Trinity Alumna's AmeriCorps Experience Unique, Meaningful
KATIE DALLY
Issue date: 12/5/06 Section: Features
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While many of her classmates from the class of 2005 are busy at work in office jobs, scaling the corporate ladder and building their resumes, Maggie Downing has spent the year since she's graduated a bit differently, scaling actual ladders and building houses for hurricane victims, through her work with AmeriCorps*NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). AmeriCorps is a network of four local, state, and national service programs - NCCC, National, State, and VISTA - that work to meet the country's important needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. Its members serve with non-profits, public agencies, and faith-based and community organizations. NCCC in particular aims to strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct, team-based national and community service.
The NCCC program is a full-time, residential program for men and women aged 18-24, so Downing's co-workers "range from high school grads to college grads, with a mix of everything in between," as she put it. Downing was attracted to the program because of its description as a "domestic Peace Corps," and the opportunities it offered for travel and service projects. "During my senior year at Trinity, I made the decision to spend a year doing something different before I pursued graduate school," Downing said. "I knew I had the rest of my life to make money, pay rent, pay bills, and all the other things that awaited me in the 'real world,' so I wanted to put it off as long as possible."
Members of NCCC are assigned to one of four campuses in different regions of the country and travel to the states in that region to serve. Downing is stationed in Charleston, S.C. When she first joined NCCC in September 2005, she and her nine teammates spent a month getting to know each other and receiving training that included Red Cross Disaster Relief and First Aid and CPR Certifications, as well as instruction on media, recruitment, and service-learning.
Downing was appointed to NCCC just as the Gulf Coast was being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, and thus her team's first deployment was to New Orleans to work with the American Red Cross. "Nothing can compare to the initial shock of seeing a city so ravaged by nature," Downing said of her first experiences. Her NCCC team was put to work serving meals to city residents and the many volunteers and workers on hand to begin the long, slow clean-up process, which she describes as "both satisfying and heart-wrenching."
The NCCC program is a full-time, residential program for men and women aged 18-24, so Downing's co-workers "range from high school grads to college grads, with a mix of everything in between," as she put it. Downing was attracted to the program because of its description as a "domestic Peace Corps," and the opportunities it offered for travel and service projects. "During my senior year at Trinity, I made the decision to spend a year doing something different before I pursued graduate school," Downing said. "I knew I had the rest of my life to make money, pay rent, pay bills, and all the other things that awaited me in the 'real world,' so I wanted to put it off as long as possible."
Members of NCCC are assigned to one of four campuses in different regions of the country and travel to the states in that region to serve. Downing is stationed in Charleston, S.C. When she first joined NCCC in September 2005, she and her nine teammates spent a month getting to know each other and receiving training that included Red Cross Disaster Relief and First Aid and CPR Certifications, as well as instruction on media, recruitment, and service-learning.
Downing was appointed to NCCC just as the Gulf Coast was being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, and thus her team's first deployment was to New Orleans to work with the American Red Cross. "Nothing can compare to the initial shock of seeing a city so ravaged by nature," Downing said of her first experiences. Her NCCC team was put to work serving meals to city residents and the many volunteers and workers on hand to begin the long, slow clean-up process, which she describes as "both satisfying and heart-wrenching."
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