Emma Burck
AmeriCorps VISTA, Montana DEQ Energy Office
Kathryn Barton
AmeriCorps College Coach, Salish Kootenai College Upward Bound
Parag Desai
AmeriCorps College Coach, Flathead Valley Community College
Steven Greyhawk
AmeriCorps College Coach, Fort Peck Community College
Olivia Holstine
AmeriCorps VISTA, Fort Peck Tribes Office of Environmental Protection, Fort Peck Community College
Laurie Koepplin
AmeriCorps College Coach, University of Montana Western
Joanna Massier
AmeriCorps VISTA, Park County Environmental Council, National Center for Appropriate Technology
Alex Lee
AmeriCorps College Coach, Poplar High School and Fort Peck Community College
Brandon Rubertus
AmeriCorps VISTA, The Science Mine
Griffin Seyfried
AmeriCorps VISTA, Student Engagement Office, Montana State University Bozeman
Ryan Slaton
AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Dawson Promise, Dawson Community College
Almeida Paroubek
AmeriCorps VISTA, Native American Achievement Center, Montana State University Billings
Chris Boswell
AmeriCorps College Coach, UM Upward Bound TRIO
Nick Bennet
AmeriCorps VISTA, Opportunity Link
Jonny Dugger
AmeriCorps VISTA, Snqweylmistn
Lorraine Gardner
AmeriCorps College Coach, Soft Landing Missoula
Lindsey Hundemer
AmeriCorps College Coach, International Rescue Committee
Raymond Knight
AmeriCorps College Coach, Miles Community College
Ethan Krenzer
AmeriCorps VISTA, Moving Mountains Foundation
Amelia Huba
AmeriCorps VISTA, Bozeman Public Schools, Montana State University Bozeman
Grace Lowery
AmeriCorps VISTA, Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
Kathleen Lovett
AmeriCorps College Coach, Soft Landing Missoula.
Gabriela Rodriguez-Velez
AmeriCorps College Coach, Blackfeet Community College
Liv Sorenson
AmeriCorps VISTA, The Root and Bloom Collective, Montana Technological University
Jessie Zuiderveld
AmeriCorps College Coach, ELCS Career Services
Member Monthly Highlights
Stepping Out Of My Comfort Zone: Relocating From Introvert To Ambivert Through Service by Raymond Knight | August 30, 2023
“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” -Abraham Maslow. The year 2019 saw me preparing myself to live in a Kenyan village for two years, teaching sign language and life skills to deaf Kenyan youth. That was the plan anyway… Read more
Third Year Of Service, Going Strong by Ethan Krenzer | September 6, 2023
Now in my third year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Montana, the 2023/2024 period has me very excited. Moving from California to Butte during Summer 2021, the opportunity to serve with two different nonprofit organizations in that region of the state made me a better team member through learning how to grow capacity… Read more
Going West. by Jonny Dugger | September 15, 2023
The beginning was easy. Exciting. The start of a new adventure. Heading out west to do good. Making the choice to be in the service of the American government. Latching on to the hope of eliminating poverty, just as Lyndon B. Johnson hoped to do. Sixty years ago. The possibilities seemed full of promise. I felt like I had great potential. I… Read more
Trying To Make A Difference by Alex Lee | October 18, 2023
For me, service is all about the relentless pursuit to help those who are in need. Service is about making a difference that lasts in a community, and actively making everyone’s lives better in the process. That’s why we all joined AmeriCorps, and that’s why we are all here in the middle of Montana, to help the impoverished and the disadvantaged. Well, at least that’s… Read more
Fake It ‘Til You Make It? More Like Fake It ‘Til You Become It! by Emma Burck | November 9, 2023
It was a random Tuesday afternoon when I had a moment of self awareness and thought to myself: “Am I really here right now?” I had been in service for about two weeks by then. I was sitting in a conference room listening in at one of the DEQ staff meetings. As a… Read More
Overcoming Barriers by Lindsey Hundemer | November 15, 2023
I quickly realized as I started college that life will not take you in the direction that you always think it will. That is the only way that I can explain moving to Missoula, Montana directly after graduating from Clemson University in South Carolina. However, I know now… Read More
Nice Ghosts by Liv Sorenson | November 20, 2023
One dreary afternoon in Butte, I was working at the front desk on the ground floor of my service site, the Clark Chateau. It was sprinkling outside and something about the dampness had kept the usual trickle of tourists away. Still, working in a historical building… Read More
On Second-Year Service by Amelia Huba | December 4, 2023
If you told me in August 2022 that I would willingly sign up for a second year of service, it would have seemed unrealistic – I was already homesick on the 30-hour drive here! If you’d told me the same thing in January 2023 I would have laughed out loud. Why would I sign up to… Read More
Just Show Up by Chris Boswell | December 8, 2023
Traveling out here has been one heck of a shift for me. I’m far from home here and, as someone who has never lived outside of their home state before, moving out to Montana has been a big, massive shift for me. Still, my service here has been a major factor in helping me to adjust… Read More
