ball of raw nerved, communication overloaded, hungry, exhausted, and for the first time cynical and disheartened version of my former vibrant self. Relationships seemed to crumble before my eyes and the adage "A great Idea doesn't care who has it" no longer held meaning, crushed under the weight of potential partner concerns, repeating myself over and over in hope of achieving a shared understanding and of creating a common ground. It was honestly like trying to over forward through mud...think, stinking, suck you up to you knees, mud. It was a new place to be for me, as I am normally a bubbly, outgoing, connected person - looking for the next community link or partnership in an effort to save the world, but was instead, very disconnected - attached to the idea and rigid structure of one possible map and the partners outlined within. I thought, damn it, if I spent this much time and energy on this, it better move forward, regardless of what the other organizations and stakeholders needed of wanted.

I was ready to throw in the towel, finally though, when Justin (my roommate) just up and moved out, with no notice, 5 days late on rent, owing last months utilities on top of this months...and so it was that I found myself with a raging sense of self-righteousness, standing on the street car stop, almost ready to lose my fury and disappointment onto the whole of the Service Movement. It is easy to slip into this dark place, when living at the poverty level and striving to create social change through building a capacity, everyone says they want, but none will step up to take or lead. It was in this space, this dark and selfish place, filled with pride and a sense of disconnected, loathing for it all, that i found my greatest benefit in a choice to give it up.

They say you get more out of this year, than you do in many years doing other things, I guess because it's so huge - what we're taking on. I have definably found that lesson in today's unfolding of events and circumstances. On the other side of it all, the lay in wait for me, a grand feeling of stillness and peace, the discomfort melted away in the warm voice of the first partner to share and actually "GET" my vision and how it could work, through partnership. As I explained the overview and we brainstormed around the foundation to create a shared vision, I realized that had the other partnership been a GO, I might have stopped looking to create and missed out on a vital piece of the puzzle. Again, I am feeling the natural flow of life, connection, and the Service Experience - but i think I am infinitely more wise and centered in the knowledge and first hand experience of a possibly for breakdowns in planning, during implementation and often when we are least expecting them and they are able to catch us off guard, if we do not continually practice the self talk and language of "idealism" or don't take the time to nurture the relationships we value and will need so desperately during those doom~N~gloom periods.

Thus, I am moving into the weekend with a lot of things to sit with, figure out, and if needed be willing to let go, but I do not face it heavy hear ted and still remain clear that I am right where I need to be, learning through serving, and will not be lacking in opportunities for personal and professional growth of which can only serve to enhance my creativity, passion, skills, and value to others. Indeed, it has been a GOOD Friday, after all.

Obama Tells Congress to Pass Bold Service Bill

I received this email from my friends at Servenext.org - CHECK IT OUT!!

Last night in front of Congress and live cameras, President Barack Obama called for a renewed commitment to service. This was a huge moment to watch him make a specific appeal for service to become a priority as a strategy to tackle challenges that communities are facing across the country.

President Obama called on each of us to get involved and he called on Congress to pass bold service legislation. Immediately the audience gave a roaring ovation.

You can watch the clip here: www.servenext.org/JointCongressSpeech/

The bill that the President mentions is the bi-partisan Serve America Act authored by Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch. It is arguably the boldest civilian service legislation in over seventy years.

Here are some of the details:
• Create new corps focused on areas of national need, building on the success of AmeriCorps. Will support 175,000 members, expanding the number of participants to 250,000;
• Enhance incentives for participants who are age 50 or older to serve and establishes "Encore Fellowships" to help retirees transition to longer-term public service;
• Establish a National Service Reserve Corps to deploy trained alumni to natural disasters and other emergencies;
• Expand opportunities for secondary school students and out-of-school youth in low income, high-need communities to participate in service-learning programs;
• Create "Campuses of Service," where students engage in service and service-learning; a larger percentage of Federal Work Study funds will be used for community service positions;
• Strengthen the current "Volunteers for Prosperity" program, which coordinates and supports short-term international service opportunities for skilled professionals to serve in developing nations;
• Establish a "Volunteer Generation Fund" to help nonprofit organizations recruit and manage more volunteers;
• Provide a tax incentive to employers who allow employees to take paid leave for full-time service;
• Provide a funding mechanism that helps scale effective programs; and
• Develop a social entrepreneur fellowship program for AmeriCorps alumni and veterans.

This is another exciting moment in the effort to pass new legislation that will help address the enormous, but solvable challenges America is facing. Stay tuned!

In Service,

Zach Maurin, ServeNext.org

"WHY I SERVE" & Pictures from Atlanta Training - posted by Elizabeth Egan

WOW! I am so inspired by Mamie's story - her faith, courage, and excitement are quite contagious. I have goose bumps!

WHY I SERVE:
I am originally from NH, but have lived in Boston, Philadelphia, Vermont, and now...New Orleans. I consider each of these very different places home. Although I had always been engaged in community life and various community service projects - My first experience with full-time National Service came when, needing a sabbatical from providing direct service to survivors of violence, I joined the Recruitment Staff for an AmeriCorps program designed specifically for 17-24 year olds.

My first major service project with City Year New Hampshire came when they flew me to Little Rock, AK to help the CY Site there implement 24 service projects at 15 locations around the city in celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the Little Rock 9 -highlighting the struggle to integrate Little Rock Public Schools and the brave journey of the first students to break barriers, leading the way.

I will never forget how amazing it felt to be a part of something that huge, that transformational. I felt a re-surfacing of my youthful idealism, now no longer intangible and fragile, but rather rooted in the witnessing of practical strategies of how to use powerful entrepreneurial tools, skills, and networks to move ideas into reality. I was deeply moved by the power of collaboration - hands, hearts, and minds coming together to leaving a lasting impact in that city.

It was an amazing year, to say the least - I learned so much, but I think the most important lesson was about WHO I AM. WHO I AM is SERVICE. And I believe, with all my heart, that National Service and the ingenuity & passion of those who serve, will be one of the many answers we will use to bring transformation for the many issues individuals, communities, our country, and indeed, the world face.

This belief has only been furthered validated with the experiences of my first two weeks as an AmeriCorps Vista with One-Economy and Central City Renaissance Alliance. In Atlanta, last week, I had the pleasure of coming together at PSO and On-Site Training with a great group of Vistas, including my fellow in-coming One-Economy Team: Sonja, Benjamin, Brian, Mamie, and Katherine (and our leader - Holly)! I can't wait to get to know them better - to benefit from their knowledge, their passion, their support, and their friendship. I believe this year will even better than the last and while I am sure it will also be difficult, I am able to embrace the experience, secure in the knowledge that I am not alone in this and we can make a difference.

Meet the incoming One-Economy Vista class!

(bottom row, left-right:
Sonja & Katherine)
(top row, left-right: Holly, Mamie, Benjamin, Elizabeth, and Brian)