Hello world and all who inhabit it!

A group of Habitat representatives from various affiliates trying to read through their distorted lenses and failing.

My name is Stephanie Morales and I am an AmeriCorps National serving as an Outreach Coordinator with Habitat for Humanity Riverside’s Neighborhood Revitalization program.  It’s been quite a journey so far serving with Habitat for Humanity Riverside, I feel like I’ve already grown so much professionally and personally!

In October, Habitat for Humanity Riverside hosted a Learning Exchange on “Aging in Place” sponsored by AARP and Habitat for Humanity International. Attendees at the event gained information on how organizations and communities can prepare to keep the growing elderly population in their homes. I enjoyed having the opportunity to assist with the planning and production of this event.  I assisted Judith Vails from the Janet Goeske Foundation on her presentation for the Learning Exchange by preparing special eye glasses for sensitivity training. To simulate what it would be like to be an elderly person with various eye diseases, I coated 50 glasses with Modge Podge and speckled some with black paint. This distorted the user’s vision giving them an idea of how it would be to have these eye diseases.

Enjoying the flight to the conference

At the end of October, the AmeriCorps team attended a leadership conference in Taladaga, Alabama. During the conference we met other AmeriCorps members from Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the nation. At the conference, Habitat for Humanity International held classes on various subjects, including construction, neighborhood revitalization, fundraising and marketing strategies. Besides getting closer to my fellow AmeriCorps team members, I enjoyed hearing about  the impact other Habitat for Humanity affiliates make in their communities. There were several guest speakers at the conference, two of the speakers, John Abele, the co-founder of Boston Scientific, and Amy Blankson, a representative  from GoodThink had a great impact on me. Both speakers inspired and motivated me to continue striving to work harder and to be a better person. They both recommended books and I purchased them all! I now have enough reading material to last more than a couple of months. It was a wonderful experience and I’m grateful for the people I met throughout my time there.

The beautiful landscapes were the perfect backdrop for the conference. Very relaxing and inspiring.

As an Outreach Coordinator, I have the pleasure of working directly with the community members in our focus neighborhoods. I’ve already become close friends with a family; they gave me homemade Jam, I sent them a Christmas card, it’s great. What I love most about my work is seeing the community come together and seeing individual, personal growth in neighbors. It’s amazing to see someone who was once shy, speak up during the meetings and give presentations. We have a few projects going on that I’m looking forward to seeing completed, one of those being the Painted Intersection Project. The community held a competition where they voted between two designs to be painted on the blacktop of an intersection once the roads get repaved in December. We will also hold the Posadas for the first time this year, we expect it to be a joyous event that will welcome the holiday season and bring the community together. I look forward to seeing how the community will learn, work together, and plan future events together to celebrate the holidays. It’s been a great three months and I can’t wait to discover what more is in store for me as an AmeriCorps member!