The Key to Student Engagement by Laurie Koepplin | December 11, 2023
Lately, I’ve been reading at least an article a day from the online publication: Inside Higher Ed. Every article in the student success section relates to being a College Coach. Today’s article highlights something that I experienced firsthand yesterday. Shawn VanDerziel, President and… Read More
Mindsight – Finding Myself Through Service by Raymond Knight | December 13, 2023
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance. It is the illusion of knowledge.” ― Stephen Hawking. As we reached the midway point in the COVID19 hysteria that gripped the nation, (and the world at large), mandatory quarantines left all of us with lots of extra time on… Read More
Purpose and Placement by Joanna Massier | December 18, 2023
It’s always mattered to me where I live. From an early age was enamored with the idea of moving away from Iowa, leaving forever, and going to live in a utopian city somewhere. For a long time, this perfect escape was Canada, a mythical place where some aunts and… Read More
Stuck by Parag Desai | December 22, 2023
“Your wheels are spinning in place.” This is what a friend and colleague said to me as we chatted in his office in-between classes this past Spring semester. Three years had passed since I graduated college in May 2020, at the heights of the COVID pandemic, and I had only a… Read More
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Of Service by Jessie Zuiderveld | February 5, 2024
This past week we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday meant to honor the life and accomplishments of MLK. As a prominent civil rights figure, Dr. King’s tireless efforts towards equality through peaceful protest led to groundbreaking changes in the United States… Read More
Schedule Struggles by Kathryn Barton | February 7, 2024
“You’re up for anything!” I’ve heard this from many people, many times. It’s a compliment, but it’s also a nice way to say that I’m the person who asks when and where to show up and what I should wear. I’m the person who follows along. I’m the person who agrees to the plans after they’re made… Read More
A Sweaty Sunday by Jonny Dugger | February 9, 2024
As the heat begins to push into me, my only thought is escape. It is too hot in here, I don’t know if can take it, I think I want to leave, I want to leave, I can leave if I want, there is nothing keeping me in this place, i can leave, take a deep breath, slowly… Read More
My Journey With Soft Landing Missoula’s Girls Leadership Council by Lorraine Gardner | February 12, 2024
In the community of Missoula, Montana, Soft Landing Missoula stands as a welcoming place for refugees and immigrants. As a dedicated member of this organization, my experience has been both rewarding and transformative, particularly through my involvement with the Girls… Read More
A Farewell To Service by Ethan Krenzer | February 14, 2024
Now six months into my third year with AmeriCorps Montana as a VISTA, sharing my experience in the program is something I have attempted to do in the past. The opportunity to serve with three separate nonprofit organizations has been a great opportunity to give back. While the experience has made… Read More
A Year In Review, Halfway Through by Olivia Holstine | February 22, 2024
Here at the start of my second year at my host site, it’s interesting to look back and take stock of where I am now and what I need to do. My project is helping the Fort Peck Tribes in Montana develop a Climate Resilience Plan*. For context, climate resilience positions are… Read More
Service At Blackfeet Community College by Gabriela Rodriguez-Velez | February 23, 2024
I began my service at Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana in September. For the past five to six months, I have had the pleasure of getting to know this community on the reservation. One of my favorite things about service so far has been getting to know a whole new culture and… Read More
Serving With Trio by Alex Lee | February 29, 2024
For the last time I wrote a blog post, I talked about making a difference. I stated that making a difference was done through relentless discipline, doing a little something all the time to make a big change in the future. The work I do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis was meant to be beneficial for… Read More
What Is A Student? by Parag Desai | March 4, 2024
Choices, fundamental to liberal societies, are intricately linked to autonomy, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. The proliferation of options available to students not only defines their academic journey but also impacts the broader societal landscape. In this context, examining the concept of… Read More
Poaceae – Planting For The Future by Almeida Paroubek | March 5, 2024
Big Bluestem – We’re putting together a native garden at my service site. If this works out the way I hope, it may be the longest lasting project I complete here. With any luck, three years from now the students here will have their own source of juneberries and sweetgrass… Read More
