AmeriCorps: Living on a Budget

Living on a Budget: VISTA Style
By Kate Prestine (MHYC Colorado Springs)

With signing up for AmeriCorps comes the understanding that not much of a salary will follow, no matter what program you choose. In the AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program, the one I’m a part of, the point isn’t to make money, it’s to alleviate poverty. With that goal in mind, AmeriCorps has set the VISTA monthly living stipend at the poverty line, as well.

But I still have bills that need to be paid each month: rent, utilities, car insurance, cell phone, internet, and more. Yet in my past 6 months with AmeriCorps, I’ve surprised my family and friends by having been able to see and enjoy an incredible amount of Colorado, all while keeping my finances in line. Here are my “secrets to success” on how to live large on a small amount:

1. Personal financial planning. “Financial planning” always sounds like such a businessman phrase, like something you need to hire someone to do for you. However, it’s a pretty crucial skill I think everyone should know, emphasis on the “personal” part. My personal financial planning is way more simple than setting up a retirement fund for myself or college funds for my unborn children. It’s just planning out my expenses month-to-month.

Essentially, I create a bill calendar every month. For each bill, I write the name (example: Comcast) and the exact dollar amount in the date square that it’s due. I also put a dollar sign on each date that I’ll be receiving a paycheck. This helps me to see when I will have to pay certain bills by and what I will have after those have been paid. Some folks like to pay off everything at once, though I prefer to pay a few days before each bill is due. Both ways work – you’re still paying the same amount. It’s just a matter of having or not having that (sometimes seemingly) large chunk up front to pay everything off at once.

2. Saving when you can. This is a tough one for VISTAs and generally, for most people. If I still have money after bills are paid, it’s so tempting to spend, spend, spend. There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself every now and then, but saving a little every month is equally rewarding to me. Whether that savings turns into a vacation fund, an emergency cushion, or a pot to dip into for shopping sprees every now and then, it’s never a bad thing to have a little extra.

After consulting my bill calendar, I try to set aside a given amount each month for my savings account. Most banks can set up an automatic transfer from your checking to your savings of whatever amount you want. To plan for it, treat that amount like another bill, whether it’s $20 or $200 a month. You’ll be surprised how fast it adds up.

3. Be picky with your spending. Whenever you have some extra money after bills, be smart about what you’re doing with it. I don’t mean don’t spend it, but don’t blow it either. Say you’re thinking of taking a weekend trip: it’s pretty easy to estimate how much gas will cost you. Or if you’re wanting some new clothes, go after items you’ll wear often or that you’ve been eying for some time. Set limits for yourself, too. Try carrying a set amount of cash instead of using a credit or debit card. Then when that runs out, you know you’ve reached your limit.

With those three tactics, living has actually been very comfortable for me. Though many other factors are certainly incorporated into how I’m living my life, these practices are a great start to getting everything in order.

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Weekly Energy Saving Tip

Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120°F. Each 10° reduction can save you up to 5% in energy costs each month.

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Post to Parks Project Receives National Recognition

by Nancy Wilson, Regional Director: Southern Front Range

Have you ever hear the expression “each one, teach one”? It refers to the fact that when we learn something new, from a book or a class, we might learn it. But, when we have to teach our new knowledge or skill to another person, that’s when we REALLY LEARN. Last summer I visited a camping trail crew from Mile High Youth Corps – Colorado Springs and watched them do exactly that.

The “Post to Parks” program was a partnership between sponsors at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and Mile High Youth Corps – Colorado Springs. The park wanted to bring young people from military families, who seldom have a chance to leave the base, into our National Parks. MHYC wanted to show these youth all about a really great summer job opportunity and show them why they love working at the Corps. The MHYC crew (ages 18-23) spent a week mentoring younger youth (14-17) from Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado Springs. They taught them the same skills that they had been learning all summer as a crew: trail building, tool safety, noxious weed mitigation, Leave No Trace camping, and many of the interpersonal skills that enable a team to form and accomplish great things. Melanie Weber-Sauer who was the MHYC Crew Mentor said, “It has been really great to work with the kids from Ft. Carson, a lot of them seem eager to learn about the outdoors and the national parks. It has been great for us, it gives us a chance to exercise some leadership and repeat some of the knowledge we have learned this summer.”

