Camp Lodestar

Hi friends!

On November 13th, Gold 1 and other AmeriCorps teams were inducted as Corps Members! This means that we completed our training and are no longer on our probation period. The Corps Training Institute went by fast! It was stressful with all the information we had to learn quickly and having long work days, but worth it because now we can go GET THINGS DONE.



Gold 1 after induction ceremony

 

Our first project was at Camp Lodestar, which is located outside of Wilseyville, CA. Wilseyville has a population of about 400 people, and the camp is far out in the country. The camp is owned by the United Methodist Church, and managed by the United Camps Conferences and Retreats. The camp has a lot of property and places to stay, which felt weird at first being the only people on the camp grounds. It was weird going from the craziness of CTI back in Sacramento to the empty, quiet woods. Although it felt weird, the change made me happy.




Entrance to Camp Lodestar

The cabin where we stayed

Jeff Clark was our sponsor at Camp Lodestar. Him and his wife, Kathie, live on the property. If you ask me, they have it made living there. It is a beautiful campsite with a lot of area to explore. Jeff and Kathie are some of the nicest people I have met, and I speak for the whole team saying how happy we were to be working for them. We missed them the moment we left!

 

Jeff and me on our last day!

 

Most of our work at Camp Lodestar involved being outdoors, which I LOVED. Before coming to AmeriCorps, I hoped that trail work and conservation work would be a project I was assigned to. Gold 1 cleared and widened a hiking trail, removed invasive species (Bear Clovers to be exact), split firewood, and raked leaves and pine needles. Additionally, Ryan and I had a lot of practice with the chainsaws. We are the sawyers for Gold 1! We always have a lot of fun working the saws, and it is nice to have each other for input on cutting techniques. Poor Ryan always has to use the big saw because I'm too weak for it, but hopefully I will be able to handle it comfortably with more practice (and muscle!). Aside from the outdoor work, we worked inside a couple days painting a cabin and waxing the dining area floor.

I'm a chain sawyer!

 

Elena and Emily splitting wood

Elena and Jessi painting

We had the chance to complete Independent Service Hours during our stay in Wilseyville. The place we worked at was Rail Road Flat Elementary School. Every month, three women at the school host a community dinner. The meal we helped serve was their Thanksgiving meal. Along with the Thanksgiving dinner, there was a coat drive. This school was really cute, and quite unique. It was a small school of only fifty students, but they had some of the best test scores in the area. This school teaches hands on skills such as knitting, cooking, and gardening. They actually have a school garden where they teach the kids gardening skills and they use food from the garden to teach them how to cook. The women were so thankful to have us there helping out. It was awesome to get out in the community and help with something that Gold 1 has not done before. We were very happy to be there.

Between our work days, ISP's, team positions work, portfolio work, and team meetings, there is not a lot of free time. We are busy non-stop Monday through Friday. We have to wake up three times a week for physical training, start our work day, and then do work that needs done after the work day. Gold 1 is staying busy a lot of days until bed time rolls around. Usually when I mark one thing off my to do list, three more things are added to it! I remember my mom saying this once, and now I truly feel her pain (by the way, I really miss my mama!).

With all the work we have to do, you can imagine that we were all happy that we visited Lake Tahoe on one of our days off. It was AMAZING! It is so beautiful in northern California. I was extremely happy to go, especially because this is one of my top places I wanted to visit while being in California. We enjoyed the view of the lake and mountains, went shopping, and had lunch at a great pizza place in the mall. I was happy with my purchases of three hats...I just couldn't choose one. This trip made me realize how in love I am with California.

The gang at Lake Tahoe!

We ended our time at Camp Lodestar celebrating Thanksgiving with Jeff, Kathie, AJ (a camp employee), and her two children. I missed celebrating with my family, but was so thankful to be where I was. I have so much to be thankful for, but I was especially thankful that I finally made it to California and for the opportunity to serve with AmeriCorps. Thanksgiving was a great day and I was surrounded by wonderful people.

Thanksgiving meal in the camp dining room

Gold 1 is now in Petaluma, California working at Walker Creek Ranch. This is another camp where we are mostly doing trail work. It is SO beautiful here! I will be updating on our project here soon!

Round 1, here we come!

Hello everyone!

Living out of two bags for the next 9 months!