Sink-Or-Swim; My Easy Three-Rule to Surviving A Year Of AmeriCorps Service by Emma Burck | March 19, 2024
Welcome to AmeriCorps, fellow members! If this is your first time serving, I am sure you are ignited with fiery passion and unwavering dedication to get to work! Yes! That’s the spirit! Well, you better be prepared to answer 20+ times what AmeriCorps is about. The official response is: “AmeriCorps… Read More
Dawson Promise by Ryan Slaton | March 20, 2024
I began my service at Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana in February. Being from Baton Rouge, Louisiana it has taken some time to get use to the cold and snow. I am adapting very well. For the past six weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know our eight students in… Read More
The Soft Landing Community by Kathleen Lovett | March 29, 2024
Prior to beginning my service as an AmeriCorps volunteer at Soft Landing Missoula, a non-profit organization that supports refugee and immigrant families in the local community, my work experiences were largely clinical in nature. I came to Montana with a very specific… Read More
Feeling Like A Bozeman Community Member by Griffin Seyfried | April 2, 2024
As the snow melts and the days lengthen here in Bozeman, my journey with AmeriCorps VISTA has unfolded with new endeavors, personal achievements, and the ever-present spirit of community engagement. The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity, stretching my skills and… Read More
“But That’s How It’s Always Been”: My Journey In Butte, Montana by Brandon Rubertus | April 16, 2024
As I sat down with Dr. Cory Sonnemann and Dr. Doug Coe at Vu Villa pizza last October, I already knew that this casual meeting would mark the beginning of an enlightening journey in Butte. I was still trying to play it cool, they had a whole sales pitch ready for me and… Read More
Why I Am An AmeriCorps Volunteer by Laurie Koeeplin | April 29, 2024
Find the people getting things done and join them. (Insight from Symposium in Helena.) The reasons for doing AmeriCorps are as varied as the people in it. Many positions have a set service description, but it will not cover all of the things you could be doing. There is also some… Read More
On Change by Amelia Huba | May 1, 2024
In less than four months, I will no longer be an AmeriCorps VISTA. For me, this is a monumental, world-shifting change. I think it’s due to the fact that every second I’ve been in Montana, my identity has been related to being a VISTA. But it’s time. The legacy binder for this service site… Read More
Hi-Line Insomnia by Nick Bennet | May 13, 2024
I haven’t slept all that well lately. I blame the railroad. Since I arrived here in Havre, the “Crown Jewel of the Hi-line”, I’ve listened to the trains roar through town nearly every night. I live near the train station which serves as the hub for the town’s primary industry. Havre has… Read More
The Importance Of Community By Lindsey Hundemer | May 17, 2024
The other day, I had a moment of reflection and surprise as I was playing soccer with our middle and high school refugee boys after school. It was a gorgeous day and as I was running around laughing and playing with these sweet kids, I just had a moment of “How is this my life??” How did a …Read More
The Value Of Service by Gabriela Rodriguez-Velez | June 11, 2024
I joined AmeriCorps with a strong desire to immerse myself in a new community, foster lasting connections, and make a meaningful impact through a year of service. Over the past nine months, I have had the privilege of engaging with a diverse group of students, ranging from ninth… Read More
Believing Is Seeing by Ray Knight | June 14, 2024
When asked, “what is the first sign you look for in order to learn about an ancient civilization?” Rather than giving the typical response – tools or articles of clothing for example, celebrated anthropologist Dr. Margaret Mead replied, “a healed femur!” Her rationale was… Read More
Feedback Is Good, Actually by Olivia Holstine | July 9, 2024
I am an AmeriCorps VISTA currently in my second term at the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes’ Office of Environmental Protection in northeast Montana. My project is to assist in the creation of a Climate Change Adaptation/Resilience Plan for the Tribes… Read More
A Farwell To the Treasure State by Liv Sorenson | July 9, 2024
This week in national service, I became a Certified Interpretive Guide. It’s an official declaration that I learned how to structure interpretive experiences and talks at museums and galleries; which I think will be useful to reworking the volunteer museum docent training materials at my service site. My class… Read More
Accepting Accountability Without Blame by Joanna Massier | July 24, 2024
Upon accepting the offer to perform a year of national service in Livingston, Montana, I quickly realized how troubled the market for housing was. Most of the rental units had sky-high rent in the thousands of dollars that would have accounted for all of my living stipend… Read More