Oops.. See ya 2012!

Haven't written since December... eek!

First of all, the Mayan prediction of the end of the world was wrong- thank goodness! Happy 2013!

End of December update:

I had a white Christmas, which was a a first in a very long time. Of course I was in Wyoming instead of Connecticut which might have had something to do with it. Spent the day with some new faces, but felt the same warmth and family vibe that is comforting on a day usually spent in CT with my own fam.

I moved to a new apartment, in downtown Denver with two ladies from the CPBYT AmeriCorps program which was... stressful to say the least. Finding alternative roommates for my previous room/lease was tedious and Craigslist seemed to come through. We must have looked at over 30 places via phone calls, e-mails and visits. The lucky apartment we found on Craigslist, called that day, say it later that day and signed the lease two days later. It seemed to be in our fate to grab the apartment. Of course I had to leave a few days later to head home which was stressful, but when I came home I was able to move all my belongings in just 2 loads! The apartment has been set up and I awaited the arrival of my two roommates so the apartment could feel like it wasn't just mine. It was nice to have the place to myself, but I was missing Sam and Ginny!

During December I went to the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins... and will definitely return! It was a great tour with delicious tasters and a cool vibe. Also hit up a yummy Mexican restaurant up the road. Guac=delicious. 

I was able to also host my SPA DAY for Girls Inc. teens before they went on break which was really fun. A few girls from my team helped out on hair, face mask, manicure and massage patrol. The girls seemed to really enjoy it. At Girls Inc. I am also switching my assignment to work with the teens 6th and 7th graders on Tuesdays instead of the 4th and 5th grade girls every other Friday. I am excited to work with some other girls and do some programming as the Assistant Program Director instead of being a tutor. 

New Years was fun. I didn't make it downtown to see the fireworks, but spent it with friends playing games and perhaps drinking more than sparkling cider. It was a fun way to celebrate the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. I am ready for the new year and hope that it will bring some progress on my professional development and I can tell already that Denver is growing on me. 

DECEMBER!

December is... already here! This month I have done a lot of meeting with kids, catching up on paperwork and planning. A frustrating aspect to working with teens is that many meetings are cancelled, or no-shows. Right now I am working with 8 teens, but regularly meet with about 4. It is frustrating knowing that I would be a resource to their success and independence, but not being able to work with them due to not meeting or  not having any enthusiasm for working with me. Something that keeps me going is knowing that I am doing all that I can and having activities and worksheets and conversations prepped for when they do meet and are ready to work. I am trying not to have my enthusiasm and excitement extinguished by not being able to maintain (or even start in some cases) relationships with the youth I work with.

This month I have been able to visit home, which was much needed. Two days before I left for CT, my roommates (other AmeriCorps members) and I settled on an apartment. It's downtown, close to parks and it will be nicer to be in a city- feel again. Going home I was able to visit with my brother before he left for his 3rd term oversees in Afghanistan, my grandmother, and my parents. I was also able to go back to Boston. I surprised one of my teachers and showed up at the New Orleans Service Learning class (which I was very involved in in college). I was also able to visit friends from college who were scattered around Boston and catch up on what has been going on in the four months I have been in Denver. Time seemed to fly by and now I'm back in Denver.

Yesterday, AmeriCorps CBPYT had a split service day. Half of the team was in Bloomfield working and the other half was in Denver. I was working in Denver with the Salvation Army handing out toys, gift certificates and food boxes to those that had signed up. It was really nice to get into the giving spirit and see the good of organizations whose entire goal is to help others.

Christmas is coming, and as an avid holiday enthusiast, I am excited. Cards are being written, cookies being baked, and delicious food eaten. Potlucks have filled up my week, moving into my apartment and keeping in contact with those I love around me. 'Tis the Season!

Service Days

 November Service Days Part 2. 

The second service day was on Saturday November 17th working with the Epworth Foundation. They work every year putting together Thanksgiving baskets for those in need, delivering them by hand or by taxi. I arrived early in the morning and self-assigned into the assembly line.

