Communities at Large

Americorps serving communities, a photo by springknitter on Flickr.

Before this weekend I was having trouble identifying myself as a member of Americorps. I have been so deeply connected with my position at Manna Food Garden, it felt as though Americorps were just the organization facilitating my placement. I'm happy to say I've been proven wrong :)

The Americorps conference I attended was important for so many reasons. I realized that myself and the 6 other members from my county are pioneers for Pensacola. We are the first Americorps members to serve our area and to unite as a team to join the rest of the state members of Florida. I became aware of the diversity that represents Americorps members in this state. We all come from unique places and backgrounds and we all have different passions for the organizations we work with. I also understood better, the foundation in which Americorps was built and why it continues to thrive today. It was like zooming out and seeing the sad realities of what people in our communities suffer from and how individually we work hard to make sure we provide better situations for all that we can. We are a giant group of workers and helpers and by focusing on different areas of our state we cover a lot of ground.

Speakers, members, and leaders united to evoke passion in our hearts and replenish inspiration for us this weekend. This of course I am incredibly thankful for. But what this conference really provided was an understanding that what I do day to day is a piece of a much larger mission.

Community can be simply the people in our town, neighborhood or school but community is also clearly something bigger at times. I feel blessed to be part of the Americorps community knowing that each tiny move I make is contributing to much larger changes.

BPositive and BInvolved in Your Community!

Love,
B