AmeriCorps Week: Three OCC VISTAs to Present at National Service Roundtable

Hamilton, Ohio– As part of AmeriCorps Week activities taking place across the country, Miami University will host a roundtable discussion on May 18 highlighting the important work being done by AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers in Ohio.

Three VISTAs representing Ohio Campus Compact will be discussing their contributions to their communities since becoming AmeriCorps members in the summer of 2010. Cayla Adams, Grace Andrews, and Jessica Toglia, who serve as the OCC VISTAs on all three of Miami University’s campuses in Butler County, want to inform people of the transformational impact that one year of service can have on Ohio communities. The work of these three VISTAs alone has been to generate hundreds of one-time and ongoing volunteers to help build capacity for area non-profits and schools; develop new poverty-alleviation initiatives that connect communities to campus resources; contribute to ongoing economic development projects in their communities; and increase awareness of poverty-related social justice issues to college students to encourage their commitment to improving America’s communities. And, with over 17,000 additional Ohioans serving in AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs, the total impact of service in Ohio is indeed staggering.

“I am very excited about this event as it will be a venue to showcase what the three OCC VISTAs have been working on,” says Toglia, the current VISTA at Miami University Hamilton. “With VISTAs placed at [all three Miami University campuses], we really are making an impact in Southwest Ohio and Butler County. It will be great to share publicly what that impact has been!”

Andrews, the VISTA serving at Miami University Oxford, feels that national service is a critical step in developing citizenship. “Before joining AmeriCorps, I thought of service to one’s country as military service. Now, I understand that we can all serve our country. When I step back and see the impact a few dedicated citizens have had on the communities in Southwest Ohio, I can’t wait to showcase it to the public!”

For Adams, “being a VISTA is a lot about civic engagement and not only on a personal level. I think a main part of what we do is to promote civic engagement in our communities. The only way to develop significant and lasting change in our communities is to inspire them to become active and informed members and citizens of their community and country respectively. This why broadening our reach and pooling resources as the three VISTAs on Miami's campuses is so important. We reach more ears and we open more eyes.”

Since its inception in 1994, more than 700,000 Americans have given more than 860 million hours of service through AmeriCorps, including 24,000 Ohioans. AmeriCorps members help students learn to read, mentor at-risk youth, provide health services, build homes for low-income families, and help nonprofits recruit more volunteers and better achieve their mission.

The Roundtable Discussion on the Impact of National Service will take place Wednesday, May 18 at 1 PM at the Wilks Conference Center, located on Miami University’s Hamilton Campus. AmeriCorps Week, May 14-21, is an annual recruitment and recognition event to demonstrate AmeriCorps' impact on critical issues, bring more Americans into service, and thank the community partners who make AmeriCorps possible. AmeriCorps is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service. For more information, visit www.AmeriCorpsWeek.gov.

Program Highlight: Hocking College Youth Tutoring Program

Ben Hastil, an AmeriCorps*VISTA member with Ohio Campus Compact, was placed at Hocking College in Athens County this past July. Athens County is part of Appalachian Ohio and is a historically poverty-stricken county that currently faces an unemployment rate of over 30%. For the county's youth, higher education is a crucial pathway out of poverty, yet, only 7% of residents age 25 and over in this region of Ohio have an associate's degree and only 15% have a bachelor's degree.

Since July, Ben has developed and coordinated the Hocking College Youth Tutoring Program, a community program developed as a college access and anti-poverty initiative for the elementary school children in the county. The program’s mission is to increase the number of local elementary school children who will go on to graduate from high school and who will be prepared for and interested in going to college. Through the program, Hocking College students are trained as tutors and placed at the underfunded and understaffed elementary schools and after-school programs in the county, where they provide the one-on-one tutoring that many elementary school children need to succeed in school.

Over the course of this school year, this program has sent 28 tutors to seven local elementary schools and five after-school program sites, and the Hocking College students have provided over 1,900 hours of tutoring to more than 500 elementary school children on fundamental reading and math skills.

Program evaluation by the schools and after-school programs, with which the Hocking College Youth Tutoring Program partners, has shown that the program’s tutors have consistently been able to improve the performance of the students that they have been tutoring. Specifically, the teachers and after-school program coordinators have reported that their elementary school students have shown increased confidence about their ability to succeed in school, a greater ability to complete their schoolwork independently, and improved test scores.

By mobilizing college students to work with younger students to help them succeed in school, this program has increased local elementary school children’s likelihood of graduating from high school, and of being prepared for and accepted to college, as well as increased their interest in pursuing higher education, by providing them with a college student role-model. Additionally, Hocking College students, many who come from low-income backgrounds themselves, have benefited from this program, as they have been able to gain valuable experience working in our education system and with children, empowering educational and interpersonal skills, and a greater involvement and investment in the community.

