Francine Nelson - Serve Virginia

Francine Nelson

RICKETTSFRAN10131--C-CAP Director Fran Ricketts 10/24/2013 MATT ARMSTRONG PHOTO

Francine Nelson

May 3, 2023

Senior Corps RSVP Volunteer of the Year Francine Nelson, Volunteer Prince William, Manassas Francine Nelson, a retired educator, has dedicated her time and talents teaching fourth grade students in Prince William County the skills they need to handle being at home alone at the end of the school day. The ‘Safe at Home Safe Alone” program is a partnership between Volunteer Prince William, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, American Red Cross and Prince William County Sheriff’s Office. Ms. Nelson’s participation in the program has reached more than 1,700 students, many of whom attend Title I schools. Her calm demeanor and steady, step-bystep guidance has done much to instill students’ faith in themselves and make them feel better able to handle the challenges of being home alone. Ms. Nelson clearly loves what she does and is one of those individuals who was born to teach and work with children and youth. The success of “Safe at Home Safe Alone” is due in large part to her ongoing support and expertise. Read more Volunteer Stories! Submit a Story!

Twylah Campbell Story of Service - AmeriCorps VISTA

Twylah Campbell – Finding Your Path Through AmeriCorps

Story of Service: Twylah Campbell – Finding Your Path Through AmeriCorps

Finding Passion Through AmeriCorps Twylah Campbell is an AmeriCorps VISTA Leader who has found pure joy and professional growth through the AmeriCorps program. She discovered AmeriCorps in 2020 while visiting the Renaissance Charter School in Queens, NY. "The school was seeking a VISTA to support some data collection and data integration tasks, which would help the school track student adjustment, enrollment, attendance and monitoring activities during the pandemic. The moment I heard about the work being done by VISTAs, I fell in love with the program", Campbell said. Because of her enthusiasm and passion, after just one year of service,...

Emma Jean Rush

Story of Service: Emma Jean Rush

Emma Jean Rush graduated from the University of Virginia with a master’s in public health. After college, she accepted an AmeriCorps VISTA opportunity with MENTOR Virginia as a Marketing and Communications Coordinator, hoping to reach more mentors and mentees, allowing mentoring programs in Virginia to continue to grow and foster development. At the beginning, Emma had no idea how significant her impact would be on MENTOR Virginia, but through her dedication, commitment, and ethical values, she helped the organization advance its mission of fostering quality mentoring relationships that empower, elevate, and encourage young people. Her work continues to impact MENTOR...

Adaptive Gymnastics at Virginia Health Sciences

Story of Service: Adaptive Gymnastics at Virginia Health Sciences

Adaptive Gymnastics provides children with disabilities the opportunity to participate in the sport of gymnastics, regardless of physical or intellectual ability. Founded in 2019, the program has grown from a single volunteer and four athletes to over 65 participants, serving as a model of inclusive, evidence-based programming that blends athletics, therapy, and community support. The program is led by dedicated medical student volunteers who develop lesson plans grounded in clinical research. Beyond physical skill development, Adaptive Gymnastics fosters confidence, perseverance, and social connection, giving children—and their families—a supportive environment in which to thrive. For parents and caregivers, classes provide a...

Spring Hill Baptist Church

Story of Service: Spring Hill Baptist Church

Congratulations to Spring Hill Baptist Church of Blackstone - winner of the 2018 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Faith-Based Organization! Spring Hill Baptist Church is clearly a force for good in the small community of Blackstone. Their 300 members are providing countless concrete supports and, just as importantly, building bridges for better community relations. Spring Hill members can be found distributing food to the needy, holding tutoring programs for students, providing activities for senior citizens, and visiting shut-ins. Spring Hill organizes community-wide worship services, food and school supply drives, job fairs, a community clothes closet, Christmas donation programs, and much...

Health Wagon

Story of Service: Health Wagon

Congratulations to the Health Wagon of Wise - winner of the 2019 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Faith-Based Organization! For more than 25 years, the Health Wagon has provided compassionate, quality health care to the medically under-served individuals and families in the Appalachian Mountains. Originally sent to the region in 1980 by the Richmond Catholic Diocese, Sister Bernie Kenny began dispensing healthcare from her Volkswagen Beetle. Today, the Health Wagon is a free, mobile clinic and two stationary clinics delivering quality health care which last year treated more than 4,000 of the neediest individuals in Southwestern Virginia – 86...

Nethan Reddy

Story of Service: Nethan Reddy

Nethan Reddy recently completed his year-long term of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) as a Substance Use Abatement VISTA. In this role, he was tasked with working on and implementing programs and policies that deal with substance use, especially as it impacts families. Nethan reflects, “I still remember, the position description said that the North Star of the position was to work towards ‘keeping families together’ and I thought that was a good thing to do. From a clinical perspective, it is clear that disordered substance use can do a number on...

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