Rachel Haines

Maria Badillo's AmeriCorp Family Supported Her Throughout Her Job Search Three months prior to the end of my VISTA year, I began a job search that I hoped would last no more than those ninety days. A millennial with a newly-minted master’s degree should be able to find a solid career job, right? Nine months later, I was nearing the end of a second AmeriCorps contract, this one a fast-paced six months helping men with barriers to employment become job-ready. Ironically. I’d been scheduling regular networking appointments and filling out job applications throughout my contract with the blessing of my...

For more than 20 years, Frank and Mae Antkievicz have volunteered with the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Hanover County. Of the more than 40,000 people living in Hanover County, approximately 4.5% speak languages other than English. An inability to speak English affects residents’ lives in many ways, especially for work and education. Without ESL programs, many would be unable to truly become connected with the community in which they live.  Starting their service as ESL volunteers and assistants, they now run the program serving as both directors and teachers. During their...

National Service Alumni of the Year Huey Gordon & Lorie Schmiege, CARITAS, Richmond Both AmeriCorps Alums with CARITAS, the dynamic duo of Lori Schmiege and Huey Gordon manage the CARITAS Furniture Bank operations. Lori, who served from 2010-2011, and Huey, who served from 2011-2012, both react with empathy and a resolve to “get things done,” attitudes they developed as members. They are also both willing and happy to coach and mentor other AmeriCorps members and ultimately show these members how to be excellent employees when they move on to the workforce. Since joining CARITAS staff, they have mentored 40 AmeriCorps members...

Congratulations to Lawrence Jia of Midlothian -- winner of the 2017 Virginia Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Youth Volunteer! When Lawrence Jia saw someone close to him experience a financial crisis and face homelessness, he was moved to make a difference. He had an idea that if you could create a resource to help individuals become better informed consumers, better investors, and wiser savers -- you could change the landscape of adolescent financial literacy. In Lawrence’s freshman year, he created “Money Matters to Students” which today has almost 100 volunteers across three continents and has reached over...

Jayeesh Chennupati is an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving at United Way of the Virginia Peninsula (UWVP) through a capacity-building project managed by Serve Virginia. In college, Jayeesh already knew about national service as a way to make an impact thanks to his interest in Peace Corps service. After graduation, however, he sought out AmeriCorps as a way to cultivate new skills and gain a better understanding of the world. He recalls, "I decided to take a year to develop some skills [and] really learn about poverty in a dimension that I haven't explored before." In considering the biggest challenge he...