 Each package contained a frozen turkey, yams, cranberry sauce, 2 boxes of mac and cheese, stuffing, rolls, cake mix, corn, gravy... all the Thanksgiving specials. I was on Mac and Cheese patrol, moving the boxes away from the frozen turkey as to not get them soggy and wet. Service at work! Here is a slideshow of last year's event. It was a much bigger event than I anticipated, and the number of volunteers that showed up was amazing.

Commemorating the spirit and generosity of "Daddy Bruce" Randolph, The Epworth Foundation and its generous sponsors have distributed more than 45,500 baskets of food to Denver-area families in need.

What Happens:

At midnight the Friday before Thanksgiving, 3 city blocks near Epworth will be closed off and a giant assembly line will be set up. Semi-trailers full of food will be hauled in by Wal-Mart. The food will be off loaded onto a conveyor system, where ove rthe next 18 hours hundreds of volunteers will help pack the food into boxes and the distribution will begin. Volunteers from Metro Cab will begin delivering food to the elderly and shut-in, while thousands of people will visit Epworth directly to receive their baskets. Community agencies will be present to communicate their services. More than 7,000 families will be helped.

Here is a slideshow of last year's event. It was a much bigger event than I anticipated, and the number of volunteers that showed up was amazing. 

Service Days

November Service Day Part 1. 

 Friday November 16th, AmeriCorps team CBPYT worked with Bright Beginnings in a service day to repaint their office interior and spruce up the space.

Bright Beginnings is a Colorado-based nonprofit organization providing early childhood education tools at no cost to parents. Materials focus from prenatal to birth to age three.

We spent all day taping, painting trim, moving boxes, eating bagels, and lining the walls with recycled newspaper and bonded as a team over paint fumes. 

It was nice to get to hear about what Bright beginnings does as an agency and feel like we were doing some benefit to the program. Some youth were able to volunteer as well, so it felt more like a community effort. Go Team!

 *side note* During lunch, I went to Falafel King. Which, I can honestly say blew my mind for a chain restaurant. The sauces were all non dairy and it was just what I needed for a break in the day.

November starts!

Annalise and I started our Independent Living Classes on the 5th at one of the youth housing programs we work with. We have about 5-10 youth that come each week. We have talked about what Independent Living Classes will be about, Nutrition, "What's Next" (after high school) and College 101, in addition to cooking Italian food. We have decided to make it International Year, and have a genre of cooking for each month. We made homemade pizza, chicken broccoli Alfredo  spaghetti and baked chicken. YUM! Next month we are diving into.. American cuisine. (we thought we would ease the kids into easy food before we spring falafel on them)

We also got to deep clean the kitchen in the basement... which was both good... and bad. Final outcome good though! Posters to come!

It's nice to have finally started IL classes instead of just talking about it for months. The work load for the class is not too bad, we have several binders at the office in which we can pull worksheets or ideas from. I enjoy cooking each week and seeing the kids eat and socialize.




November has been busy with meetings and working with some youth... along with rescheduling and... not meeting with youth. I was definitely warned about kids cancelling meetings and not showing up, but it is kind of disheartening knowing that I can help and support someone and not getting any take. I understand the issue of having one more social services person to talk to, but my role is more of a support and communicator for the youth. Bums me out that I work with 8 kids technically, but only meet with 4 consistently.

I have gotten into the groove of working in the Department of Human Services. Coming into the office, checking e-mail, attending meetings and documenting are things I have down pat. At times, the down time can be hard to fill, besides planning for our next Independent Living class, or month.

Other news... We have been dominating at trivia. We tried several places; Breckenridge, Rooster and Moon and Nicolo's Pizza. We seem to be best at Rooster and Moon.... (These are the two teams at Nicolo's on the 14th. 3rd and 4th. woohoo!)

More to come!

Culture of Poverty

Yesterday I attended Working Within the Culture of Poverty training facilitated by Micheline Brault at the Larimer DHS. There were about 30 professionals in attendence to learn more about the culture of poverty and how to use that as a lens to work most effectively and empathetically with this population.

