OK so I'm starting late with a blog but hey I figure better late than never right?
So about me and how I got started on this Journey of AmeriCorps*VISTA.
For 13 years I was a Certified nurses assistant working in various nursing homes. I never really felt complete doing that even though I was helping people at a time in their lives when they really needed someone. I even worked one year doing Operating Engineering which is heavy equipment. While I was working for one of the many nursing homes, my grandmother took ill. She had Alzheimer's Disease and cancer and when it got to the point that she could not live on her own anymore; I quit my job and stayed at home with her and took care of her while my mother worked. I loved my grandmother and I was always brought up to take care of my family members when they took ill. So Grandma got to stay in the home she loved with the family she loved untill the day she died. When she did pass away I was the only one home with her and she died in my arms. After taking care of her for 5 years I was back out looking for work and applying for cash assistance and foodstamps. I worked at pay day places and temporary agencies whatever I could whenever I could.
3 years ago I was serving community service at Shared Harvest Foodbank and if your not sure where that is, it is in Fairfield Ohio on Dixie Hwy. just a quarter mile south of Jungle Jims and right next door to Jeff Wyler Nissan. My community service was because I was receiving OWF which is cash assistance. I only had 1 month of OWF left so I was only going to be there for 1 month. I must of done something right there because they asked me one day if I had computer skills and I said "yes I have certificates in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that I had received while working off OWF." Well after that they brought me to the office where Chuck Osso was working on the "No Name Survey" This is a survey that the food pantry's give to clients who come in for food assistance. They don't put a name on the survey so thus the name "No Name Survey" I really enjoyed working on the surveys. It was very interesting to read everyone's surveys and see what they were going through that brought them to the food pantry. I even did my own survey when I visited a local pantry when my groceries ran low. Yes I received foodstamps at the time but they just don't go far when you have 3 teenagers to feed so when the cupboards went bare I would visit a pantry for help. At the end of the month and the end of my community service I asked if it would be OK if I came in anyway and finished up the Surveys. Chuck almost jumped out of his chair answering yes. He was so happy to have the help. When I was finally finished with the last survey and the spreadsheet was finally complete; Tina Osso (the Executive Director of Shared Harvest and Chuck Osso's sister) asked me if I was interested in being a VISTA. Well at that time I had never heard of VISTA before and thought of the Microsoft program and said I knew a little about computers but I don't think I have what it takes to work for Microsoft. When she told me more about AmeriCorps*VISTA and what it stood for Volunteers In Service To America I was excited and jumped at the opportunity. So Tina had Meredith Hill come and talk to me about it. Meredith is the Regional Coordinator for SW Ohio. After hearing all about it I didn't wait to sign up. As soon as Meredith left me I turned around in my chair and went to http://americorps.gov and filled out the application. Then I told Tina I filled out the application but I couldn't submit the application to Shared Harvest program and she made a call to VISTA Leader at that time Joe Cennimo he pushed some buttons on his end and I went back in and was able to apply to Shared Harvest Foodbank as an AmeriCorps*VISTA. A few days later I signed my life away for the next year and I've been here ever since.
My first year of VISTA I was a community trainer and I helped people learn how to use the Ohio Benefit Bank software. If you haven't heard of The Ohio Benefit Bank before it is a web based software program that is designed to help people apply for various public benefits. You can access The Ohio Benefit Bank by going to http://obb.ohio.gov I don't know how many people I helped that first year either filing taxes or apply for benefits or giving demonstrations and trainings on the program. Oh I'm sure if I rummaged around long enough I could come up with the numbers but it doesn't really matter. I don know that it impacted me enough to want to stay for a second year.
The second year was pretty much like the first year. I was a community trainer working with The Ohio Benefit Bank. My family thought I was crazy to sign up for a second year. The pay isn't much but it is steady and it didn't count against my eligibility for Foodstamps so I could continue to receive them. I even got a little raise in foodstamps a month because my income could not be counted. The counted the income of my kids that worked so that counted against me. It still wasn't enough to make it through an entire month but it sure helped.
At the end of year 2 and I was really getting worried about getting back out there and looking for work again and brushing up my resume. They asked me if I would be interested in serving a third year as a VISTA Leader. I really liked what I was doing so I said yes. Dustin Speakman worked out a deal with Tina Osso and I was able to stay at Shared Harvest Foodbank and The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks would pay Shared Harvest a little each month as rent of my space and printer use.
It was great to be able to stay in the work place I had grown to love. My mother and children thought I was nuts to stay on even with an extra $100 added to my VISTA income it still wasn't much to live on and they felt I could do better with the skills I had. But I always feel that if you like what you are doing you should keep on doing it no matter how much it pays. The most important thing is that you are happy and happy I was. I loved helping people apply for Benefits and file their taxes. Now I would get to help new VISTA's learn the ropes of AmeriCorps. I can still help with the occasional client now and then during tax season but right now my main focus is on managing the 9 full time members that are assigned to SW Ohio and recruiting more every time there is another Pre Service Orientation.
Now here we are 2 and a half years in AmeriCorps*VISTA. It seems to have gone so fast. I guess time does fly when your having fun. What will I do when December 9th comes along you may be asking? Well I have some plans for that. I may be able to stay here at Shared Harvest Foodbank working with foodstamp outreach. That would be great and I really hope it all works out that I can. It's still sort of up in the air so in the mean time I am tweaking up my resume and getting ready to hit the streets on the everlasting perfect job quest.
Well now your all caught up to current time and I'll leave you with something to think about. Never give up! Usually when you are at your absolute lowest and you think that everything is against you and nothing is ever going to go right, Have faith and things will get better. I never would of dreamed I could actually work a job where I didn't have to stand all day or work my tail off and not even break a sweat but hey here I am and if I can do it anybody can.
I don't have a college degree or anything like that to go on only my hard work and perseverance to go on and it has gone a long way. Why don't I have a college degree you may ask? Well life happened and I had to drop out but that's a whole other story and I will save it for another day.