Lastly, because the program utilizes an innovative volunteer-driven model to provide tutors to the community, not only can the program be provided to the community for free, but the program’s ability to serve the community is unaffected by the uncertain economy and funding cuts that have limited many other organizations’ services.

Interview with Zaia Thombre about Non-Profit Capacity Building

Are you looking to network with local non-profit organizations? Do workshops about IT without IT staff, fundraising, social media, and volunteer management sound helpful? Then we suggest you check out Marietta's Non-Profit Capacity Building conference on May 26th. Registration is open until May 16th and there is something for everyone on the schedule. We sat down with organizer and OCC VISTA at Marietta College, Zaia Thombre, to talk about her capacity building work with non-profits in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Erica: What inspired you to set up a conference for Southeastern Ohio Non-Profits?
Zaia: Getting to know our community partners this year has definitely inspired the motivation to set up the conference. The nonprofits in our area do such great work for other people that they often forget to think about their own needs. The conference serves as a means for our community partners to obtain the knowledge and training necessary to continue the important work that they do.

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Erica: What do you hope that attendees learn at the conference?
Zaia: More than anything else, I hope that the attendees learn that there are experts in our area who are more than willing to share their knowledge not just at the conference but outside of it as well. Further, I hope that the attendees realize the wealth of expertise and impact that comes from collaborating with other nonprofits in our community.

Erica: Why is building capacity important?
Zaia: Nonprofit capacity building is extremely important because in order to truly impact the community and achieve one's mission, a nonprofit must continue to grow and build upon their original mission. Many times nonprofits get so focused on serving others, that they do not focus on the items that will maximize their impact. Further, being able to obtain capacity building resources at a low to no cost is also important since nonprofit organizations often time do not allocate a large budget for professional development. Often times people overlook nonprofits as a structure and do not give nonprofit leaders the recognition they deserve for the immense amount of work that they do on a daily basis. I believe these workshops are important because we are recognizing the value and impact of that work on the Mid-Ohio Valley Region.

Erica: What is the most important thing that nonprofits need to do in order to succeed, in your experience?
Zaia: Based on my experience, strong leadership is one of the most important things a nonprofit needs in order to succeed. Every nonprofit varies based upon the area that they serve, the amount of funding they have and the age of the organization, but a strong leader can overcome most challenges and learn from his or her mistakes.

Erica: How and why is Marietta supporting your capacity building work?
Zaia: Marietta College and the Sisters of St. Joseph Charitable Fund have generously supported the capacity building work that our office has done this year. Namely, not only did the Sisters of St. Joseph's Charitable Fund provide the financial support for my position, but they have shown a great deal of support by coming to the workshops held this year and purchasing additional resources for nonprofits that were committed to learning more. One of Marietta College’s core values is service to the community and we believe that creating sustainable partnerships with the community is extremely important. Not only has the McDonough Center been a huge advocate in the creation of the newly formed Office of Civic Engagement, but also the other entities on campus such as the Legacy Library has helped by purchasing additional resources for nonprofits who are looking to build capacity.

Erica: How has your capacity building work altered your perceptions of nonprofits, the work they do, and/or the people they serve?
Zaia: I am thoroughly impressed with the amount of work that goes into running a nonprofit and the variety of nonprofits out there. A lot of the nonprofit organizations that we work with have been started by passionate members of the community who have had no formal training in the intricacies of the sector. The nonprofit sector has to worry about a myriad of items that most businesses do not such as finding funding sources, legal constraints and volunteer management.

Erica: How will your work this year affect your future plans / decisions?
Zaia: This year has taught me a great deal about the nonprofit sector and the power of change. I am certain that I will stay involved in the nonprofit sector throughout my life whether it is through being an active board member, philanthropy, or a volunteer. Spending a year working with the Mid-Ohio Valley community has also completely vested my interest in this area and I cannot wait to see it grow in the years to come.

Reflections from Katrena Kugler, Defiance College

On Philanthropy:
What a choice the rich must have to make, in whose pot to put their money. For anyone who gives (money), whom to give to is probably a difficult question. Do you give to homeless shelters? To the Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” or any one of hundreds of other ailment-related causes? To an organization that promotes public goodness in developing countries, such as Heifer International? To an individual you know personally who would be struggling otherwise and in your mind truly deserves the assistance? Do you give to historical societies to help them maintain the region’s historical memories and information? To public radio and television, in support of excellent quality documentaries, newscasts as honest as probably any in the country, and programming you know your children and grandchildren will be better for growing up with? To your local kids’ softball team to give them a wholesome activity during the summer months? To your city’s art museum, ensuring that future scholars and the public will have access to quality programming and world culture? To your local soup kitchen so people who are hungry RIGHT NOW can have something to keep them from starving? What a dilemma.

