Roadposts Archives - Page 7 of 8

Amass for AmeriCorps!

Amass For AmeriCorps!

This holiday season, Nevada Volunteers is launching “Amass for AmeriCorps” to share inspirational stories of AmeriCorps members and their service we are so thankful for.

Meet Melanie Christiansen, AmeriCorps member with the United Way of Southern Nevada. Melanie spent the last twelve months as the Homeless Outreach Coordinator at Central Christian Church in Henderson, Nevada.

“Deep in my heart I know that serving homeless people has become my passion. I’ve forged strong and supportive relationships with men, women and children who have lost their homes. Through AmeriCorps, I have witnessed a little bit of my city change for the better. I’ve witnessed homeless people begin to put their lives back together. I’ve witnessed myself learn compassion. AmeriCorps has changed my life.”

We at Nevada Volunteers are thankful for AmeriCorps members like Melanie, who have learned that giving to others also enriches ourselves. From Nevada Volunteers, a big thank you to the 341 AmeriCorps members like Melanie serving the Silver State! (more…)

Roadpost #14: Impacts

How do you describe it? The impact volunteering has—not on the person who receives the help, but on the volunteer. Volunteering is good for your health, good for your resume, but there is also an emotional charge that comes with service which can uplift you in profound and transformative ways. That feeling is at the heart of one of the stories a young volunteer named Kevin told me.

Kevin, one of our UNR student work group participants, was an AmeriCorps member before entering college, working with inner-city kids in Philadelphia. He was fresh out of high school and had no idea what to study, so he decided to give back through a national service program. One of the boys Kevin had worked extra hard to encourage took him aside one day to ask his advice, and in the course of the conversation, the boy told Kevin, “Wow, you are so smart. You are my hero.” (more…)

Roadpost #13: A Web Journey

My VISTA journey is almost done and something wonderful has happened. I have finally completed one of my primary goals of my VISTA year. It is a simple thing, a website update, but it has pushed me far beyond what I expected when I began as a VISTA last August. I was not a technical person. I knew virtually nothing about websites, Facebook, videos, blogs, Photoshop. I am a storyteller, though, and this was a new medium for me to explore. I was game for it.

And so I kept learning, figuring things out, making slow progress. Every webinar that seemed to apply, I was on it. Every Google link that might provide useful information, I went there. I kept what Carol Dweck, in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, calls a growth mindset (as opposed to a fixed mindset). I understood that success would be built on lots of failures as part of the learning experience, but eventually I would become technically savvy. With each new thing I accomplished, I amazed my kids… How did Mom do that? I am not a wizard at any of this to be sure. Often I resort to muddling through, but I want so much to tell the story of volunteering and service that I’ve kept going. (more…)

Roadpost #12: Booktime

Here is an excellent book for anyone interested in change, whether it is social change, organizational change, or even change at the individual level. The book is:

SWITCH: How to Change Things When Change is Hard

By Chip and Dan Heath

This book is a good summation of recent findings in behavioral psychology about how to be effective when trying to make change happen. Written in a story-driven style, it is an easy read. It takes the research and creates practical guidelines for applying what you read to real-life situations. I have read several of these books and this is the most useful one I have come across.

Throughout the book, a simple but powerful metaphor for our dualistic minds, comprised of the rational and the emotional parts of the brain, guides the narrative. The rational brain is the rider on the back of a very large elephant, our emotional mind, and the trick is understanding how to work with both these sides of people to make sure change happens. According to the Heath brothers, you must direct the rider with clear instructions, motivate the elephant to gain its cooperation, and shape the path the two are traveling on. The book gives lots of examples of how to accomplish this feat. (more…)

Roadpost #11: Bridges

Stephanie reports on the student surveys for the Advisory Committee.

It’s the end of the college year for students on Nevada campuses and also time to wrap up the student work groups that Nevada Volunteers organized at colleges across the state for their Higher Education Initiative. Stephanie has been part of this initiative to inspire more students to become involved in their surrounding communities, and she has been quite busy building a bridge.