It has been a little over two weeks now that I left for Sacramento. I am really loving it here so far. I must admit though, it is hard to get use to all the rules that come along with being an AmeriCorps member. I have had no trouble following them, of course. I am just not use to such a structured lifestyle. Even though it has been an adjustment, it feels nice to have more structure in my life. 

Right when I arrived to campus I got to meet my team. There are nine of us including my team leader. I hate to brag, but I have an AWESOME team! Our team name is Gold 1. I am rooming with two of my teammates, Elena and Sarah. We all have one thing in common and that is being from the Midwest. It is a tight squeeze with three of us in one room, but we make it work!

Most of my time here so far has been participating in the Corps Training Institute (CTI). I understand the importance of it, but it is clear everyone is anxious for it to be over. Other than CTI, we had one small project in Sacramento the first weekend we arrived. It was "Make a Difference Day" in Sacramento, and we had the opportunity to work at two different locations. The first place we worked was at Mercy Housing, which is a low income apartment complex. They have this amazing community garden inside the complex, and our job was to pull weeds and clean the garden shed. I really liked this project because this garden provides healthy food for people who cannot afford it. Community gardens are something that our nation needs more of so that even people and families of low income can have access to healthy food. Lets face it, it is expensive to eat healthy! The second place my team and I worked at that day was at Luther Burbank High School. Our job was digging up roots so that a garden could be placed where these HUGE roots were located. We also started on a wheel chair path that will run along the side of the garden. This work was physically demanding, and that is one thing I really enjoyed about this project

My team at Mercy Housing

It was cool that we had some small projects to do in Sacramento. My team and I are excited about Round 1 though, especially because we now know where we are going! We are doing a split round, which means we are going to two different locations. The first place we are going is a camp right outside of Yosemite National Park, called Camp Lodestar. This camp primarily serves summer youth camps, adult retreat groups, and outdoor education programs. We will mostly be doing fuel reduction and clearing hiking trails. I am SO EXCITED about this project, because doing any sort of hands on environmental work is what I want to do. The second camp that we are going to is called Walker Creek Ranch, which is located in Petaluma, CA. This camp is similar to Camp Lodestar considering they both focus on outdoor education, but what is cool about our time spent here is working directly with kids. I will admit that working with kids is going to be a challenge for me. I am ready for a challenge though, and I think it will have a positive impact on me. 

What comes with all this excitement about Round 1 is a lot of work and planning! Although with my specific job positions, I do not have to do a crazy amount of work until I get to the camps. My jobs on my team are the Environmental Liaison, Physical Training Coordinator, and Chain Sawyer. I wanted all of these positions, so I am happy, happy, happy! They all sound fun and challenging for me, which is exactly what I want. 

Jessi, Elena, and Glover in front of the State Capitol

Monday through Wednesday are going to be crazy here on campus, but I will try my best to give an update before I leave campus. Thanks for those who are interested in what I am doing! I hope you all are doing well! 

It is FINALLY time to get a move on

Hey all!

I decided to make this blog so that friends, family, and whoever is interested can see what I will be doing for the next nine months with the AmeriCorps NCCC program based in Sacramento, California. I am so excited for this opportunity and happy that the time has finally come to start this new adventure.

As many of you know, because of my complaining and extended stay in Charleston, I did not expect this delay to start AmeriCorps. The government shutdown really put a damper on things and had me discouraged. I am not sure if this means the ending date for the NCCC program will be later, or if it will be cut short and end when it was originally suppose to. Either way, I believe these next several months are going to be some of the best of my life.

For those of you who are not sure what AmeriCorps is, I will give you a breif run down. The AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) is a program through the Corporation for National and Community Service which works to strenghten communtities through a variety of service projects. Memebers work to aid in disaster relief, environmental conservation, infrastructure improvment, and urban and rural development. With all the different areas of work that we could be assigned to, it is impossible to say what I will exactly be doing this next year. Whatever it is, I AM SO READY! :-)

I will be leaving for Sacramento on Thursday and will also arrive that day. The first month I will only be training in Sacramento, and then after training I will be given my assignments. I hope that I am able to keep up with this blog once a week. This may not be possible on certain spikes (assignments outside of Sacramento), but if that is the case, then I will update my blog after every assingment when I get back to the Sacramento campus.

Thank you everyone who has listened to me complain these past few weeks about my delay to Sacramento and the government shutdown. I would mostly like to thank everyone for the support and love! It means a lot and has really helped me.