Status Update: Literacy

In just 3 month our VISTAs collected over 37,000 books to distribute to the New Haven community! This info-graphic tracks our progress this quarter towards increasing literacy among New haven children.

Moment of impact: Terry Dzilenski

It is always thrilling when a VISTA gets a chance to see the impact of their work. Terry Dzilenski helps plan and coordinate NeighborWorks New Horizon’s afterschool program for residents. During program recruitment she met a family that reminded her of the value of New Horizon’s program.

Terry working with a child at her site.

To kick off after-school recruitment, I created and hand-delivered information packets to over 70 potential student participants. It was a challenge to find the addresses and, at times, I felt my presence was unwelcome. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but finally down to my last packet. I approached a house where a mother and 2 daughters were leaving and asked if this was the address I was looking for. When she replied that it was, I told her about NeighborWorks New Horizon’s free program. She explained that she is a single-mother who emigrated from Iraq. Her mother and family are still there trying to get out, and she is tired and overwhelmed.  She looked at me and then she looked at the sky and said, “God must have sent you because I had been praying for some kind of help for my daughters.” She explained that she works and is in school herself, and doesn’t always have the opportunity to help them with their homework.  I told her I wasn't sure that God sent me, but NeighborWorks New Horizons had, and we would love to enroll her daughters. She cried, and I hugged her and told her everything would be okay. 

The VISTAs at a service project in November. Terry is the
 leftmost VISTA on the bottom row.

I learned that many refugees, particularly those from Iraq, are frightened, panicked and socially isolated. They need kindness, compassion, and information about our systems and services. I did not realize I would be providing this kind of help before I became a VISTA member—but I couldn’t be more glad that I am.

Status update: Wraparound Services

One of the three planks of our project mission is to increase access to quality wraparound services for New Haven children. Here is what we have done this quarter to achieve that goal:

Budget Recipe of the Season

By Emily Siefken

My inspiration

This is one my favorite--and easiest!--holiday recipes and it makes a perfect gift if you put a little time into decorating the jar. It can also be fun to customize the recipe for the different people in your life. Add cayenne pepper instead of crushed peppermint to make spicy hot chocolate, or cinnamon and vanilla for a subtler flavor. Best of all, the whole thing cost less than $7.00, which fit perfectly into my VISTA budget.

Layer in the jar:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup crushed peppermint sticks
1 cup marshmallows

When you make a cup of cocoa:
Mix all the ingredients together, and add a scoop of cocoa mix to a mug of hot water or milk.

Makes 10 cups of cocoa!

Status update: College Readiness

PAVE New Haven aims to increase college readiness and post-secondary success for New Haven students. Here is what we have done this quarter to achieve that goal:

Moment of impact: Liz Cheek

VISTAs specialize in behind the scenes work, but during their year of service, most of our VISTA’s become an important part of a young person’s life. Liz Cheek, our VISTA at Common Ground High School’s Alumni Services Department, tells us about one such experience.

Liz Cheek works on expanding
alumni services at Common
Ground High School

At a recent college fair, I manned the refreshments table, and occasionally students would stop by to tell me excitedly about the colleges that they had heard from and the great opportunities those colleges had to offer. One student in particular, Adrian stopped by and was excited but also somewhat soft spoken and perturbed. He told me about his very specific interest – teaching K-3 students interactive environmental lessons, much like what can be found on Common Ground’s campus. He explained that, while a lot of the schools seemed really fascinating, he was concerned about financial aid for the non-Connecticut state schools, and he was overwhelmed with trying to identify schools that had both great education programs and interactive environmental education programs (a rarity at best).

Common Ground is a
charter school/urban farm located in the
Westville neighborhood of New Haven.

After a little research, I found a couple of colleges in Connecticut that were coincidentally (luckily) coming to Common Ground for information sessions. When the colleges arrived, I suggested to Adrian that he come and ask questions about their programs. In every session he asked a lot of questions, specific to his program and learned more and more about the variety of opportunities he can apply himself towards. Since then, we talk more and more. He has a lot of questions about college: What is the work load like? What is the schedule like? Is it hard to manage everything? He has learned that what is most important for him is to major in education, since whether or not the college has a strong interactive environmental education program, he can intern at Common Ground or at wilderness camps to grow his experience in his second interest as well. I am proud and happy to have helped a student find solutions to his college stress, and I look forward to offering this type of support to more students as time goes on.

Project impact as of September 30th, 2014

Check out our info-graphic to to see what our VISTAs have accomplished this quarter, and stayed tuned for the results from our second quarter which ends December 30th. 

Children's Book of the Month: Peyton's pick for this winter

By Peyton Moss

Peyton Moss is a Boost! VISTA
 who serves at Strong School.

I read Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game for the first time when I was in third grade and have read it  many, many times again over the years. While I think of Ender’s Game as primarily a science-fiction novel, it’s also futuristic-dystopian, something that I think fascinated me as a kid who was living in a comparatively normal, safe society. I think that’s the reason why it captured my attention—it was hard to forget the fascination with this alternate world and the kind of “what-if” feelings and thoughts about living in them.

I continued to love Ender’s Game throughout adolescence and into adulthood for the deeper insights to life they offered me. Each time I’ve reread It, I’ve come away with something new or different than the many times before. A book that can be meaningful across a span of years, to me, defines excellence in children’s books.