18th Annual Cherry Creek Diversity Conference

Earlier this month, Denver Outreach Alumni Mentor Michelle and Colorado Springs VISTA Sylvia attended the Cherry Creek Diversity Conference at Cherry Creek High School. Over 1,000 students and adults gathered for a day of diversity events and workshops that promote diversity and understanding within and among students attending Colorado’s public and private high schools. Students heard from a keynote speaker, participated in discussion groups and two workshop sessions, and planned how they can make a difference in their own school or community.
We were really impressed by the number of students and their drive to increase diversity and understanding in their schools.

Photo courtesy of cherrycreekdiversity.org

Here’s what MICHELLE said about her workshops:

I got the chance to participate in two great workshops that left all the participants, including myself, thinking about diversity issues and how we as individuals can create solutions. My first workshop touched base on how judgment affects our communication skills. Our presenter began by letting the whole group judge her based strictly on appearance and personality. The group could not have been more wrong about our presenter, but through the process we learned how to recognize our judgments, accept them and then move past them to form a strong communication bond with each other. My second workshop was a great informational forum about PeaceJam, the work they do and how students from middle school to college can get involved. It was great to see so many students excited to start a PeaceJam club and start to create positive changes in their communities!

Photo courtesy of cherrycreekdiversity.org

SYLVIA’S first workshop was presented by SEEKING COMMON GROUND. The peace building tools they shared with the group really opened everyone up. The group quickly learned a lot about each other and seemed comfortable sharing about themselves. The second workshop shared a great social issue media resource: http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org the 12-minute films on this website can be used to inspire change in communities, schools and organizations.

Check out the conference website for more information! http://www.cherrycreekdiversity.org

Photo courtesy of cherrycreekdiversity.org

The map shows all the schools that participated in this great event!

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Great Expectations

This month I was given the opportunity to attend the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference in Washington D.C. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I got was insight into the people and organizations that are rallying around the call for good, green jobs in this country. It was an experience that taught me about the need for green jobs, the challenges we face creating those jobs and once again, reminded me about the importance of the work we do here at Mile High Youth Corps.

The conference was hosted by the BlueGreen Alliance, a partnership of labor unions and environmental agencies to create more, high quality jobs for a green economy. Before attending this conference, I was unaware such partnerships existed and was impressed by the number of people who showed up to make their voice heard. With over 14 million members and supporters nationwide, the BlueGreen Alliance works on issues involving climate change, transportation, worker’s rights and even, toxic chemical policies. Clearly, there is an immediate need for jobs in the U.S. and organizations across the country are starting to see the benefits of creating higher quality jobs that are environmentally clean. It was refreshing to witness such a strong movement with passionate individuals working towards positive change.

Fortunately, the economic and environmental benefits of creating high quality, green jobs are becoming an issue on the forefront of our national political debates. However, the challenges we face to create them are still great. Just this past weekend the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, a proposal that would help coal companies and oil refiners escape new environmental regulations, bar the EPA to set new pollution and efficiency standards for vehicles, drastically cut funding for education, transportation and completely eliminate federal funding for PBS, NPR, Teach For America and AmeriCorps just to name a few. Many of these initiatives and programs have been in place for decades to help the economic and environmental health of our communities and are being put on the chopping block to establish a point of political power. With the passage of this budget, nearly one million jobs and the safeguards that ensure our clean air and clean water will be lost. This is not the first time such fiscal negligence will appear before our government and it will not be the last. Therefore, the road to creating high quality green jobs will not be an easy one but with hard work, increased exposure of the issue and the collaboration of dedicated individuals and organizations, good, green jobs can be apart of our future.

