Welcome new VISTAs!!!

Wednesday marked the end of training for three new VISTAs: Katie, Audrey, and Delores. Welcome!

We celebrated the new arrivals to our team with a VISTA happy hour at Golden West Cafe in Hampden.

Next Wednesday we will be joined by Constance, a new-to-us VISTA who is transferring from another site.

VISTAs at Golden West:

VISTA Project Spotlight

Copied from the GHCC Digest, I'm going to share every two weeks:

VISTA Project Spotlight

Community Connections VISTA John Bernet has been collaborating with neighborhood residents, university partners, and school staff to plan a community garden in a now-unused lot near Dallas F. Nicholas Elementary School. Stakeholders identified so far include the Old Goucher and Barclay neighborhoods, Parks & People Foundation, Dallas Nicholas, and Goucher College. John is hoping for an after-school program at Dallas Nicholas to teach children to maintain the garden, which would be home to both vegetables and flowers.

Donation Only (!) Yoga Studio in Hampden

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you're like me you're feeling a little sluggish from all those mashed potatoes, so I thought I'd let you know about a new, donation only community yoga studio in Hampden. For those of us who love yoga but can't justify the cost while we're only making $10,000 a year, Let's Flow Yoga is perfect.

Check out the class schedules on their website and head on over! I haven't been yet, but I plan on visiting soon to work on getting my muscles in shape for skiing in January. Let's Flow is located on Falls Road at the Avenue in Hampden.

Save the Date! Maryland AmeriCorps Conference

Michelle Obama will be a champion for national service.

While talking to a woman from GEDCO at the GHIA luncheon today (yikes, acronyms), I learned that Michelle Obama is going to take on AmeriCorps as a major advocacy issue when she moves into the white house.

This, in addition to the fact that Obama's transition website puts national service front and center with a pledge to increase AmeriCorps to 250,000 (from the current 75,000), is great news for VISTAs.

See a Newsweek interview touching on this here.

A Creative Way to Use Your Ed Award

The CA Education Program (CAEP), in a partnership with the Minnesota State Community & Technical College (MSCTC)-Fergus Falls, has developed a program for AmeriCorps members and alumni to be able to use their Education Award to participate in our 3-12 month Domestic Apprentice Program and Outbound Program for Americans. CAEP is now offering educational experiences by providing AmeriCorps members and alumni with a domestic or international placement in one of its 8 Agriculture-related fields:

• Agriculture
• Horticulture
• Enology (Wine Making) & Viticulture
• Equine
• Agribusiness
• Citrus
• Apiary
• Turf Management

Benefits of the Program:

- Opportunity to travel the United States and the world

•- Learn new languages and cultures

•- Gain academic internship credit and opportunity to take future classes at MSCTC

•- Gain validated skills and certification through CAEP and the United States DoL

•- Paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities both here and abroad

•- Ability to use your AmeriCorps Education Award to supplement the program fees!

Program Fees:

CAEP Domestic Apprentice Fee: $1,250 (includes course fee + $250 Deposit)

CAEP Outbound Program Fee: $1,250 (includes course fee + $250 Deposit)

Country Partner/Work Visa Fee (International Program) Additional fees that vary by country

Medical Insurance (International Program) $85/month

Travel Expenses Members are responsible for travel costs

*AmeriCorps member and alumni can now use their Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to participate in both CAEP domestic and international prgorams and in return will be paid a monthly stipend and room and board while in the program.

To learn how to use your Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to participate in one of CAEP's programs, please visit www.caep.org or contact Eric Anderson (AmeriCorps Alum '00 & ‘01) at eric@cainc.org or at 1-800-432-3276 ext. 3351.

Halloween Fun

If you're looking for something fun and different to do for Halloween, this might be it:

See the spectacle of over a thousand candle-lit, paper and bamboo lanterns, carried through Patterson Park.

Beware the Jabberwocky! This year’s Parade is inspired by the wild imaginings of Lewis Carroll, with crazy creative floats, a totally new Parade route, a Grand Finale “monster raising,” hip-shaking music, and the best costume-watchin’ in town!

Click here for more info.