Santa Rosa Area AmeriCorps members recognized for AmeriCorps Week

For AmeriCorps Week last month, CalSERVES VIPs took an active role in the community through service and by spreading the word about AmeriCorps’ Impact in Santa Rosa.  We began the week with a service project at VIP partner site Catholic Charities.  Our VIP team cooked dinner for over 60 people staying at the organizations Family Support Center.  Items on the menu included mama’s fried chicken, pappy’s homemade mashed potatoes, and salad.  Our team had a great experience working together to cook the meal, and also to serve it to the families at the center.  

 CalSERVES VIP Fellows preparing dinner at Catholic Charities

 

Our VIP team didn’t stop there; we also received a proclamation from the mayor that recognizes the impact of AmeriCorps in Santa Rosa.  When we drafted the proclamation, we didn’t only want to recognize the role of VIP in Santa Rosa, we wanted to highlight the role of all AmeriCorps members.  So we went in search of the numerous AmeriCorps members at organizations throughout Santa Rosa in an effort to bring us together and recognize our collective impact in the community.  

AmeriCorps members after receiving a proclamation from Santa Rosa Mayor Scott Bartley

Local VIP Leader, Alex Rowan, accompanied by six other AmeriCorps members, received the proclamation and gave a compelling speech to the City Council that gave an overview of the collective service efforts of all AmeriCorps members in Santa Rosa. From tutoring at risk students, to homeless outreach, to gang prevention, to family support networks, to energy independence, it was great to see the broad and meaningful impact of AmeriCorps service in our city.

Alex Rowan, Local Leader, delivering a speech about AmeriCorps impact in Santa Rosa 

Cesar Chavez Day of Service @ JFS

VIP Fellows at Jewish Family Service in San Diego came together this week for a wonderful and meaningful Cesar Chavez Day of Service. We partnered with a local nonprofit called ArtReach that enters lower income schools to give art lessons to students, and together, we went to Washington Elementary School for a day of service that really benefited the school and the students.

For the first half of the day, we spent time in the garden with students from Washington’s after school program, Prime Time. Samantha Vargas, VIP Fellow at the International Rescue Committee, led an interactive discussion with the students about who Cesar Chavez was, the work he did, and how our gardening could relate to this great man. Then Lauren Kraft, VIP Fellow at Feeding America San Diego, passed out healthy snacks, played healthy food-friendly music, and gave out bilingual folders on healthy eating while the rest of us took to gardening.  We definitely breathed some new life into the school garden!

In the afternoon, we painted two murals depicting Cesar Chavez and farm workers. The students were incredibly helpful and we could not have completed the project without them. They were creative, dedicated, and interested all while following directions from the artist. The murals will be up in the school for all of the students to take pride in.  I even gave them a talk about what AmeriCorps was and why we were there helping them improve their school.  I definitely made sure to tie our dedication to service to the lifelong work and service of Cesar Chavez.

¡Sí se puede!

by Margot Schein, VIP Lead at Jewish Family Service of San Diego