On Homelessness:
I was listening to National Public Radio just before one of Northwest Ohio’s hardest snow and ice storms this winter, when I heard that a public official had been interviewed somewhere in the state and had voiced his concern about the homeless population in the city: he was concerned that they would be alright during the bad weather (and Ohioans know just how frigid it gets around here); he urged them to find shelter. I was shocked. So during the other 364 days of the year, when it’s blazing hot, with temperatures soaring into the nineties and beyond, and during the cold rainy days, and during the other snowstorms that hit during the winter, and during the ice, and at just about any time of year, especially through the night every night, does he worry whether the homeless population has shelter? On the other hand, my common sense tells me, maybe they can’t afford to provide for everyone. Is that the truth, or is that just what we’ve been taught? Is it America’s responsibility to provide for Americans? I can understand the argument for an equalization of finances: take from the rich, give to the poor. I can also understand how those who have earned a healthy income deserve to spend it as they wish, unless they did so dishonestly (there I go, judging them and creating conditional acceptance); I could only hope that they would be good stewards of their resources. I get off the topic. Why choose the worst of the worst weather to worry?

Retreat Reflection from J. Provoznik, LCCC

Our Athens retreat brought me back to remembering that our country has absolute poverty, too. We just hide it really well whether it is out in the country or in the city isolated. I also learned the extreme differences of battling poverty in a city verse in the country. Transportation is always a problem, but the extent of the transportation issue is huge. With Friends and Neighbors, people were coming from West Virginia to get food!

Retreat Reflection from K. Kugler, Defiance College

Thoughts on Poverty. Some people earn a $30,000 a year income and have set themselves up with a healthy financial arrangement. Others make hundreds of thousands, they still aren’t satisfied, and, worse, they are the ones making the decisions that keep some financially rich and some financially poor. If you earn piddle but love life, open your arms to others, have integrity, and are generous, many would say you’re financially struggling but are rich in happiness, despite your financial level. If you make $400,000/year, but still aren’t satisfied and hoard your money, keeping others from getting any, many would say you are financially set, but could use a real paradigm shift. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how much you earn; it’s what you do with what you earn. Other times, such as is the case in Appalachian Ohio, people just plain need money; most would make good choices with it—they just need some desperately. So what is “poverty?” There are governmental guidelines which focus on how much money a household brings in and how many members are in the household. If you make a couple hundred or thousand dollars over the limit for your household, you aren’t eligible for benefits, when aid might have helped you stay above the poverty line for longer. Sometimes, the system won’t help people until they’ve fallen down, so-to-speak. Is poverty a state of mind? If you save on electricity by turning the lights out in rooms you aren’t using, don’t use the clothes dryer from March to October, and wear your good clothes and shoes until they aren’t your best anymore and wear them ten more years around the house because they have plenty of life left in them, are you considered poor, or are you thrifty and economical? If you update your entire wardrobe every year, drive your gas-guzzler to town and back just for one chore even when gas prices are skyrocketing, and purchase pricey brands at the supermarket instead of store brands, are you considered middle class, non-poverty level, or do you just have no control of your money-spending habits?

Reflection from K. Kugler, Defiance College

Can we really “change the world”? Can federal Volunteers really “change the world”? Why are individuals charged with the responsibility of “changing the world,” when corporations and governments could do so much more with their financial and legislative power? Why are we fed the line that charitable doings and giving stuff will “change the world,” “especially the “obligatory holiday stories that make it seem as though charity will solve the problem?” (from All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America? By Joel Berg, Seven Stories Press, 2008, pg. 223 emphasis mine.) Why are they obligatory? To make those of us who have feel so guilty about those who have not that we really have to give? If one person makes an improvement in the life of one other person, has the first person “changed the world”? Or do you have to do something more “awesome,” or “amazing,” those hot key terms right now, to be considered “changing the world”, for example, starting even more non-profits instead of perhaps strengthening those already created. There are already all kinds of foundations, organizations, fundraisers, non-profits, community action agencies, special interest groups, individuals who have created their own specific special interest groups to meet what would seem to be every conceivable need on planet earth, and then some. Everybody’s idea of how the world needs to change is also different. And then, what do we mean by “the world”? A foreign friend of mine teases me that Americans think of the United States as “the world”, limiting our scope to this country, when there are so many others out there. I don’t want to say that giving is bad, that non-profits don’t do great work, or that people shouldn’t give around the holidays or any other time. I do say that we should give this some more thought. Or rather, that some of those who have the most should give a lot more thought to it than they have done. Although, if it weren’t for those few folks, we wouldn’t be blessed with the art museums, new hospitals, and improved facilities for institutions that further the education of our scholars and improve the public welfare overall. What a choice the rich must have to make, between some peoples’ financial struggles and others’ needs for community enhancement and beautification. But that’s a topic for another blog. When you use expressions like “changing the world,” you subscribe to everything that phrase and others, whether antiquated clichés or not, means.