Dear Claudine

Dear Claudine,

We hope your first day at Legal Aid has been awesome, exciting, and informative. The BCSL was very empty without you today. Make sure you come back and visit!

love,

The BCSL staff

Dissecting my job: What is The Benefit Bank?

Now that I have explained what VISTA is and where my paycheck comes from, on to the next organization I work with: Second Harvest Food Banks and the Benefit Bank.


The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks (OASHF) provide food to people who need it.
Within OASHF is the Benefit Bank, an organization that helps people in poverty get access to governmental benefits like food stamps, cash assistance, and Medicade. It does this by training people to use the online Benefit Bank software to fill out benefits applications electronically and submit them to Job and Family Services online.

www.obb.ohio.gov

This helps cut down the wait time to process the applications and educates the applicants on the process and documents needed to complete the application. The Benefit Bank started out as a VISTA project and is now staffed mostly by VISTAs and former VISTAs. It's grown astronomically in the past five years, and I hope it continues to grow and sustain itself.

Congrats to the Bonners presenting summer research this week!

This week is presentation week for the students involved in the Oberlin College Research Fellows Program (OCRF) and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF).  In 20 minutes, they have to coherently explain to the audience what they spent an intensive 7 weeks of their summer researching.  Piece of cake....right? 

Congratulations to all the OCRF Bonners presenting this week!  Their presentations are in Craig Lecture Hall (Lecture hall on the 2nd floor of the Science Center).

Monday, July 26, 2010

10:00  Brittnei Sherrod, MMUF (Mentor: Karla Parsons Hubbard, Geology)

The Process and Practice of Taxonomy in Paleontology

10:30  Kyla Moore, OCRF (Mentor: Caroline Jackson Smith, African American Studies)

Black and Green: Black American Women and the U.S. Military

11:30  Melissa George, MMUF (Mentor: Meredith Raimondo, Comparative American Studies)

HIV in Black Female Communities: The Continuing Effects of Historical Oppression

1:30 Cindy Camacho, MMUF (Mentor: Daphne John, Sociology)

Divergent Discourses: Medical and Cultural Understandings of Latina Reproductive Health in the Era of Gardasil

 Tuesday, July 27, 2010

 10:30  Michelle Janke, MMUF (Mentor: Janet Fiskio, Environmental Studies

Broadening the Conversation:  Complexity and community Engagement in Reforming the Food System

 11:00  Lissette Lorenz, MMUF (Mentor: Janet Fiskio, Environmental Studies)

The Use of Community-Based Theater as a means of Empowerment for Environmental Justice Communities

 2:00  James Pressley, OCRF (Mentor:  Sean Decatur, Chemistry)

Pressurized Denaturing of the ß-Hairpin Folded TrpZip Peptide

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

 2:00  Inyang Udo-Inyang, OCRF (Mentor: William Fuchsman, Chemistry)

The Chemistry of Reducing Sugars

 

 Thursday, July 29, 2010

11:00  Anthony Bonifonte, OCRF (Mentor: Angie Roles, Biology)

The Effects of Invasive Crayfish Orconectes rusticus on Local Freshwater Ecology

 Presenting later in the year:

Giordano Hardy-Gerena, MMUF (Mentor: Gina Perez, Comparative American Studies)

Protecting Youth and Producing Nation in Puerto Rico

Thao Phan, OCRF (Mentor: Taylor Allen, Biology)

Topic unavailable as of this posting

Building Character through Organization

When I applied for this job, one of the interview questions was: "Are you organized? Can you juggle many things at once?" I thought "Psht, I have juggled multiple classes, multiple jobs, and multiple extracurricular over the past four years. I can totally juggle the requirements of a single job."

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the universe for my cockiness and present it with the chip that has fallen off my shoulder because man oh man, this job requires me to be on top of my game and build character like nothing else before it. I am wearing multiple hats, all of which could be made into at least part-time, if not full-time, jobs:

• Data collection coordinator for the BCSL
• random graphics/PR projects for the BCSL
• Benefit Bank Counselor
• Benefit Bank Trainer

It is totally doable, I just have to work at it. I also realize that part of being overwhelmed at this point is learning the new vocabulary of people and organizations I need to know, but I need to work on some new systems to better organize myself since I have about 3 different hubs of activity I need to check in with. Right now what is working is to take the first hour of each day to attack my emails and make a to-do list on paper, in my notebook for the rest of the day: I hereby resolve to repeat this behavior for the sake of my sanity. And since I've posted the resolution on my blog for teh internets to see, everyone knows it absolutely *must* come to fruition.

Dissecting my job: What is VISTA?

Let's start with the basics, because I didn't really have a grasp of what VISTA was until I went to the Pre-Service Orientation in Chicago.