Finally, as a corpsmember, I think it may be easy to forget the importance of what we do in terms of the ‘Big Picture’, as it can get lost in the day to day work. At Mile High Youth Corps, we are already doing the work that 14 million+ members of the BlueGreen Alliance are fighting for. Each day our agency employs youth to work in their community, assists those that can’t afford energy by reducing their bills and helps make our environment much cleaner for generations to come. The Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference was a great experience, I learned so much from the talented professionals I got the chance to speak with. I would say one of the best things I realized from this opportunity was that I am one of those fortunate individuals who currently has a good, green job and it’s now my turn to help expand these opportunities to others for the well-being of our communities.

~Annie Matouka, Conservation Alumni Mentor

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How do you feel about Mile High Youth Corps?

We asked some corpsmembers last year how they felt about Mile High Youth Corps and here were some of their answers:
MHYC taught me:
•Teamwork benefiting the community
•Hope for the future
•To live with integrity
•To Serve the community
•To grow by giving
•How to save the world one flush at a time
•Change is good

MHYC has helped me:
•Build a consistent confidence
•To get back in the workforce and start deciding my future
•To be responsible, hardworking and learn new skills
•Make a change
•To know myself
•To flourish into a leader!
•To change the world
•Build up lives
•Change youth

MHYC helped me realize the universe of obligation.

Words to describe MHYC:
•Personal growth, communication, leadership
•GED, future, hope, change, knowledge
•Staying focused, a steady income, and a education

MHYC gave me:
•A gateway to new experiences!
•My Colorado catalyst
•My second change
•My best decision so far…

MHYC…
•“Opened my eyes”
•“Helped me grow”
•“CHANGED MY LIFE!”

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Mile High Youth Corps Hosts Visitors from South Africa

Last week at Mile High Youth Corps we had some very exciting visitors. We were fortunate enough to meet four individuals from South Africa who are focused on developing youth in their country. As part of the International Visitor Leadership Program these individuals sat down at our headquarters office and listened in about how we implement change here in our Denver Community and how this work has impacted the lives of our corpsmembers.

The challenges faced by South African youth are staggering. 51% of youth are unemployed and, of that, 36% are unemployable, having no training or skills to acquire work. In addition, one in four youth in South Africa have been infected with HIV/AIDS. Despite these obstacles, Mr. Malusi Mazibuko, Ms. Annette Steyn, Ms. Mosidi Charmaine Thokoane and Mr. Brian Zondo have made it their mission to improve the lives of the youth in their country.

Mr. Malusi Mazibuko is the Director for the KwaZulu Youth Empowerment Project. He developed Durban’s first orphans and vulnerable children’s program for youth who had tested HIV+ but have no support system. He mobilized youth in the community to participate in clubs and gave them a forum to speak about social issues that they could not discuss at home. As a result, the community started a youth awards program to recognize youth community participation. Mr. Mazibuko later founded the KZN Youth Empowerment Organization which is staffed by committed youth volunteers.

Ms. Annette Steyn is a member of the South African National Parliament for the Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s main opposition party. Having spent her life in rural areas, Ms. Steyn focuses on expanding opportunities for rural youth, women and others. On her family farm, she teaches progressive practices that have improved the lives of farm workers in the community. Her involvement in her community is widely praised and she hopes to learn more about community and national service in the U.S. to further help rural youth.

Ms. Mosidi Charmaine Thokoane is a faculty coordinator at the Centre for the Study of AIDS at the University of Pretoria. She focuses on coordinating, managing and implementing programs for HIV/AIDS education, conducts counseling at the Student Health Clinic and organizes student-led activities such as student forums and seminars at the Centre. Ms. Thokoane has advocated for an increase in women’s and girl’s access to health services with parliamentarians in Botswana and led a delegation of students to work in clinics providing counseling and training for HIV/AIDS. She manages a training program for the Department of Health in Gauteng Province in South Africa and is a member of UNICEF Regional Inter Agency Task Team on orphans and vulnerable children affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Brian Zondo is the Deputy Director for the City of Johannesburg. As the author of the city’s Young Entrepreneurship Policy, Mr. Zondo focuses on giving youth the basic economic and business skills needed to become entrepreneurs. Through this policy, the city’s agenda now includes establishing mentorship programs between successful businesses and interested youth. In addition, Johannesburg is now working towards an international exchange program for young entrepreneurs.

