[Community-service] {Spam?} {Disarmed} discussion starter

Tue May 24 17:40:53 UTC 2016

Has anyone  either been a part of this program? or done something like this? do you think that helping  people in this way is something that blind people do? If you believe so, then how?
  Look forward to your thoughtful responses!
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> From: "Get Connected: Tumblr" <cncs at delivery.nationalservice.gov <mailto:cncs at delivery.nationalservice.gov>>
> Subject: Corporation for National & Community Service Tumblr Blog | NationalService.Tumblr.com <http://nationalservice.tumblr.com/> Update
> Date: May 24, 2016 at 10:02:33 AM PDT
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> A Senior Adventure: Joining the War on Poverty <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTYwNTI0LjU5NDExMzUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE2MDUyNC41OTQxMTM1MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDU5ODg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9cHJlc2lkZW50QG5mYmNvbW11bml0eXNlcnZpY2Uub3JnJnVzZXJpZD1wcmVzaWRlbnRAbmZiY29tbXVuaXR5c2VydmljZS5vcmcmZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==&&&102&&&http://nationalservice.tumblr.com/post/144856628302>
> 05/24/2016 09:46 AM EDT
> 
> By Tom Ferraro
> 
> 
> DAVIDSONVILLE, Md. – Starting to feel old and bored, I needed a new adventure. So at 67, I enlisted in the “war on poverty” by joining AmeriCorps VISTA <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTYwNTI0LjU5NDExMzUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE2MDUyNC41OTQxMTM1MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDU5ODg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9cHJlc2lkZW50QG5mYmNvbW11bml0eXNlcnZpY2Uub3JnJnVzZXJpZD1wcmVzaWRlbnRAbmZiY29tbXVuaXR5c2VydmljZS5vcmcmZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==&&&103&&&http://1.usa.gov/1ZSW9kz> (Volunteers in Service to America), whose ranks are dominated by recent college graduates.
> 
> I graduated from college in the 1970s, long before laptops, iPhones or the formalization of “a gap year” for young adults to find themselves. After a 45-year career as a news reporter, I suddenly found myself retired. I played tennis three times a week, went to senior-discounted movies and took daily walks with my dog, Milo.
> 
> Wanting a more rewarding activity, and figuring it was time to give back, I remembered VISTA, the “domestic Peace Corps,” created a half century ago by President Lyndon Johnson as part of his “War on Poverty.”
> 
> I applied, was accepted, and went to a week of training. On the final day, I stood with my young classmates, raised my right hand and was sworn in.
> 
> I got assigned to do my year of service at Building Families for Children <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTYwNTI0LjU5NDExMzUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE2MDUyNC41OTQxMTM1MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDU5ODg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9cHJlc2lkZW50QG5mYmNvbW11bml0eXNlcnZpY2Uub3JnJnVzZXJpZD1wcmVzaWRlbnRAbmZiY29tbXVuaXR5c2VydmljZS5vcmcmZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==&&&104&&&https://buildingfamiliesforchildren.org/>, a century-old nonprofit headquartered in Columbia, Md., and dedicated to giving at risk-children and parents a fresh start.
> 
> From the first week, I’ve been asked, “How do you like your job?” It’s a difficult question to answer.
> 
> My job, as Johnson explained in the 1960s, is to be among the “front line volunteers in our war against poverty.” And as I and other trainees were told, “Fighting poverty isn’t rocket science. It’s tougher.” So much tougher that I find it uncomfortable to say, “I enjoy my job.”
> 
> The work is frustrating, often agonizing. More people are hurting than we are helping. They include single moms, homeless children and foster kids who have been abused, traumatized and discarded. Their sin is that they lost life’s biggest lottery by being born into poverty.
> 
> Like the newborn baby whose unemployed parents lived in a tent, the homeless girl found digging through trash for food and the boy sold for drugs by his addicted mother. Despite such suffering, I don’t dislike my job. How could I?
> 
> That’s because we do make progress. At least for some folks, on some days. Like the teenage boy who bounced in and out of a dozen foster homes and institutions before we placed him with a “tough-love” couple, one who he could finally embrace as “Mom and Dad.” Still, he was suspended from high school eight times before he buckled down and graduated with honors.
> 
> Like the homeless mom who planned to put her two children up for adoption. We came to the rescue by having one of our volunteer “host families” temporarily care for her kids. This gave mom time to find a job and a place to live. Now reunited with her children, she says, “We’re happy.”
> 
> 
> These were victories worth celebrating. But other times, it’s hard to tell whether what we do is helping.
> 
> On a Friday night, I got a call from a single mother evicted from her apartment with her three children. “Please help,” she said. I made a few calls, and they ended up spending the weekend at a motel free of charge. On Monday, she was again looking for a place to live and refusing to let go of her children - even for a day or so.
> 
> “I can’t give up my kids,” she said when I suggested that she let one of our trained volunteers briefly house them. “No.”
> 
>  “Okay,” I said. “But call me back if needed.”
> 
> I never heard back from her, and still wonder what happened.
> 
> At Building Families <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTYwNTI0LjU5NDExMzUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE2MDUyNC41OTQxMTM1MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDU5ODg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9cHJlc2lkZW50QG5mYmNvbW11bml0eXNlcnZpY2Uub3JnJnVzZXJpZD1wcmVzaWRlbnRAbmZiY29tbXVuaXR5c2VydmljZS5vcmcmZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==&&&105&&&https://buildingfamiliesforchildren.org/>, I work to increase our profile and clout by writing stories about those we help, collaborating with churches, businesses and community leaders, raising money and recruiting volunteers. But much more must be done.
> 
> In the meantime, I have an answer when asked, “How do you like your job?” I say, “It’s a challenge, a worthy one.”
> 
> I’m glad I’m here. It beats playing tennis or going to the movies, which I now rarely do. But I still walk my dog each day. It’s nice to have something in life that’s easy.
> 
> Thomas Ferraro lives in Davidsonville, Md. 
> 
> For more information on AmeriCorps VISTA opportunities throughout the country, go to www.nationalservice.gov/VISTA. <http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTYwNTI0LjU5NDExMzUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE2MDUyNC41OTQxMTM1MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDU5ODg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9cHJlc2lkZW50QG5mYmNvbW11bml0eXNlcnZpY2Uub3JnJnVzZXJpZD1wcmVzaWRlbnRAbmZiY29tbXVuaXR5c2VydmljZS5vcmcmZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==&&&106&&&http://1.usa.gov/1ZSW9kz> 
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