We went over some very interesting information about the differences between those in poverty, those in the middle class, and those in wealth. Especially what their driving forces are and how they are all uniquely skilled to live in the economic status they are currently in. Driving forces (survival, work, financial), differences in food (quantity, quality vs. presentation), money (to be used, managed, invested) were some of the big things we hit upon as the "hidden rules of economic class".

Something I found very interesting when we were speaking of the skill levels in each class was a checklist we were asked to fill out "Could you survive in poverty/middle class/wealth?" Questions included:

I know how to live without electricity and a phone
I know how to move in half a day
I know how to get someone out of jail
I can entertain a group of friends with my personality and my stories

I know how to set a table properly
I talk to my children about going to college
I know how to use most of the tools in the garage
I know how to help my children with their homework and do not hesitate to call the school if I need additional info.

I can read a menu in French, English and another language
I support or buy the work of a particular artist
I know who my preferred financial adviser, legal service, designer, domestic employment service and hairdresser are
I am on the boards of at least two charities

While I did know how to "survive" more so in the middle class, I knew a lot about how to survive in poverty as well.. according to these checklist questions. While it did seem as if there was a bias towards wealth, I understood the point of having different lifestyles and how it can affect every part of your life, daily routines and perspective.

This training taught me a lot about the youth I am working with, being more tolerant to how these kids live in the present because their minds tell them it's all they have and realizing that every day is a struggle. It also taught me about some of the people I have had in my life and helped understand some of their mannerisms that I was confused on or didn't quite understand why they couldn't explain why the TV always had to be on. (Apparently because poverty is loud, TV masks it. Also, TV may be the only source of entertainment around with lack of money and resources so it can be a gathering for family, or time)

Nickel and Dimed is a really good book about living on minimum wage that I recommend.

Service Day @ Castro Elementary

Brand new week, almost to Halloween!

Last week was a success, met with three youth, and completed a day of service through Denver Urban Gardens working at Castro Elementary School.

Service Day on the 19th kicked off with a breakfast potluck YUM!

 



When we got to service day, we were set into teams, I was the Tree Team Leader. In charge of cutting overgrowth, removing unsightly brush and trimming trees and bushes as an issue of safety had arisen of kids hiding in the trees. My team was about 15 people, mostly AmeriCorps members along with some  community members and even some kids that attended Castro. We cut a large amount of brush around the school and in the kindergarten playground winterized the garden making sure it was prim and pretty.





AmeriCorps Tree Team!



Sheri, the Principal at Castro was walking around checking on volunteers making sure everyone was having fun and keeping their energy up. Darryl, the lead instructor and Ms. Jane instructed the teams of volunteers to make the garden we were installing went smoothly and we learned some new skills.

Teams included concrete, hole digging pole setting, crusher fine and tree team. 

Lunchtime arrived and we were greeted by a Congressman who spoke to us about the importance of volunteering and being a part of the community. He grew up down the street from the elementary school so it held a special place in his heart. Also, the wife of Richard T. Castro (who the school was named after) spoke of her gratitude of our work and dedication during the day. It was nice to see such efforts by the community to enhance the lives and education of their youth.





AmeriCorps members were able to mix concrete, spread out crusher fine material, assemble raised planter beds, fill up the beds with dirt, install irrigation in the beds, dig holes for the metal poles that will be a canopy, trim bushes and shrubbery as well as dig up trees and roots, and attach metal leaves to some of the poles.

Working from 12-6PM, over thirty volunteers were able to install a brand new section of raised beds for gardens that would eventually produce vegetables for the 4th and 5th grade salad bar. Placing in poles and garnishing them with leaves reading "Growth" and "Learning". We accomplished all they had set out for us and Castro Elementary now has a garden set in place for their future educational inclusion of gardening, vegetables, healthy eating and self-sustainability.

 






 Asia and Sam are working with some of the kids to fill up the planters. It was great to hear the excitement of the kids who went to the school, and the eagerness they had to help.