Hello from Winston Salem!

Greetings fellow Vistas!

I just wanted to write a quick shout out and say hello from lovely Winston-Salem. I'm Denise, a new OE VISTA from Virginia (that's me to the left). I'm actually leaving for PSO in Atlanta tomorrow. Wish me luck!

I'm enjoying the experience so far - mostly research, resource mapping, and excel - and I'm especially looking forward to meeting and working with the other VISTAs in the office!

It's been just two weeks so far, so I sadly have little wisdom/motivation to impart! Still, I thought I might pass along a resource tip just in case there are some VISTAs out there planning to make presentations or teach classes this year. I'm currently obsessed with Prezi, the zooming online presentation tool that will forever convert you away from power point. I love it and I hope you will too! I made a One Economy demo presentation you can see below. It's sort of lame since I made it quickly, but I think you get the idea!

Best wishes and happy Americorping,

Denise

One Economy on Prezi

Motivational Monday!

Good morning team!

Here's a quote to get your week started off right:

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be – Douglas Adams

---Laura; Durham, NC

Motivational Monday!

Good morning Team!

And happy August -- time has really flown by this year. Here's your motivational quote for the week:

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson


---Laura; Durham, NC

Motivational Mondays

Good morning team!

A little dose of motivation to get you started this Monday morning:

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader. ---John Quincy Adams

Have a great week!
---Laura; Durham, NC

The Holy Grail

Two Mondays ago when we were celebrating other victories here on the VISTA blog, the Winston-Salem office celebrated with me about some big news. In November 2009 I started working with Sonja to apply for grant funding in Winston-Salem to launch a Digital Connectors program. LaDeara Crest has benefited from every other aspect of One Economy's programming except for the youth technology piece. With help from our miracle working grant team, in April 2010 I submitted the final version of our grant application.

They kept pushing back the time for when they would notify us of our award. If they waited one more cycle my VISTA term would have been over. Deep down I felt that there was no way we wouldn't get funding but I knew the reality that all VISTAs do that nothing is a sure thing until it happens.

In the end WE GOT THE GRANT!!!! ($25,000)

For me this grant is the holy grail of my year. It was a project where all of the responsibility fell on my shoulders and if successful the community would benefit greatly. The residents in LaDeara Crest have been looking forward to having more opportunities for their young people and I am so elated that I can say at the end of my year that I was able to help them see this accomplishment.

So I leave Winston on a big high with a little side of bittersweet because the operation and success of the actual program is now in someone else's hands. However, that's how sustainability works. Someone passed this project on to me and now I'm doing the same. I'm happy that even without me here the show will go on.

Take that Indiana Jones!

~Adwoa

Motivational Mondays

Good Morning Team!

Hope you all have great weeks! Keep up the good work that's been happening around the country. Here's your quote for the week:

Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. ~Wendy Wasserstein


---Laura; Durham, NC

Eating on the Cheap

Hey VISTA team,
Do you have any tips or tricks for eating well on the VISTA stipend? Have you started cooking with your friends more? Do you have a go to meal you cook when you're waiting for your next stipend check to come in?

Share what you've learned -- whether its what to buy, where to shop, or a recipe -- in the comments section!

I'm curious to hear what you've been doing and eager to hopefully add a little variety to my recipe collection during the last couple months of my service.

---Laura; Durham, NC