November 26, 2010 This week, Nevada Volunteers so proudly shared a tremendous AmeriCorps member’s story with you. It is our goal to continue to showcase inspiring and successful AmeriCorps stories with you this holiday season so that you can see why we are so proud and thankful for each AmeriCorps member and each AmeriCorps program…
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…
Nevada’s Parasol Foundation AmeriCorps program has taken first place honors in the national 2010 AmeriCorps Getting Things Done Video Contest! We are so proud of them! We want to congratulate Jaime Olive, Vince Camiolo, Katy Washington of the PTCF AmeriCorps Team for their video called “Carrying Our Community.” To see the video go here: http://www.americorpscontest.org/PublicContent/Video/WatchVideo.aspx?videoId=754.…
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.
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?
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…
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.
It’s the 45th 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.
As I approach the end of my year as a VISTA, I’ve been reflecting on the experiences that have meant the most to me. There have been countless moments throughout the year in which I have interacted with great people and exciting projects in the community. I also experienced the infamous “VISTA slump,” a period of restlessness and confusion during the year. The experience that taught me the most about myself, others, and the community I live in was my culminating project, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger food drive in Southern Nevada. It was incredibly challenging but deeply rewarding.
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 8th to 15th 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: