VISTA’s Madelynn Cox and Haley Katz have committed to a year of AmeriCorps VISTA service with the CCE, the City of Santa Rosa, and other community partners. I had a conversation with our VISTAs to discuss what they hope to accomplish and what they hope to use this experience for in the future.
“It’s easy to say, ‘I want to help people', but it can be overwhelming if you don’t know how to start. AmeriCorps VISTA is providing a great opportunity for me to learn how to start effectively engaging in my community by helping me understand all of the steps involved in implementing and sustaining long-term community outreach goals,” said Haley.
“However cliché it may be, during my time as a VISTA I hope I am able to help others through inclusion and empowerment. Being a VISTA puts me in a unique position to help create and instill long-term, sustainable solutions, and that is something I will strive to accomplish. I plan to work with SSU professors and students, I hope to include and uplift youth voices, particularly those in historically underrepresented communities. I look forward to all the important and meaningful work ahead of me in my year of VISTA service, but most of all, all the people I will get to meet and serve along the way,” said Maddy.
These two VISTAS will be working closely with us throughout our academic academic year. They will be working five days a week, four at their own sites helping with the AmeriCorps message and mission, while they will spend one day here at SSU helping our faculty and students to get involved.
The two VISTA’s can be contacted via email at hkatz@srcity.org and madelynncox@srcity.org.
You can also connect with the city of Santa Rosa’s community engagement office here.
Welcome, Haley & Maddy! Thank you for your service!