Along with other corpsmembers, I got the chance to talk with them about how we’ve learned leadership skills here at MHYC, how we feel we are positively impacting our community and about how we plan to continue this work in the future. What a great opportunity!
~Annie Matouka, Conservation Alumni Mentor

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A Look Back on Orientation

My first two weeks of AmeriCorps have been awesome, and I can’t believe I’m already reaching the tail end of my third week. When they say time flies, they mean it. In fact, I find this to be especially true at Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC), as the first two weeks of orientation were full of logistics (the cans and cannots), meeting new people, and most importantly: Fun. In only three short weeks, my time here feels like it is opening up my world to a more meaningful way of life.

Prior to joining MHYC, I was in the communications world, where you might have found me working the 9 to 5 without any rhyme or reason. Now I am outside playing, meeting positive people, gaining leadership skills and simply enjoying my days. Moreover, thank goodness that this all worked out, as I must admit I was a wee-bit nervous.

But don’t get me wrong. MHYC has already challenged me to shovel “compost,” brave the cold at Canosa and sort rotten oranges (all humbling, fine forms of service of course). Thanks to the neat people at MHYC, however, I am happy to say that my leap of faith has turned a monotonous workday into something that I feel good about leaving each day. You know, the type of feeling you get when you know you’ve done something good.

This is why I am happy to report that I am enjoying the early challenges of the ACLC program. Whether it be discussing why I am here or where I am going in the future, these new experiences have allowed me to step outside of my “comfort zone” and look forward to a career path of local and international service. I see a meaningful path in my life, and I am happy that I took the leap to join MHYC to get to this special place.

And finally, I would like to share perhaps my most memorable orientation moment: Diversity Training. An exercise in which Tom set up BIG mousetraps across the floor as we navigated blind Corps Members across the course. Now if that does not sound challenging to you, you ought to try it.

Caution: Objects in pictures are more dangerous than they appear.
~Adriana Lopez, AmeriCorps Leadership and Conservation

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Having Great Times at Mile High Youth Corps!

As usual, Mile High Youth Corps always has interesting things for the Corpsmembers. On Monday, February the 2nd , Mile High Youth Corps gave us the chance to get free tickets to go to a basketball game to have some fun away from work and study pressure. For me it was a great experience, because it was my first time going to a basketball game.

Rena and I doing some trust activities.

And there was another amazing day, as well, at Mile High Youth Corps. That was when we went to the CCD gym on Friday, Feb the 11th, to do some team builder activities and motivate us to work as a team and trust in each other. So we played some different games that depended on trusting each other and being a team.

~Ronda, YouthBuild corpsmember

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G.E.D. Testing Underway

The new year brought out an exciting new aspect of the program; G.E.D. testing!!! It’s about a month and a half in and already almost half of the class has taken and passed one or more of their G.E.D. tests. Good marks have upped morale form nervous to confident. Some students have scored over 100 points more than they had estimated! Talk about a pleasant surprise. And two of the corpsmembers have gotten their G.E.D!! Still many students are nervous feeling the pressure of being half way to graduation. Of corps members I spoke to only 5 were worried about their tests compared to the 7 excited to be passing this milestone. Looks like overall we’re hopeful and ready for whatever comes next.
On the technical side many of us are satisfied with the type of construction opportunities we’ve been given. YouthBuilders have gotten to apply knowledge of tools such as brooms, hammers, skill saws, drills and nail guns to name a few. Several of us have gotten to do trades like framing, HVAC, plumbing and electrical. To top it off measuring and math skills are on the rise and JRT is in full swing. Feeling so close to completion has sparked most of us to think about where our life path will lead next.
~Niabi Huckfeldt, YouthBuild

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Colorado Youth Corps Association Celebrates the 2010 Champions and Corpsmembers of the Year.

