Allie Mendez coordinates river cleanup across

From April 24th to May 1st, Marshfield Clinic Health System AmeriCorps members serving Milwaukee Riverkeeper joined with 3,000 volunteers across the Milwaukee River Basin to remove more than 110,000 pounds of trash from our rivers and natural spaces at the 26th Annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup. Camaraderie and joy were a common theme, as volunteers were excited to be united under safe conditions - masked up, outside, and spread out - and they made a huge difference.

MCHS Volunteer Wisconsin AmeriCorps member Allie Mendez served as the event coordinator for the spring cleanup this year, recruiting and training upwards of 100 lead volunteers to captain at 97 sites across southeast Wisconsin. Additional AmeriCorps members helped distribute supplies, direct volunteers and joined in the cleanup effort at sites all around the basin, making a difference that stretched beyond Milwaukee. The week of cleaning up was a part of a greater effort across the nation, the Great Lakes Cleanup, which aims to keep hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash from entering the Great Lakes and ultimately affecting our drinking water.

Many volunteers expressed their frustration at the mere amount of trash that ends up in natural spaces, but all were grateful for the chance to use their time and energy to make a difference for our waters. “This is more than just a cleanup,” stated Allie Mendez. “It’s a chance for the community members to join together - something that has not been done in over a year at our organization. It’s a chance to embody the meaning of the AmeriCorps motto and ‘Get Things Done’ for our waters.”

Easterseals Wisconsin was thrilled to host their spring Veterans Family Camp again this year on April 30-May 2. Easterseals Wisconsin typically hosts Veteran Family Camps twice a year to help military veterans and their families reconnect with each other and network with other veterans. Last year they could not hold their spring camp due to COVID-19 and only a limited number of families were able to attend their fall camp.

During the weekend, seven Easterseals AmeriCorps members helped provide recreational opportunities for veterans and their families to enjoy the outdoors and get away from the outside world. Activities included yard games, nature walks, fishing, arts and crafts, and other activities to spend time with each other. As part of the camp, the participants completed a joint service project, painting pots and planting flowers that they delivered to a local assisted living facility for their residents to enjoy. In addition to the programming by AmeriCorps members and program staff, community volunteers helped run the kitchen and Legion Auxiliary Post 229 provided treats for the campers to enjoy.

One of the participants this spring remarked “Everyone is so kind and thoughtful. I feel pampered, which doesn't happen any other time in my life. I love being outdoors…It's so soothing. Thank you everyone.”

“We hope the weekend was a great way for families to reconnect, enjoy the outdoors and get away from the outside world,” said Alex Peters, Camp Wawbeek Director. “We love holding this program and look forward to more great weekends in the future!”

Much like all other aspects of life over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed how the Racine Zoo AmeriCorps Program (RZAP) could provide environmental education to Racine Unified School District students and the general public. Prior to the pandemic, RZAP AmeriCorps members led grade-specific programming over multiple classes in Racine classrooms to students in kindergarten, 3^rd, 4^th, 7^th, and 9^th grades. After discussions with the school district, they created plans to provide virtual programming this year through both synchronous and asynchronous lessons.

In addition to making modifications to conducting their lessons with Racine area students, the RZAP AmeriCorps members have developed multiple strategies to reach students and the community at large. One of these strategies was creating a series of videos to introduce their animal ambassadors and other animals on exhibit at the zoo. By creating these videos and sharing them through Racine Zoo's social media accounts, they are hoping to provide educational opportunities to people at home when many are unable to physically come into the zoo. Even if they could not be face-to-face with students and other zoo guests, they still want to inspire conservation action through their videos about different zoo animals, nature challenges, and nature crafts. Having a particular interest in public relations and social media, AmeriCorps member Kristen Rozalewicz was chosen as the point person for the project. She said, " Filming these videos has been a great experience for expanding our virtual education skills. It has been a wonderful opportunity for us to learn how to film and edit videos as well as teach a wide variety of topics!"

The RZAP AmeriCorps members also created a blog series to provide information on multiple topics, including extensive descriptions of the care and training of the animals. While their primary focus during their service is providing conservation education to students and the general public, they also serve at the Racine Zoo in animal care and animal training roles. Once a week, they spend the day with the AmeriCorps Ambassador Animal Coordinator, assisting with training and creating animal enrichment for the education animals. Within the blog they describe that “our animal training days are always a fun and educational way for us to interact with the ambassador animals and learn about training and maintaining behaviors…. Whether it’s participating in their health care or choosing when they want to do a program, all of the training we do with our animals here at the zoo has one goal: to help us take the best possible care of our animals.”

Milwaukee Christian Center YouthBuild AmeriCorps program receives grant from Bader Philanthropies

During its celebration of its 100th anniversary of serving the people of Milwaukee this May, the Milwaukee Christian Center (MCC) announced that they had received a grant from Bader Philanthropies that would support its AmeriCorps YouthBuild program for the next two years.

