The Women's March at the State House in Boise, Idaho was a success with huge crowds, even during a snow storm. We peacefully made our voices heard and marched in solidarity with people across the country.
Fr. Grubb visited us while our program coordinator was in Boise. The last time we saw him was at orientation in August, so it was a great reunion!
Almost all of our support families came together while our program coordinator was in Boise. We love these gatherings where we can all catch up with one another.
The JVs from Woodburn, OR visited in late February. We had a great time showing them around Boise. We took this photo in the State House.
The Boise community on the last day of retreat, featuring hummus we were gifted!
These past couple months have been very busy and a whirlwind
of trips, visits, and learning opportunities. This post won’t do any justice to
the experiences I have had recently. In February we had the opportunity to host
our program coordinator for our community in Boise, which was great. Our
program coordinator is a wonderful support system for us and they have all
sorts of resources for JVs. His role in February was to facilitate reflections
and get our thoughts in order about reaching the six month mark of our service.
While our program coordinator was here we had opportunities to reflect and
reminisce about the past six months as well as look forward to what might come
next and what we want to do and see in these last six months. I’m in awe that
we are already so far into our year. I think we’re in a good place. Someone
once told me that it takes about four months to feel like you really have a
grasp on a new position. By six months, I feel comfortable at my service site
and I feel like I have a good idea about various social justice areas and about
the guests we serve each day. While there is always more to learn, knowing the
local resources and exactly what to do in certain situations gives me a lot of
comfort. Our program coordinator told us he once heard it said that the first
six months of service are for learning and the last six months are for reflecting
and giving. This seems to be pretty accurate.
We had the opportunity to see Chinese acrobats at a local performance
while our program coordinator was in Boise and had a priest, who was a former
JV and a speaker at orientation, visit our community at that time. We had
attended the Women’s March in Boise a couple weeks prior and felt very
connected to people around the country asking for the chance to be heard. This
was an important time for us, as the march made history. We hosted the
Woodburn, OR JV’s in Boise in February. It was so much fun showing them around
the city and hearing their perspectives on our temporary home.
Almost directly after our program coordinator visited Boise,
our community drove to Northeastern Washington for our second retreat of the
year. This retreat was focused around social and ecological justice and allowed
us all to reflect on service so far and how far we’ve all come from the
beginning of the year. It was nice to have a larger focus on many different
areas of social justice throughout the weekend. We reflected on our experience
with the factors that make up who we are; the privileges, the disadvantages,
and more. We explored intersectionality as it relates to ourselves personally
and as it relates to those we serve. We had opportunities to talk with people
from different locales around the Northwest, different social justice areas,
and different perspectives and experiences. The retreat was rewarding and inspiring,
but also a lot to think through. I’m so glad we have the opportunity to embark
on retreats throughout the year.
After the retreat, the next day, my community mate and I
went to the Serve Idaho Conference for two days. The first day was involved
AmeriCorps members who served around the state of Idaho. The second day was the
general conference. The general conference was focused on The Time, Treasures,
and Talents of Older Adults. Each day, there were wonderful speakers who talked
about the experiences as AmeriCorps members and about the experiences of
elderly volunteers and their value to all organizations. My organization is run
mostly by volunteers, most of them retired, with only one paid employee, so
volunteer coordinating is very important. I am in that role this year and I
love it. Finding new ways to connect with and schedule volunteers through this
conference has been wonderful. I wrote an article for my program reflecting on
the conference, and that is below.
Serve Idaho: Reflections on Inclusion
When I started in my
placement this year at my placement, I naturally began coordinating the
seventy-five volunteers that help the shelter operate smoothly. There
is one paid employee at the organization and everyone else is a volunteer. I
enjoy this aspect of the organization and I truly see the community giving everything
they have- time, a listening ear, in-kind donations- every day to assist those
in need. Most of the volunteers are retired and over fifty years old. I did not
pay much attention to this fact when I started in my position, I just knew I
enjoyed talking with the volunteers, getting to know them and getting to know
their perspective on the organization.
One of my goals for
this year has been to conquer the task of volunteer coordinating. For anyone
who has been in a similar position, they know that this task is not always
easy. Luckily, we have many committed, wonderful volunteers who are ready to
take on any extra tasks, and we appreciate them so much for that quality. The
Serve Idaho Conference this year focused on post-retirement age volunteers and
their immense value to the organizations to which they serve. I learned a lot
about recruiting older volunteers and about how to create a welcoming and
inclusive environment to which they would be inclined to continue volunteering.