On Monday, February 7th Mile High Youth Corps Corpsmembers of the Year Juan Martinez and Steven Ladefoged were honored at a dignified Corpsmember award ceremony held at the Old Supreme Court Chambers of the State Capitol. Parents were honored to attend this ceremony that recognized the achievements of their children. Many of the Corpsmember’s Representatives and Senators presented the awards. Also in attendance were staff from federal offices, youth corps staff, CYCA board members and governor’s office staff. We were thrilled with the wonderful show of support on this special day and the chance for the Corpmembers to be presented on the House floor.

Denver Corpsmember Juan Martinez showed perseverance and dedication to staying in school and finding a job to support his son and wife despite losing his father in his freshmen year of high school, and living with a lifelong hearing impairment. Juan often went out of his way to motivate and encourage other Corpsmembers. As the youth speaker at the ceremony Juan expressed his feelings about how MHYC was not another job but a second home. Juan said that “Now as an ACLC I know I can set an example for everyone in or outside of Mile High. I have gained self confidence, good friends from Mile High and role-models that can guide me to the road of success.”

Following the award ceremony the Corpsmembers were celebrated at a brunch where they heard from Mike King, Director of the Department of Natural Resources.

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One Year with Mile High Youth Corps: A Staff Perspective

Mile High Youth Corps -Colorado Springs Regional Director Nancy Wilson celebrated her one year anniversary with MHYC in December. She shares her challenges and joys with us in this blog.

MHYC - Colorado Springs Regional Director Nancy Wilson with Corpsmember in the field

After spending two years with the Peace Corps in Macedonia, Nancy hoped to continue to work within the areas of youth and service and found exactly that at MHYC! Nancy loves the direct contact she has with Corpsmembers. Throughout the process of interviewing, training, teaching and working she likes to hear about their experiences, future goals and hopes. Her least favorite part of the job? Paperwork! It never ends.

One of the top qualities needed to lead the Colorado Springs office is flexibility. Nancy is not always at her desk. Many times you can find her taking chainsaws in for maintenance, meeting with various community groups and members along the Southern Front Range while always staying within reach of her crews in the field.

At the beginning of her first summer season (the craziest time of the year) Nancy came into work to find out that the Field Coordinator could not make it to the Crew leader training. She ran home, packed and took the trip out with her summer crew leaders to Golden Gate State Park.

Nancy is looking forward to her second year with MHYC now that she is armed with all the experience from her first year!

- Sylvia Sedrak, Outreach VISTA Member, MHYC – Colorado Springs

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Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference

Annie and I have made it to Washington DC for the 2011 Green Jobs Good Jobs Conference! Our flight arrived on Sunday at the perfect time to see everything in the city lit up in the night sky. The Washington Monument was a subtle reminder that we were in our nation’s capital and potentially the epicenter for change.

The night was quiet and like most other Americans we went to sleep after watching the completion of the super bowl. The next morning brought a sort of excitement and optimism that I wasn’t expecting. Everyone we met was enthusiastic about their involvement with the environment and wanted to know who I was and what work I did.

We then headed to a youth mixer, and like some of the clients that we serve in the Denver area, I was very skeptical as to how beneficial meeting youth at a mixer could be for me. I was supposed to network at this conference and find new opportunities for myself and Mile High Youth Corps, right? How could youth help me do that?

I couldn’t have been more wrong about the experience. I thought that in a city where our federal government is housed, the older generations would have more power and more influence. I completely underestimated the potential of a group of young adults, getting together, discussing problems and most importantly finding solutions. I left the meeting wanting to get involved in every organization mentioned and had more confidence in myself that at this age, I truly can make a difference.

I am not sure what expectations to have, but I can only imagine that the conference will surpass them. I have but one goal in attending workshops and meeting individuals in the green field. To figure out, what a green collar worker looks like and am I one of them?
~Michelle Shea

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