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VYT Voices
“So, what do you do?”
Julia Klas AmeriCorps VISTA
Essex CHIPS Essex Jct., VT
It’s the question that inevitably pops up in polite small talk, whether it be with strangers in an elevator, relatives I haven’t seen in two years, or intrusive telephone surveys. Many people I speak with have little knowledge of AmeriCorps at all, so how do I explain? I am a VISTA.
VYT Focus Area: Healthy Futures
“So what, you work for the government or something?”
Teens show off their new prom dresses, a result of the annual Prom Dress Drive at the teen center.
And me? I am a tax form crunching, budgetretooling, grant-writing, outreachhandling, video-making, sustainability-planning, one-woman army to help keep Essex CHIPS’ doors open. I am the one who researches the means to continue this organization’s mission for a healthier future for the towns we serve. I am the one who builds partnerships with local businesses to improve our capacity for nutrition programs. I am the one who digs through mountains of sparkles and tulle to put on the Bargain Dress Bash, so local high school girls can afford to go to prom, and so we can provide programming to the girls who will follow in their footsteps. I am the one who goes to every possible board meeting so CHIPS can create a framework for how to proceed in the coming years, and how to become a more efficient organization. I am the one who teaches teen center youth how to turn tshirts into grocery bags, and scarves, and vests, and skirts, and anything else they care to experiment with. I am the one who will work to ensure the teen and tween center will remain free and open to the youth who need a safe place to go after school.
I am a VISTA. I am one of thirty passionate, dedicated national service members in VYT who have decided to spend a year working for something more than a big office with a nice view. We are the bold, the determined, the masters of living off ramen and instant oatmeal who are on 24/7 to get things done for America. We are a national force for directly addressing the issue of poverty and quality of life I am a VYT AmeriCorps VISTA, for people in the and this is what I do. communities we live in. We are there. We are the eyes, ears, inksmudged hands and well-worn boots of the various agencies we serve at. We are the community organizers and the program directors and researchers who help keep the services that are so very needed running.