| Jenny's AmeriCorps/Nonprofit Blog |
| Monday, May 24, 2004 Oh my gosh, I am exhuasted! The 9th Annual Take A Hike for Humanity hike-a-thon was very successful, despite the miserable weather on Saturday. Thank goodness Sunday was sunny and warm, otherwise I think the outcome would have been grimmer. Greater Worcester's hikers raised over $4,700 for our affiliate! Good job. Well, Wayne is leaving us for a local CDC by mid-June. And Tim just mentioned that he will be leaving in August so that he can go to school and get his masters degree. Sheesh! I'm going to be the most senior person in the office. I don't think that's a good idea, but we'll have to make due. How can I be the most knowledgeble person left? Oh boy. Good news: Wayne just met with a guy from the State--Commonwealth, I mean. They need to purchase a a couple hundred square feet of one of our properties for roadwork. We're getting $14,000 for land that we couldn't develope anyway. SWEET! |
| Here it is: the continuing saga of my experience as an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer in Worcester, Massachusetts. I would love to hear from any other AmeriCorps volunteers or nonprofit employees--especially volunteer coordinators. Email me--tell me what you think, or share your own experiences. Together we'll survive this crazy world of NGOs! |
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| Wednesday, May 26, 2004 Let's see... what exactly have I done today? I wrote form letters to send to our faith partners and area schools about joining the Cans for Habitat recycling/fundraising program, and made up a simple informational flyer to go with it. The next step, really, is to make sure I have correct contact information for the area congregations, but that is such a pain! Half of the time, the people who answer the phone have absolutely no answers and no idea where to find them. Very frustrating. What else? The never-ending search for money continues. Why won't anyone fund Habitat/ affordable housing? You can give all the money to schools and healthcare that you want, but if a person doesn't have a decent place to sleep, it won't matter! Kids who move around every week will probably perform poorly despite all the supportaive infrastructure. If I never knew where I was going to sleep from one night to the next, I probably wouldn't pay much attention to school either! And as far as health care goes, yes, of course it's important. But being exposed to the shelter/ transitional shelter environment, I see how hard it is to stay healthy. The mothers in the Frances Perkins shelter have access to health care, and still their children are constantly sick! Colds, bronchitis, ear infections. One of the girls yesterday was telling me how she had been ill: how her lips had turned blue and her head at hurt. It's hard to keep healthy in a communal environment, and with all the stress that goes along with such a situation. Sorry, I'm ranting. It's just... I look at all of these corporations and their foundations, and they're set up to help fund good organizations and necessary needs, but it just seems like there is so much funding available for education and healthcare--needed, surely--but is affordable housing any less needed? We need money! The family going into our current duplex has been waiting for three years. And if we don't raise more money to cover the unanticipated costs, they might have to wait another year. |
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| Friday, May 28, 2004 This has really been a pleasant week over all. I took Tuesday off, which was lovely. I hardly remember Wednesday...oh, that's right... OK work on Wednesday was a little frustrating, but still a good day over all. Yesterday my new roommate Jackie and I worked with Jon, Jim, and Ted and got half of the roof shingled. They are heavy dute: a 50 year warrenty! Holy Cow. As Wayne said: I didn't even know that they made 50 year shingles. They're also really heavy! But it was a much-needed workout to hump this shingles from the first floor to the roof. Jim rigged up a pully system which meant we avoided the ladder by hoisting them up through the first floor window. Quite ingenuis really, and a good demonstration of the resourcefulness of Habitat! I got to the office at 7:30 this morning--I was the only one in the church except for Janitor John. Good thing I did come in early, as I suddenly realized that June 1st is just around the corner and that the Bike and Build grant proposal is due June 1st. For so long June seemed so far away! But, never fear, I had it mostly done (mostly just irritating budget stuff to put together). All's well that end's well, and I shall be faxing in my application before I leave the office this evening. How I love working under pressure! Hooray for procrastination! May the force be with you. And also with you. Amen. That was the benidiciton of fellow English majors back in college. And speaking of my major... I just finished reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston. Wonderful book. Really enjoyed the language. But why the ending? (I won't spoil the book by discussing it). I only wonder, why? ------------------------- Tomorrow I will do more roofing (fingers crossed for decent weather--I only ask for no rain!), and then I have Monday off, so I actually get a two-day weekend! I would like to use my bike that my parents so generously shipped out east to me. So, come on, sun! Let's get at least some spring weather going! And since the Faith Partner Committee meets next Wednesday, I better get going on updating our Faith Partner contact information. And then I need to draw something up to propose the grand Cans for Habitat program. Recycling and building homes. What more can you want? Ack! Turns out Jim--my favorite volunteer here (the one who rigged up the pulley system) is a staunch Republican (gasp!). I won't even repeat some of the things he said! And I made no head way with him because I'm "too young to know anything." Well, that's not entirely true. He did sort of concede that perhaps the restructering of the welfare system was not the best idea ever. And at least he doesn't buy the whole Reagan-omics, trickle-down theory. It makes me wonder what conversations with some of the retired, Wednesday/Thursday crew down in Dallas would have uncovered. I think I'm better off not knowing! |