Alumni Spotlight
John DeCirce ’11 is an alumnus of the AmeriCorps VISTA Fellows program from the 2011-2012 cohort and served his term at Hope 7 Community Center, a 501(c) 3 in Troy, NY. Q: Hello John, thank you for taking the time to talk with me today, so where are you now and what got you there?
A: Well, I’m in a couple of different places, but the simplest answer is Detroit, Michigan at the University of Michigan, Dearborn. I started as a Bonner Service Leader at Siena, and that is what showed me I wanted to do work in the nonprofit field. Then, AmeriCorps VISTA solidified what I specifically wanted to do in the field that being to help the youth. I was looking to gain experience professionally in what I wanted to do because I wanted to have some solid skills, like fundraising and managing a food pantry. That led me to the Masters Program here, with a DEEP Service 24
focus on Public Administration but the key is the public sector and nonprofit organizations. I also have an internship with the Macomb County Care House, where they do interviews and child advocacy for kids who claim child abuse. The kids will only have to be interviewed once, because the sheriff, prosecutor, counselor and staff is there listening via a speaker and video system as the child is being interviewed, that way the child does not have to relive the experience every time they retell their story, and after that the Care House staff offers counseling. I did this internship because I wanted to explore a new area of service that I hadn’t been exposed to before. A lot of the skills I learned in VISTA translate well over to here, in VISTA I was able to take on a lot of responsibility, and at first, my internship was only letting me do data entry and answer phones. I said to them, “I’m here to work, let me do more,” and now I have a large
range of tasks, I update cases, and I’m also working on their website, and it has really worked out so far. Q: So would you say that VISTA catapulted you into the work you are doing now?
A: “Bonner got me to know I wanted to help people, but VISTA is what showed me what group I want to help, and that is youth and child advocacy”. Q: And after grad school, and your internship, what is your dream?
A: Hopefully I’ll find something during, and I’ve become to realize that I want to work in the department of education here, because compared to New York, Michigan has so many more problems in the education system below college. I would just love to get the opportunity to work in the Department of Ed to reform the education system. continued on next page....