The Milwaukee Christian Center YouthBuild program strives to support opportunity youth, who are individuals ages 18-25 that are not working and out of school, through educational programming and hands-on construction training. The young adults who serve as AmeriCorps members through MCC YouthBuild make a tangible impact on their community by constructing affordable, energy-efficient housing and accessible home modifications while gaining job and leadership skills and improving their education. Half or more of the program participants receive assistance to complete their high school equivalency degree.

Speaking about the potential impact of the grant from Bader Philanthropies, Karen Higgins, MCC executive director stated “this grant is a tremendous boon to the organization and those it supports…in our YouthBuild program over the next two years. MCC can effectively reach Opportunity Youth and engage them as leaders and provide programming and resources to help them secure family-wage jobs and improve their communities. This is especially important as the large majority of today’s family-supporting wage jobs will require some training or credential beyond a high school degree.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has created additional challenges for these young adults, as “there is a need to reengage Opportunity Youth and create platforms that young people can use to reach their education and career goals, to see their potential,” said Patrick Schrank, director of programs with MCC. “The pandemic has been difficult for everyone, including young adults who were disconnected from education and tried to enter the job market at a challenging time. The grant from Bader Philanthropies will support Opportunity Youth as well as their families and communities—upwards of 60-70 people are interested in joining MCC YouthBuild every year, and we want to see all young people connected to opportunity.”

Speaking about her experience serving with MCC YouthBuild, AmeriCorps member Sabrina Suarez described both the skills and confidence she gained through the program, stating, “I’m happy with everything and I’m proud of everything I’ve done. When I first started, I couldn’t hit the nail right, it kept bending, but I finally got the hang of that…On the worksite, I learned how to do siding, how to do drywall, finish carpentry and tiling…With siding, I’m a quick learner, a lot of other participants came to me and I found myself helping others… I wasn’t a very social person but being in this program I’ve been able to speak out more and learn a lot of things about myself I didn’t know before… Everything I’ve learned so far has brought a better part of me out.”

The following is the transcript of an interview conducted by Public Allies Milwaukee with AmeriCorps member Ni’Sea Thurman-Wamubu, who is serving this year with Public Allies at the Victory Garden Initiative (VGI). Public Allies Milwaukee helps its host sites build their capacities to fulfill their missions -- as well as invites local emerging leaders onto pathways to lifetimes of involvement. To accomplish this, they strive to match AmeriCorps members that are emerging leaders who have amazing local knowledge and insight with community organizations for year-long capacity-building service and learning.

Public Allies Milwaukee: Congrats on your Seeds of Liberation Gallery opening. The gallery is an inspiring creative project! Tell us the why of it all -- how does it sustainably build the capacity of the Victory Garden Initiative (VGI)?

Ni’Sea Thurman-Wamubu: VGI has reached out to the community for years and has been intentional about how to form community relations. But recently they wanted to build on established practices like community gardening to reach even more people. Reaching more people is important for VGI because it allows us to distribute our resources more equitably -- in other words, more of the community ends us with access to community support and live- and fresh-food practices and knowledge. Now that we have the Seeds of Liberation Gallery, we have a new platform for people from the community to be appreciated and know they have a space for themselves in our Harambee Neighborhood community and organization.

Public Allies Milwaukee: Tell us about your inspiration for the Gallery.

Ni’Sea Thurman-Wamubu: Before the Gallery space went in, I was having conversations with and about local artists of all ages, and I saw community forming around these conversations. I wanted to build on this raw expression found within the community. Falling in love with the Gallery idea happened when I saw how strong the staff’s relationship with the community was -- and when my host-site supervisor gave me the space to create a new project. I realized how much non-monetary wealth -- values, motivation, and artistry -- was in the community, and I wanted to provide a space where people who identified with the surrounding community could have a platform to share their work -- and others in the community could experience that work. We specifically have highlighted Black youth in the community -- namely, their sheer brilliance that not everyone has been able to see so clearly. The Gallery also helps youth in the neighborhood, a majority who are Black, experience liberation free from the confines of their financial position or external pressure of what society might tell them their worth is, as based on financial success.

Public Allies Milwaukee: What do you hope for your continued leadership after the Public Allies AmeriCorps year?

Ni’Sea Thurman-Wamubu: I hope to be as authentic as I can be by incorporating healing practices into the work I’m able to do with the community -- both as it relates to my personal healing journal and as it relates to working with the Harambee Neighborhood. I’m also planning to complete a second year of AmeriCorps with Public Allies at VGI.

The following is a reflection by Chloe Gaynor, who is serving as an AmeriCorps member with Marshfield Clinic Health System AmeriCorps Volunteer Wisconsin at Kids Matter Inc. in Milwaukee.

Serve Wisconsin | servewisconsin.wi.gov | AmeriCorps