AmeriCorps Stories of the Week

The American elm was the biggest and longest lived tree on our northern floodplains until Dutch-elm disease (DED) wiped out much of their population. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is facing this problem head on, planting elms that are potentially Dutch-elm disease tolerant along Connecticut and Champlain Valley basins. We have partnered with US Forest Service and have dedicated a test site with 6,420 American elms to be inoculated with Dutch-elm disease in hopes of understanding which of these trees are immune to the disease and why.

My host site got a phone call in early March from the Department of Health (DOH) asking about whether local social service providers had interest and capacity in organizing people experiencing homelessness to get vaccinated. The DOH wanted to bring vaccine doses to people, rather than have people come to their clinic due to transportation barriers, job barriers, childcare barriers, and so on. My host site and another congregate shelter (Charter House) in the county responded.

I visit a resident with Parkinson's disease in her room from time to time to resolve little issues with her computer. The many visual messages the computer screen sends can be exhausting and confusing for her due to her disease. My most recent visit with her was especially significant to me. She can be reserved and fairly quiet; a highly intelligent, strong, and very capable woman, it has been very painful and damaging to her self esteem to have such difficulty doing the things she once could with ease. I did not know this about her before this day, however.

My story isn't about anyone individual in particular, but rather the collection of individuals who come by and give me the wonderful gift of their presence. Each interaction usually starts really small--it could be a knock on the window and, since they come by often, I recognize them. I begin to check their mail. Sometimes there are packages and checks, other times just junk mail, while some days there is nothing at all. But regardless this is always just the beginning (or at least I hope).

One of the side projects I was tasked with in the past few months was to organize a virtual storytelling hour over Zoom in partnership with the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF). Considering it would take place online rather than on-site as had been done in the past, we decided to invite all households from five of our properties.

The roads had just been plowed and a slick layer of plow-shear caused my traction control dash light to click on and off occasionally. Eventually I reached my final turn. As I drove down the private drive to the Codere property - a property protected by a fairly restrictive Forever Wild conservation easement - I looked for the nearest snowbank to park in. After finding a suitable one, I set off into the woods.

Social isolation is a big issue for the older adult population. According to one study, social isolation can be just as deleterious to one’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Add in a raging pandemic and the often nostalgic feel surrounding the holiday season, and an acute problem becomes all the more so. Serving at the Montpelier Senior Activity Center (MSAC), attempting to counter these effects is central to our mission. One particular segment of the population we serve, our FEAST at Home (meals on wheels) recipients, are often on the forefront of our minds as we think about ways to maintain connections. While this is true year round, it was even more so this holiday season after the unprecedented year of isolation and separation that characterized much of 2020. As such, my host site and I were determined to provide some sort of bright spot to end the year on a more positive note.

We were serving in Richmond as a trail building crew, reconstructing a bridge and boardwalk for the bikers in the surrounding communities who used the trail. Nearly every day, at least one biker would stop and voice their appreciation for our project. One day, I went to buy bug spray with my fellow crew member, and the cashier asked us what we were doing, expressing how he wished the trail in Richmond was being fixed.

Homelessness is not only a housing issue. It's a substance issue, a mental health issue, and employment issue. There are many factors that lead to homelessness, and there are many pieces to bring someone out of it. Part of my service this year was facilitating an employment group offered once a week at the Daystation.

High Pond is set in a deep bowl, surrounded by peaks of the Taconic Mountains of southern Vermont. The trail up to the pond winds through hardwood forest and hemlock stands, up and down smaller hills, gradually climbing up to the rim of the pond basin. High Pond is my favorite preserve that I steward with The Nature Conservancy. The lake is cold and clear. Within a few kicks away from shore it becomes so deep you can no longer find the bottom. With the Taconic’s walling off the lake from the valley, it feels like wilderness.

During this last quarter things changed so much due to the COVID pandemic. We closed completely and only had one educator on site per day which meant that when I was on site, I was completely independent and troubleshooting and issues had to be left up to me. This gave me more confidence and led me to create the portable perch and train all the birds to use it. My supervisors, Anna and Nathan , encouraged me to go for it and it really build up my confidence as a bird handler and bird trainer. It also made me realize I could make a lasting impact on how we handle the birds here.

I had the learning experience of hosting camp. We were leading the campers in fairy house construction, bridge building, and bracelet weaving when we heard a distant rumble of thunder. I gathered my group of campers and we met with the other two pods to prepare for hiking back to thunder camp (which is a tarped area in the lowlands of the forest). My co-lead explained we would be hiking back in the forest line off-trail, sticking to the low areas of the woods

I had one client come in who was very anxious about receiving services from the HRC, they believed that they were not eligble because other members of their community told them that they would not receive help. They were so pleased with how the intake went that they referred me to other members of the community who were also looking for aid.

For my Independent Service Project, I have been spending time each week at the Community Garden, run by Charter House Coalition. This effort first started when I was an intern as a second-year student at Middlebury College, where I spent the summer planting, watering, and harvesting at a beautiful farm along the river. Many years later, the garden has moved locations but is still maintained, with the help of lots of loyal volunteers, to produce a bountiful harvest for the Charter House meal programs

I spent a day in June pulling garlic mustard along the coast of Lake Champlain with a couple of my colleagues from the northern office of The Nature Conservancy. After many bugs had bitten, many beads of sweat had salted the earth, and many garbage bags of garlic mustard had been filled, we sat down on an enormous driftwood log to enjoy our lunch. Towards the end of our lunch break someone suggested that we take two minutes, and each try to sketch, on pieces of slate, a nearby impressively sized cottonwood tree. It was a simple enough suggestion, and took only a brief few moments of our time, but it was incredibly rewarding to sit and appreciate the grandeur of such a large tree and more rewarding still to see what small details each of us chose to focus on in our quick sketching and how each of our personalities might be reflected in those little choices.

