AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers are embedded in organizations that help our community. We work alongside established partners in order to enhance the community in a specific area; in our case, it is on the subject of financial literacy. Since we work directly with the organizations, we as VISTAs don’t engage in considerable hands-on service, with the exception of national service days like the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.
Our host site, HandsOn Broward, is a non-profit organization that allows individual or agencies volunteers to connect with meaningful hands-on service opportunities all throughout Broward County. Our MLK Day of Service was especially meaningful because it embodied the teachings of Dr. King about addressing social issues and poverty.
Community members, HandsOn Broward staff, and other organizations engaged in a variety of projects at Delevoe Park in Fort Lauderdale, named in honor of Reverend Samuel Delevoe, a community activist, politician, businessman, civil rights leader, street minister, as well as one of Fort Lauderdale’s first black police officers. He died at age 41 when he was shot in 1977.
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Left to right: Kathy Wint, Director of Economic Development at HandsOn Broward (H.O.B.).; Tamika Mallard, AmeriCorps VISTA member with the Financial Opportunity Corps at H.O.B.; Carolina Linares, AmeriCorps VISTA member with the Financial Opportunity Corps at H.O.B.
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In the pictures above Sander Schrantz ,Director of Special Projects and Emergency Management, can be seen addressing the participants for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. He explained how each team was going to be separated to cover a variety of projects across the park.
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One of the projects included packing string backpacks with toiletries and snacks for the homeless. We formed an assembly line through which the volunteers grabbed an item from each section. The completed 1,000 bags were later distributed during the Broward County Homeless Point In Time Count.
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Several volunteers of all ages were in charge of creating uplifting cards that were going to be included in the bags for the homeless people in Broward County. One side of the card had short cheerful and reassuring messages; one the other side of the cards, each of the people involved in this project tapped into his/her artistic bone and decorated the card with all sorts images/ drawings/illustrations.
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A number of volunteers took part in the “beautification” part of the project. The group enlivened several sections around the park by planting multiple beautiful plants and flowers that added a touch of color to the scene, as well as provide the always-needed nectar for the butterflies.
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A also as part of the beautification part of the project, participants of this service project worked together to paint the walls as well as refresh the painting on the mural that HandsOn Broward volunteers had created on a different occasion.
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We were able to see a noticeable difference in the waterways of the park after volunteers paddled away through the waters of the river picking up as much trash as they could carry in their canoes. There were two volunteers per canoe, and as can be seen in the picture above they were able to collect diverse items out the water, including a rusty old bike.
Photographs by Tamika Mallard and Carolina Linares
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