All the hard work (and fun) that was done on the project just received national recognition. The “Post to Parks” project received the Land Conservation Project of the Year award at the Corps Network Conference in Washington, D.C. last week. Cool. The hope is that more parks and corps with get together and see the benefits when “each one, teaches one.”

Photo courtesy of Troy Fuhrman, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

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Weekly Energy Saving Tip

Air dry your dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s heated drying cycle.

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Corpsmember Spotlight

Our spring term is well underway and our new crews are hitting the ground running to conserve water and energy around Colorado. We have 14 new ACLCs, 7 new Energy Corpsmembers, 2 new Water Corpsmembers and we are thrilled to have all of them on board.

We recently put together a video introducing a few of the newest additions to the MHYC family so you can get to know the friendly faces serving your community.

Check it out and share the video with your friends!

We know you’ll join us in extending a warm welcome to ALL of our new Corpsmembers!

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YouthBuild has earned its first diploma!

Mile High Youth Corps is very excited to recognize the achievement of one of our YouthBuild Corpsmembers, Tequael Walker. Tequael has just earned his high school diploma through Aurora Public Schools, giving our YouthBuild program its very first diploma. This achievement would not have been possible without his hard work and perseverance, so we would like to take this opportunity to recognize him and his dedication.

Tequael attended Gateway High School in Aurora until early 2011. When he saw that he would not graduate on time, he dropped out of school. “Why do it if I can’t graduate with my own class,” he recently recalled. He was going to be the second person in his family to ever graduate high school, so naturally, they were all disappointed to hear of his decision. But after a surge in motivation, Tequael decided to try his hand once more at high school and returned during the summer in an attempt to complete his courses.

Time, however, was not on his side, and once again, Tequael saw that he would not complete his classes before the end of summer school. When his family lost their home, with no job and no diploma, Tequael began looking for work.

In his search for employment, Tequael found Mile High Youth Corps and applied for our YouthBuild program which employs 18-24 year olds without high school diplomas or GEDs. While working at MHYC, Tequael was able to take several of his incomplete high school classes online. Soon, he had finished Geometry, several gym classes, and English, which due to poor attendance had remained unfinished since his freshman year.

Tequael finished his remaining credits and last week finally earned his high school diploma. We are grateful for partnerships with Denver Public Schools, Colorado Youth for a Change, and the National Schools Initiative (NSI) funded by The Gates Foundation that have made it possible for MHYC to offer a diploma option. Mile High Youth Corps is incredibly proud of Tequael and his outstanding work, both on the job site and in the classroom. The Walker family is equally proud and Tequael says they all plan to attend the YouthBuild graduation ceremony in May.

Congratulations Tequael! You have made us all very proud.

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MHYC Heads to the Capitol for “Hill Day”

Getting up and getting fancy for an important ceremony starting at 8:15 a.m. on a Monday is not exactly the most appealing idea to many young adults. However for 10 Colorado youth, they could not have been more honored. On Monday, Feb. 6, the Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA) held their annual awards ceremony at the Colorado State Capitol to celebrate the hard work and passionate dedication that 10 youth corps members showed during their service terms.

After CYCA set up light breakfast foods and directional signs, all guests gathered in the old Supreme Court Chambers. Parents chatted and adjusted digital cameras, award winners straightened ties and smoothed hair, politicians mingled and perfected speeches. One by one, Corpsmembers of the Year from all corners of Colorado were verbally praised by their area’s state representatives or senators, as they were awarded plaques. A few folks from the Bureau of Land Management and a Mile High Youth Corps Corpsmember, Samuel Vasquez, spoke more eloquent words regarding their service and appreciation for the CYCA. (View Sam’s speech here.) After a lovely brunch at History Colorado, following the ceremony, a new sense of admiration was felt not only for the individual corps, but for those who are actually serving for them.

For photos, please visit the CYCA Flickr site.

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Weekly Energy Saving Tip

Plug home electronics into power strips.
Turn off the power strip when the equipment is not in use – TVs and DVD players in standby mode still draw electricity.

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YouthBuild USA’s National Conference of Young Leaders

Mile High Youth Corps is happy to announce that Eloy Martinez and Aaron Cordova of our YouthBuild program have both been selected to attend YouthBuild USA’s National Conference of Young Leaders in Washington, D.C. this spring.

