My journey began during my final term in college. I was finishing off my degree in Environmental and Urban Studies in the little city of Chicago. I knew I wanted to pursue a career that would help me establish deep community ties while also planting myself as a resource and pillar to support those around me, but I couldn’t fight the itch to escape to America’s wilder west.

The AmeriCorps emails seemed to fall in my inbox more heavily than Chicago’s snowiest Winters covering all the respond-to-graduate emails I desperately needed to address. But as my spare moments stretched longer, the emails started appearing more and more like a lighthouse penetrating through a blizzard and shining upon the exact sort of adventure that tugged my soul.

Making the move came with an excitement that tamed any potential anxieties. At the first sight of Montana’s towering mountains, I knew I’d made the right choice.
As I settled into my new Bozeman life, the culture of free live music, and mountain-top-to-base-brewery lifestyle fit my personality like a tailormade set of ski boots.

Empowering Students with Federal Benefits

My VISTA adventure began abruptly when I was thrown into the labyrinth of ffederal benefits, namely WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) and LIHEAP (Low-
Income Home Energy Assistance Program). These programs provide essential assistance including nutrition support, education workshops, and financial support for a wide range of individuals, but digesting the tangle of eligibility guidelines and extensive approval processes was no easy task. The work was super fruitful when the semblance of a student-oriented campus webpage and full support systems took shape. These resources will outlast my service term and prove invaluable for students, ensuring they can access the resources they need.

MSU Connections: Igniting Student-Network Engagement

One of my most recent endeavors has been the revival of MSU Connections. This program is designed to support connections between students and nonprofit organizations. My role involves organizing a range of events to introduce students to the vibrant world of nonprofit work while bolstering the presence of
nonprofits on campus. From understanding the ins and outs of nonprofit careers to uncovering exciting internship opportunities, MSU Connections ignites
enthusiasm among students and illuminates the opportunities within the sector.

Can-The-Griz: Uniting the Community for Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving approaches, the MSU Office of Student Engagement has been swamped with coordinating Can-The-Griz. Can-The-Griz is a community-wide food drive that supports a significant portion of the county food pantry’s operations. To support the food drive, I have been tasked with coordinating the “Stuff the Bus” event, where a Streamline bus, our local public transit, is transformed into a cornucopia brimming with grocery donations. In tandem with heading the coordination of Stuff the Bus, I have been supporting the efforts of the rest of the team by contacting local grocery vendors and businesses to garner complete off-campus community support.

Lights, Camera, Action: Capturing Impact

My team and I have been diligently working to organize these events and resources, but we are fully aware that one of the biggest challenges lies in reaching the community. To set ourselves up for success, I’ve been documenting the remarkable work of each team member through videos and interviews. These videos will not only serve to showcase our work, but inspire community support and, critically, illustrate to our donors the value of their contributions.

I am thrilled about how my first few months as an AmeriCorps VISTA and resident of Montana have gone. Although I’m eager to see what else this journey has in store for me, I hope to stay diligently grateful for each successful day and each ground-bound snowflake!

Thanks for getting all the way through my blog post!