I learned that not everyone is immersed in the world of nonprofits and
therefore may be hesitant to volunteer, as they don’t necessarily know their
place or how they are needed in the community. The most beneficial aspect of
the conference was hearing directly from older volunteers who currently devote
their time to serving the community. They discussed their experiences in
volunteering; the good, the bad, and the mediocre. They shared their knowledge
as volunteers, which was valued by all present. They said they wanted to feel
heard, valued, and to understand the vision of the organization. They wanted to
feel like an important part of the operation of the organization. They wanted
consistency and organization. They wanted to be a part of a positive change in
the community. All of these points seem fairly minimal, but when staff at an
organization put this all together, volunteers can feel more valued and
substantial, therefore creating an environment where they want to stay and
contribute their skills.
Since starting in my
position, I have made a point to spend time with the volunteers and get to know
them as well as those we serve. This has been important to me because every now
and then someone will surprise you. I am always curious why someone wants to
volunteer, what has drawn them to the shelter, and any talents they
may have to improve the organization. There is one volunteer who was
supervising computer use and enjoyed it, but seemed like he had more to gain
from the experience. Upon further discussion, we found that he is a skilled
musician. Now there is a music program once a week for our guests to
participate in, which has proven to be a therapeutic and positive program.
The speakers at the
conference reminded me how important it is to connect with every person I
encounter at service, those I directly serve include the volunteers I serve
beside. At the day of the conference dedicated to AmeriCorps members, I was
reminded that the service done by all AmeriCorps members is vastly different
and incredibly important. While we all serve in different roles, we are all
volunteers working together to create a community that cares for those who
often go unheard and overlooked. Meeting volunteers from all branches of AmeriCorps,
including Senior Corps volunteers, was a highlight of the conference. People
devoting their time to service at all ages and coming from all backgrounds is
inspiring. I have taken these experiences with me to my service site and I hope
to keep these important messages with me throughout the remainder of the year,
gaining as much from volunteers of all ages as I can.
The transition from February to March at service has been a
noticeable one. In February it was still winter and still very busy at my service
site with people wanting to get out of the cold each day. It has slowly started
to warm up in March, which is wonderful, and people are slowly dispersing. More
are sleeping outside and spending time in the parks. A few highlights from the
past couple months have been having a guest remain regulated on meds and off of
illegal substances. There were a few bumps in the road, but this guest is
persistent in their recovery. Another guest got housing, yet another is going
to in April after six years in shelters. There is a little girl who comes to
check mail with her father and she recently got a haircut. She seemed sullen,
but I made a big deal of her haircut, telling her how wonderful she looked. She
smiled and said a genuine thank you. She said her class was picking on her that
week because of her haircut. My supervisor and I had to pull a man off of the
sidewalk as other guests told us he was close to rolling into the road. He had
laid down, drunk, and was close to falling into traffic. This was off of our
property, not technically our problem, but we both went to make sure this guest
was safe and was able to move away from the curb. This is one of my favorite
moments recently, as odd as that may sound. I think it shows the lengths we go
to for guests and it truly brings a new challenge every day when so many people
we care about are out on the streets being hurt, hurting themselves, and the
least we could do is move this man in from the curb. There is another guest who
was recently released from jail. He was around all the time before he went in.
When he got out he had a case worker who got him housing, payee services, and
stability on medications. Within three days he lost his housing, was off his
medications, and the organization that provided case management was shut down.
This does not usually happen, at least not so fast. I was blown away. He is in
the exact same position he started in before he went to jail, which is what we
see a lot. So quickly he was thrust back into the shelters and he returned to
his old routine, so that if I don’t think about the past couple months, it’s as
if he picked up right where he left off exactly, as many do.
These past couple months have been packed with many
wonderful and simultaneously heartbreaking experiences. I am fortunate to be of
service in this way, I would not trade the difficult times for anything, as it
has shaped my perspective in these past seven months. I can’t believe the year
is flying by so quickly and I am trying to take in everything I can while I am
here. Thank you all for all of the support and guidance you have given to me
throughout these past seven months, I truly appreciate it.
