Today has been a fun but busy day for this VISTA! I have so many blog post ideas swirling around in my head, but I decided that I would share a sampling of my day with you. My hope is that other potential VISTAs are out there looking for an idea of just what this job would involve, and if it even fits their life's goals and interests.
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| My Chinese Tiger buddy posed for a picture so that my sweet student in China could see him having yoga class with me! |
A typical Friday morning usually starts with the rush to get out the door to yoga class. I was already a YMCA member before I became a VISTA; I can practically walk there from my house. As a VISTA, I get three hours of personal development time. Let me tell you, the struggle is real because there are so many interesting things that I would love to explore. My fearless VISTA leader set up Skills Success accounts for her VISTAS, and that has been my "briar patch" (look up the story of Br'r Rabbit). I compromise and count HALF of yoga class if I have time to explore things on Skills Success. I will count the entire yoga class if I am super busy that week. We are hoping to visit our kiddos in Florida soon so I will probably spend my entire three hours for that week listening to my hubby's leadership podcasts while we drive. Perhaps I can "accidentally" slip an extra podcast about refugees onto the list?
As a side note, I wanted to mention that any class or group is an excellent place to network. I learned about my current Americorps position when my friend in yoga class commented about an Instagram post. Imagine my life if she had never noticed the post or had never commented on it to me? I have networked with the local garden club there. I have networked with another local non-profit there; in fact, she offered to give scholarships to a handful of our kiddos at her therapeutic riding school! I am also "yoga buddies" with a retired couple who happen to be very active in my area senior center. I am hopeful that I will be able to give a presentation about City of Refuge at one of their monthly meetings.
From yoga class I rushed home today to check my inbox and see who had reached out. Lately I have gotten quite a few contacts from area businesses wanting to partner with us to employee refugees. While there, I am able to discuss ways to partner with us to get involvement on their end as well. We are currently seeking partnerships with area groups to host monthly basic needs drives. Columbia has a huge Burmese population in addition to the large group of Afghan families now being processed through the settlement agency (Catholic Charities). There are so many other groups of people as well, and each group has families who rely on us to help supplement their income with needed items.
After checking my email, my sweet supervisor (and friend) reached out while on the road; she wanted to touch bases with me to see if I needed anything and just what I was up to today. Have I mentioned that I love my supervisor? I am so blessed in that she and I just clicked!
Today I had a presentation prepped to give at our Brown Bag lunch VISTA meeting. I was a tad nervous so I spent a bit of time practicing my presentation for the dog and guinea pig. They were not the most engaged audience because the dog fell asleep and the guinea pig ate the ENTIRE TIME I presented! By the time I had finished, he too was asleep. Thankfully, none of my fellow VISTAS fell asleep; my presentation about blogging must have been somewhat interesting to owners of two legs and not four?
Right now, well, I am obviously blogging. Meanwhile, a teen boy is on my driveway detailing my car. One of my previous students is trying to start a detailing business and I have been driving the "teen-mobile" (kids car) because it gets better gas mileage. The car's lack of pristine quality is super embarrassing to host potential partners (or refugee friends) on trips of interest in Columbia. I got my hubby pumped up about helping my student with his startup so that he would pay for detailing on both cars. Do you see how I love to plot? Seriously, hubs was excited and offered to leave his car here as well. It is not uncommon for him to carpool with his team or other managers to events so he wanted a clean car.
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| My tiger friend posed for another picture on my desk...drinking my tea! |
My afternoon will include lots of documentation as a result of the meeting that I had yesterday with our Care Coordinator, Lori. She had expressed concern that, if something happened to her or our building, all of her resources might be lost. We are also in the process of hiring a new Care Coordinator (so excited to meet him) and I hope that my work will prove to be a great resource to David as well. I was thrilled that Lori carved an hour out of her busy day to walk me through her files so that I can help her. Her time is precious because her day often starts at 7 am and might find her in various places around our city. I am not even sure how long she works and just when she goes to bed. Lori is so dedicated to helping our new and existing friends that she inspires me on a daily basis.
If you are interested in becoming an Americorps VISTA here is a link to the Literacy KC VISTA site. I can't say enough wonderful things about Amy and my group of fellow VISTAS. If you go to the Americorps website you can create a profile to search through the entire system as well. Check out my first few weeks of posts for more information about the Americorps VISTA program.
And of some have compassion, making a difference: Jude 1:22 KJV
Click here to find out more about volunteer opportunities at City of Refuge.
All opinions expressed here are solely mine and are not a reflection of the opinions of the Americorps VISTA program
or of City of Refuge in Columbia, MO.
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