Nicole Vera is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country. Listen to learn more about how she has leveraged service to work across cultures and boarders.
Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.
Betsy Laakso is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country. Listen to learn more about how she has created a rewarding career working for the Red Cross.
Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.
Kyle Kent is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country. Listen to learn more about how he used service in place of an apprenticeship and re-framed his approach to community.
Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.
Eric Shovein is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country. Listen to learn more about how he used domestic and international service to jump-start a career in social justice.
Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.
Erin Busk is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country. Listen to learn more about how she is impacting the Indianapolis community in a big way.
Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.
Samantha Mairson is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country. Listen to learn more about her journey from liberal arts school to fighting forest fires to hiking the Appalachian trail.
Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.
Rachel Ogorek is the compiler of Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country. Listen to learn more about why she wanted to write this book and how her work in Denver,CO changed her life.
Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.
Caitlin Closser is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country. Listen to learn more about her journey from an employee at a publishing company to a national service advocate.
Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.
”Finding my Pony” while running a city-wide scavenger hunt for St. Louis Public Radio, where I volunteer on their Jr. Board.
Name: Katie Bench
Profession: VISTA Services Manager (I coordinate all of the VISTA Projects across the St. Louis metro area)
University: Georgian Court University (undergrad) / University of Missouri St. Louis (grad school)
Major: B.A in Art and Holistic Health and a M.A in Nonprofit Management
Service Type: AmeriCorps VISTA
Service Dates: July 2007 – July 2014
Service Location: South Grand Senior Ministry in St. Louis, Missouri
That was my personal mantra during my 3 terms of service as a VISTA for the South Grand Senior Ministry in St. Louis. I heard the story below at my first event as a VISTA and it stuck with me.
There once was a good little boy in the Old Country. He was friendly to all that he saw, did his chores and was a pleasure to be around. This little boy’s one Christmas wish was to have a pony (mind you this was a country that ponies were a plenty, and wanting a pony did not make you snobbish). On Christmas morning the young lad sprang out of his bed and sprinted to his family’s barn. Upon entering the barn the boy squealed with delight when he saw an empty pen with a big PILE of Crap! He got a shovel and started scooping it up. The young boy’s parents found him whistling a toon while cleaning the pen. Puzzled the parents asked the boy why he was so happy. The boy replied if there is a pile of dung then a pony can’t be far behind!
Moral of the Story: Sometimes you have to go through a bunch of “Mississippi Mud” before you make it to your goal. The main thing to keep in mind is to focus on Finding the Pony instead of dwelling in the unpleasantness at hand.
Sharing information about National Service before a Bon Jovi concert with my fellow VISTAs.
I had a lot of ponies during my time in service and a lot of compost! I had presenters cancel on me the day of an event, bus drivers who got lost, lived without heat, had my car broken into twice and then lose it completely in a hit-and-run, canceled countless events that took days to plan and even disappointed a nun! That compost helped me grow so much since I first started out. I learned that what I may think is a good thing might not be what an older adult wants and the client is always right. I learned to take things in stride. I learned how to be a team leader. And I saw the powerful impact a year of service can have not only on yourself, but with your community!
My years of service led me on my life path of inspiring others to GIVE (in any way they can) and for that I am incredibly grateful!
See the silver lining with everything you do and Find Your Own Pony!
My passion has always been people and being able to lend a listening ear to a troubled mind was what I believed I was naturally gifted at. In reality, it probably just developed throughout the several years I spent as a crying shoulder to quite a few folks. This may be the dominant reason why I chose to obtain my B.S. in Psychology. But, after participating in an Alternative Spring Break back in 2011, I became enamored with this whole concept of service. I served with a group of 8 lovely ladies in Charlotte, NC with Stop Hunger Now. I will never forget the valuable experience I gained from this trip because it helped me see a different side of non-profit work, not to mention the fact that we provided much needed assistance to this wonderful humanitarian aid organization. It was during this service project that I met a VISTA and learned about AmeriCorps. I decided, while still a junior at UCF (University of Central Florida), I would apply for AmeriCorps once I graduated in 2012. I knew I wanted to serve while traveling so I applied to NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). The new collaboration between FEMA and NCCC came into existence in 2012 so I got to serve in the North Central Region inaugural FEMA Corps class.
Needless to say, this was one of the best choices I’ve made. Throughout the ten months of service, there were many treacherous mountains to climb, but I enjoyed the opportunity of serving on a national level with disaster relief such as 2012’s Hurricane Sandy along with 10 other people. I felt like I grew so much throughout those ten months that it gave me the confidence to apply for a VISTA position I wasn’t sure I was qualified enough for. In 2013, I left my life as a FEMA-NCCC Corps member behind and excitedly took on my role as an AmeriCorps VISTA. For a year, I worked as the (brace yourself for the long title) “AmeriCorps VISTA Veterans Helping Veterans Program Specialist” at a nonprofit organization back home called Impact Broward. I was given the task of updating: programmatic policies & procedures, recruitment literature, training material and lists of community contacts as well as recruiting, training, and assigning Veteran mentors with mentees. I’m assuming my work was well received since I was promoted to Veterans Helping Veterans Program Coordinator (my current occupation) after my VISTA year ended this past July. I am now excited to be able to share my passion for service, whether domestically or internationally, with all of you who come on board with the NGS movement and hope to do my best as a guide.