Eloy and Aaron will join over 100 delegates representing many of YouthBuild’s 273 programs nation-wide. At the National Conference of Young Leaders, YouthBuild delegates will have the opportunity to attend workshops and trainings on such topics as post-secondary education and how to build healthy relationships. The current students and graduates serving as delegates will hear from YouthBuild USA staff and discuss the YouthBuild movement on the national level. Also during the week-long conference, delegates will also have the chance to meet with Congressional legislators to thank them for their support of the YouthBuild USA program and share the stories of their own amazing journeys.

Current Mile High Youth Corps staff member and former YouthBuild graduate, Xavier Jennings, attended the conference in 2009 and recently remarked, “It was amazing to get to see YouthBuild students from all over the country and know that there are others out there in the same position as I was in.” This year, Xavier will be serving as staff at the conference along with another graduate of Mile High Youth Corps’ YouthBuild program, Kenny Luckes. Kenny attended as a YouthBuild Corpsmember in 2011 and was elected to serve on the Young Leaders Council.

Delegates will have the opportunity to speak before the YouthBuild USA staff and Congressional representatives in attendance and run for a position on the Young Leaders Council. Their three year term will begin after being voted into office by other delegates at the National Conference of Young Leaders. This year, both Eloy Martinez and Aaron Cordova have chosen to run for positions on the Young Leaders Council and we wish them the best of luck in Washington!

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We Have a Food Pantry!

It was a cold December day. Kara and I, the two VISTAs at MHYC, got into Kara’s car and drove to The Food Bank of the Rockies for our Agency Orientation. We followed her Garmin’s directions all the way to northwest Denver past the Purina factory.

We weren’t sure what to expect. How big was this place? Was it an organized non-profit or one of those that have the vision but not the know-how? How many people would be in training with us? What would we learn about the whole process?

Whatever our expectations were, they were shattered by the awesome training we received. We were shocked when we started our training and learned that there were at least a dozen other people there for the Agency Orientation training. All of them had a vision: to feed the people they help. In the training, there were many churches that didn’t just preach the gospel but followed it. There were quite a few agencies that helped ex-inmates get back on their feet by supplying them with food for the inmates and their families. There were natives of Mexico that helped recent immigrants adapt to American life by giving them basic food staples. It was uplifting to be in the same room with these people.

What we learned in training was that Food Bank of the Rockies (we affectionately nicknamed it FBR) has a highly organized system. Agencies can come in and volunteer to receive food credits or they can get the food by purchasing it. The food ordering process is really easy, as it’s done all online. Two days later, the food is packed and ready to be loaded.

Where does the food come from? Our orientation told us that over 19 million pounds of the food come from donations. That is nineteen……million…..pounds! The donations come from various sources including reclamation (slightly dented cans, almost stale food, etc.), organizations like Denver’s Table Food Rescue and Feeding America, local produce, food drives, and the local food industry. The next largest source is from USDA Commodities, which is food donated from the government. The commodities account for over 15 million pounds of food. Lastly, FBR purchases about 6 million pounds on it’s own to keep up the supply.

What was really amazing to Kara and I was that FBR serves mostly children: 42% of their clients are children while 10% are under five years old. Seniors represent about 5% of the clients they serve. FBR reports that 42% of the households they serve have at least one working adult and 14% are homeless. So it really sounds like the people that get the food are in dire need of help.

FBR has a symbiotic process in place that allows the organization to function, while allowing agencies to get the food they need to help their population. Here’s how it works: for every three hours of volunteer time one person puts in, he or she earns a 20 pound food credit to their agency. Now, we have sent anywhere from 10-50 volunteers to FBR in the past year. So we had a lot of credit just waiting to be spent. Credits did expire so we had to get to work fast.

As soon as we were back from the holiday break, Kara and I got to work on filling up our pantry for the Corpsmembers. With help from staff member, Michelle Martinez, we placed our order online. We ordered all kinds of things from hand sanitizer to noodles. After an order of 2500 pounds, we now have tons of crackers, cereal, and juice. The pantry is set up in the basement and the food is ready to go to those in need.

I can’t wait to start giving food to the Corpsmembers that, before us, weren’t sure what they were going to eat. Thanks to Kara, Michelle, and me, no Corpsmember or their family will go to bed starving!

-Melissa Stoneking, AmeriCorps VISTA

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