Official VISTA logo

VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service to America. I often tell people it's like a domestic Peace Corps program--both have the goal of making the world a more peaceful place to live but Peace Corps is international and VISTA is in the USA. Founded in 1964 by President Kennedy, VISTA takes volunteers with a college degree, pays them a small living stipend, and places them for a one-year stint in projects that are designed to fight poverty. VISTA projects range from working with refugees to working with Native American reservations to working in local communities to link people up with the apropriate resources (mental, monetary, medical, etc).

www.americorps.gov

VISTA is a subprogram of Americorps (hence the proper name of Americorps*VISTA, though I have also seen it referred to as *VISTA). Americorps also pays volunteers for service, but there is a crucial difference between the two programs. Americorps is for direct service, which is actually working with people and completing one-time tasks. Examples include tutoring, weeding, and grant writing. VISTA is about capacity building, which puts infrastructure into place that lets the Americorps people do their job. In includes doing all the behind the scenes work to keep a program running. It includes doing all the behind the scenes work--training, program development, networking, planning and all those other good things. When I help someone fill out a food stamp form it is direct service; when I train someone on how to help people fill out food stamp forms it is capacity building. To relate it to that famous fish quote: VISTA is about teaching people to fish so they can eat for life, not giving them fish so they may eat once.

How all this relates to me

VISTA pays my living stipend. For my VISTA project, I am fighting poverty by working as a Benefit Bank counselor to help people sign up for government benefits like Food Stamps and Medicaid. I am working on the capacity building part by training other Benefit Bank counselors, building new connections in the community and Oberlin College, and leaving behind plans for what to do when I'm gone--all of which I am able to do because of the infrastructure that Claudine, the previous VISTA, is leaving me.

I'm off to observe a Benefit Bank training so I can do it myself,
Ondrea
Americorps*VISTA, BCSL Enthusiast

Hurryupandsit

I can't help but feel that a large part of my VISTA year so far has been hurryupandsit in meetings/trainings. Many of the meetings/trainings are useful and I get to meet cool people, learn new things, and eat free tasties, but it's frustrating to be nagged by my ever growing and fun filled to-do list while I'm trying to enjoy the food and company at a lunch meeting. Yet I am learning so much of networking that takes place over a meal is crucial to program development and partnerships that I cannot dismiss them in favor of my to-do list.

Yesterday was such a day where I had to sit in more meetings than planned and so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, so today I had to miss a networking meeting to get my tasks done before Beth (supervisor) needed it for her meeting with a Dean. So it goes. What Claudine and I got done on the BCSL annual report, though, was really cool. I am a graphics nerd and love projects like these. What made it extra fun was trying to get it done by the deadline--some days I really enjoy working within time constraints. Here are the front page designs we came up with (and I suspect Claudine is downstairs making last minute changes as I type):

New graphic element, black and white

New graphic element, school approved colors

Old graphic element, school approved colors

Our theme is "Beyond the Bubble" and I'm really excited about some of the graphic things we're doing with it.

Now! To tackle more time sensitive to-do list items before Enterprise comes to pick me up for my car rental for tomorrow's Benefit Bank training observation.

Ready, set, go!

Since we last met

Goodness, if I'm going to get this blog of the ground I have GOT to post more. Fortunately I started drafting up posts last night and there is the ability to schedule posts on Blogger. Hooray for the ability to stockpile blog posts!

Things that I have done since I last posted:

Benefit Bank: Crash Course on Counseling

1. Served as a benefits counselor at a resource fair at the Lorain County Adult Parole Office (1st official day out of training, excellent start....)
2. Served as a benefits counselor for 2 clients down at Oberlin Community Services
3. Gone to a regional Benefit Bank group meeting in Medina
4. Introduced Benefit Bank people to the unique position that is the Oberlin College Benefit Bank VISTA (more to come on this later)
5. Printed posters to advertise a Benefit Bank event (to do: poster downtown)
6. Rented a car so I can observe the Community Training this Friday

BCSL: With The Generous Help of Claudine (VISTA who started my position)

1. Drafted a BCSL annual report newsletter with the help of Claudine
2. Drafted a report for the Carnegie Foundation with the help of Claudine
3. Learned how to make meeting agendas with the help of Claudine
4. Helped out at a food distribution at Oberlin Community Services with the help of Claudine
5. Attended staff meetings and lunches (Claudine was there)
   
6. Argued with the oberlin.edu server about it not wanting to upload pages to the website (while Claudine was on a well-deserved vacation)
7. Sliced my finger open while cutting cardboard for the BCSL Science Center display cabinet (NOT with the help of Claudine)
   

VISTA: In the Background

1. Faxed in time sheets
2. Got paid

Off to meet with Benefit Bank directors,
Ondrea
Americorps*VISTA, BCSL Enthusiast

I love where I work

Today's task involves compiling information for a BCSL report. I am learning so much that I didn't know, even after being involved with the BCSL for four years as a Bonner. It's amazing everything that goes on. Here is a brief-and-not-at-all-comprehensive list of the awesome community service projects Oberlin College has:

• Community Service Work Study Program
• Apollo Outreach Initiative
• Community Music School
• Spanish in the Elementary Schools (SITES)
• OCEAN (Oberlin Educational Alliance Network)
• Cole Scholars/Oberlin Initiative in Electoral Politics
• Oberlin Benefit Bank/Second Harvest partnership (that's me!)
  
• OSCA's Sister Community relationship in Nicaragua
• Panama Project
• Santa Elena Project of Accompaniment (SEPA)
• The Democracy Project
  
• Day of Service (DOS)
• Eastwood Outdoor Classroom

How cool is that? Very cool, that's what.

Back to discovering more projects,
Ondrea
Americorps*VISTA, BCSL Enthusiast