AmeriCorps! Getting things done!

Early September:

This time last year I had no idea what AmeriCorps was and now "I am an AmeriCorps Member serving at ......" (that is what we are required to say when speaking of what it is we do). For those of you who are not familiar with AmeriCorps I will give you a brief history/description. It is a national service program that helps meet education, public safety, health, and environmental needs in the US by partnering with non-profit organizations all over the country. The branch of AmeriCorps I am working with is serving the most financially challenged part of Massachusetts.

I am one of 16 other AmeriCorps serving in Greenfield this year. We spent our first week here completing AmeriCorps Orientation where we learned about it's history, it's rules, benefits, youth development and all sorts of other things. It was also a time for us to get to know each other and the area we are living in. We did a lot of "get to know each other" activities as well as explore Greenfield together. We went on a walking tour of Greenfield to get a better sense of where things are. One of my favorite places that we went was to Poet's Seat Tower. It is a town that is set on a ridge that directly overlooks the town and the surrounding area. We also went to Mike's Corn Maze. Which was a ton of fun. We had a great week at orientation. Everyone in the program brings something unique and I am excited about working with them this year.

I live in Massafreakinchusetts!

(Please note that I am trying to catch up to date with what I have been doing so far in MA, so the dates these are posted do not necessarily correspond to the dates they happened. I hope to be caught up soon.)

Early September:

Well, I officially live in the beautiful state of Massachusetts. I moved up here at the the beginning of September to join the Youth Serve AmeriCorps program. I accepted a position doing prevention work with At-Risk youth. It is a long way from home and all of the people I love. But it is turning out to be a great learning experience for me as a well as a wonderful adventure.

Let me fill you in on some of the details.
I packed up everything in Charlotte the end of August and hopped in a U-Haul with my dad and Donna (pictured to the right). The trip up here was an adventure in it self! Donna hated being in the carrier and did much better hanging out in the truck with me. She did well on the road and it was fun smuggling her in to the hotels we stayed at (not pet friendly) My dad and I were able to have some great bonding time together and were able to catch up on some things, which was great. We took our time making our way North and were able to stop and see some cool things along the way. The town in where Drew is living in CT, Madison, is right on the way to Greenfield so we were able to stay a night there with him.

The next day we made our way up to Greenfield. Greenfield is a town of about 18,000 people located in Western Mass just 10 minutes south of the Vermont border. It is in a somewhat mountainous area and is a bit isolated from everything.

My dad helped me unload and get settled in. We had fun getting to know my roommate, Katy, and eating good food, and exploring the area.








I really enjoyed my first week in Greenfield before AmeriCorps orientation started. Drew came up to visit (his town is less than 2 hours away). We had fun exploring the area. We discovered my now favorite restaurant, The People's Pint, as well as a great book store, a great coffee shop, the local co-op grocery store (which is fantastic!), and the farmer's market. There is a lot going on here for a small town. It seems to be a very progressive place with lots of interesting people.