Stephanie is a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno, and received her undergraduate degree in Massachusetts at a college that required at least 40 hours of community service to graduate. There were resources on that campus directed toward helping students meet the requirement, but Nevada colleges and universities have no such requirement. Stephanie says of Nevada, “I see the bridge that needs to be built between the campus and nonprofits, and it feels good to be working toward building that bridge.” (more…)

Roadpost # 10: Leaving Its Mark

It’s the 45^th anniversary of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). I am one of over 175,000 Americans who have joined VISTA since 1965, dedicating a year of their lives to tackling poverty and building capacity in our nation’s nonprofit sector. President Kennedy envisioned the program in 1963 and it was implemented by President Johnson two years later. VISTA is a program I am proud to be a part of for many reasons. Here is one of them.

VISTA, like all the national service programs, can be a life-shaping experience, especially for young people. I recently spoke with Alex Cherup, a Nevada VISTA alum, who is being sponsored by Nevada Volunteers to participate in the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in New York at the end of June. Alex is an outstanding young man who is passionate about service because of his VISTA experience. It gave him the chance to turn an aspiration into reality, and he still marvels at where it has brought him. (more…)

Roadpost #9: The 2010 Nevada National Service Awards Recipients

Every year, Nevada Volunteers, the state commission on national and community service, honors outstanding National Service volunteers in Nevada. These awards are given in observance of National AmeriCorps Week, which runs May 8^th to 15^th this year. All of these award winners are great examples of the promise of National Service programs. “We are very proud of them all,” said Shawn Lecker-Pomaville, CEO of Nevada Volunteers. “Their service makes Nevada a better place for all of us.” Nevada Volunteers is pleased to announce the following winners and share a little of their story:

1) 2010 AmeriCorps Member of the Year: Dannyn Smith , Nevada Conservation Corps, from Sparks, Nevada

2) 2010 AmeriCorps VISTA of the Year: Natalie Minev, Volunteer Center of Southern Nevada, from Las Vegas, Nevada

3) 2010 AmeriCorps Program Director of the Year: Michelle Redmond, United Way of Southern Nevada AmeriCorps Program, from Las Vegas, Nevada (more…)

Roadpost #8: National AmeriCorps Week

National AmeriCorps Week runs from May 8 to May 15. AmeriCorps and VISTA programs will be spotlighted nationwide. Nevada Volunteers administers five AmeriCorps programs that provide services all across Nevada. 249 AmeriCorps members serve 62 Nevada agencies statewide. Here are some photos of Nevada's AmeriCorps members getting things done!

Roadpost #7: The Perfect Antidote

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icfjxV0YovM]

It’s a difficult time to be looking for work. Melanie knows. She’s been doing it, and trying to keep a positive attitude. Some days it is not so easy, but Melanie’s found the perfect antidote: volunteering.

“If you volunteer,” Melanie told me, “you have a reason to dress up a bit and get out of the house to socialize and be productive. It’s a break from job hunting while still being an opportunity to work… plus it helps to shape the week.”

So what is Melanie doing in her volunteer time? One place she volunteers is the Great Basin Community Food Coop. She has fun there. You can see from the video.

She also does service in the library of a local charter school, where she had previously been the librarian. When the school closed the position due to funding cuts, some people couldn’t believe Melanie would go back and do the work for free. She did, nonetheless. “I got to fill a niche, and I am appreciated there.” (more…)

Roadpost #6: The Dilworth Poll

Last Tuesday, Dilworth Middle School, in Sparks, Nevada, held a Career Day fair. It was a scavenger hunt. Each table had the answer to one of the questions the students needed to know. Nevada Volunteers was responsible for the answer to this question: Where does Nevada rank in volunteering?

Jo Ella, our Higher Education Initiative Coordinator, and Racheal, a member of our UNR Student Group, did a great job getting their attention—not only by helping them guess the answer, but by explaining how volunteering could help them. Though volunteering, they might discover what they like to do. Plus, it will give them something to put on a job application.

I was at the fair, too, watching the shy and not-so-shy students exploring potential futures with representatives from local businesses. I was curious. What types of volunteering would these 8^th graders do? I waded into the crowd to find out. (more…)