So, one of my favorite memories of my service so far has been when I was assisting in putting back together a stone structure along the State House Path. The stone structure is like a half kiva with some large flat stones on top for people to sit on. It rests at the top of a stone staircase and is a major landmark along the trail.

As a stewardship assistant with the Green Mountain Club, my days in the field are defined by the extremes of conservation work: epic views, captivating wildlife encounters, biting insects, and rugged terrain. I am fortunate enough to experience natural areas in ways that most people will never get to experience. It has become my passion and life's work to make sure that everyone can get a meaningful experience from nature whatever that may be.

Being an environmental educator during COVID-19 has been a challenge. I went from taking students out into the woods at the Audubon center to reading picture books and using PowerPoint to give mini presentations on beavers, bats, pollinators and a whole host of other critters. However, COVID has reminded me just how valuable environmental education is for all learners.

I’ve been able to take a leadership role in a project at Rural Edge’s Crystal Lake Apartments in Barton. I first visited the property back in late April with my site supervisor Ann, and the property manager Teresa.

My field service last week was great! I monitored and maintained tree plantings at a restoration site on Tuesday (5/26) and pulled invasive garlic mustard at TNC’s Butternut Hill Natural Area in North Hero yesterday(5/28). Both were very productive and safe days.

My first day as an AmeriCorps member, I built a ramp for Herbert. He had been a contractor, so it was important that all the angles be square, and the supports be strong. He watched us, with a slight smile on his face, most of the afternoon on the three days of work. I am sure he would have supervised us all morning as well, but his wife said the pain meds put him to sleep for a long time. He was not receiving treatment anymore, just medication to ease the pain.

Each AmeriCorps member has the option to "adopt" a senior and perform the volunteer activities themselves. I went out to meet Clara to see what kind of organizing help she needed.

I had the pleasure of organizing and managing our annual CHT Eviction Prevention Program Conference from start to finish.

On the last day of school before the shutdowns, in light rain, I waited for one of the After-School children outside of the cafeteria/gymnasium. I was six feet away from parents waiting for their own children.

Two young women, Luna Shen and Alana Mason, both 23, are VHCB AmeriCorps members on the front lines, serving homeless families at the John Graham Shelter. They are part of a team working around the clock to staff the shelters, deliver food and supplies, and provide services and care to homeless families at John Graham’s sites throughout Addison County.

Every year the food shelf that I serve at offers a holiday food giveaway in mid-December. Two days after this year's event, a woman came into the food shelf hoping that she might be able to get one of the hams we had been giving away. She said that her son had recently passed away, leaving her to care for her two grandchildren. It was going to be the children's first Christmas without their father and the woman did not have the money to afford a large meal.

“It’s a commonly stated truth that “homelessness” is more than the lack of a home. This alludes to the reality that homeless individuals often face a wide range of challenges rooted in their personal experiences that prevent them from being housed sustainably. Histories of addiction, trauma, and mental health disorders are more common than not. Ultimately, all who are homeless carry with them a unique set of factors that led them to a position of being without housing. In consideration of this holistic idea of “homelessness,” the process of addressing these underlying challenges is just as important as developing a sustainable source of income and finding appropriate housing.

I have been trying to put into words how VHCB has inspired me to do my best. But, being the voice of the members, I don’t want to just reflect my experience, I want to try to represent a collective experience. I reached out to other members last week, and I thought there would be some variation, but it turns out that VHCB serves us in really similar ways.

Luke was nominated for being a self-starter, being an innovative presence regarding the organizations policies and procedures, and his contributions in developing actions plans to help older Vermonters stay in their homes.

As a part time student with full-time commitment in community service, I have recently completed a research project focused on the importance of housing stability for socioeconomic well-being for low-income households including the homeless population, and the positive impact of nonprofit affordable housing developments for disadvantaged communities.

The Nature Conservancy owns and manages 55 natural areas in Vermont, totaling nearly 30,000 acres. Ecologically speaking, these protected areas provide a lot “bang for your buck.” Some of the most spectacular, unique, and rare natural communities and species in Vermont and the Northeast thrive on these lands...

June 29th, 2017 was one of the most meaningful volunteer service projects I’ve been on yet. Who’d have thought a group of 5 Real Estate Investment Advisors would be so good at trail maintenance?

This past winter, I received an email from Laura Wilson, Cathedral Square’s Director of Operations, suggesting I connect with another AmeriCorps member. I soon learned that through their service with the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, AmeriCorps VISTA members, Corrine Yonce and Luke Dodge were collaborating on a project titled “Voices of Home” to spread the importance of affordable housing. In their words, “Voices of Home is a storysharing project dedicated to promoting the voices of Vermont's affordable housing residents. We aim to erase the stigma surrounding affordable housing communities and educate our friends and neighbors about the incredible importance of stable, reasonably priced homes in helping people live fulfilling lives. These stories are those of your own communities and the people who live in them.”