Cbeyond Volunteers Make an Impact Through Business Shares

Two weeks ago, Cbeyond volunteers brought their outstanding attitudes and dedication to Perspectives/ITT Math & Science Academy, dedicating 168 volunteer hours to paint classrooms and build work tables and a portable tool box for the school's Robotics Team!

Feeling inspired to make an impact at a CPS school yourself? Join us at the 17th Annual Serve-a-thon and give some very deserving students the learning atmosphere they deserve!

Leader Spotlight: Phillip Kinnison

Phil Kinnison has volunteered with Chicago Cares since 2001. He started his service with our organization as a volunteer for the largest service event in Chicago, Serve-a-thon. Over the years, Phil has served as a volunteer at our large scale service events, Serve-a-thon and Celebration of Service, with his company Accenture. In 2008 Phil stepped up to the roll of Bus Ambassador for Serve-a-thon and has been volunteering in a leader capacity ever since. 

Aside from being a Serve-a-thon project site manager, Phil has volunteered in a number of other roles with Chicago Cares. He has participated in our ongoing program at Cabrini Connections, and has been a leader for our Youth in Service department. Phil also volunteers with PAWS Chicago. “I like the opportunity to work with my hands as opposed to being at a desk all day,” says Phil. Even while traveling for work, Phil still can’t get away from volunteering. He has volunteered with our partner affiliates in Washington DC, Greater DC Cares; and in Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia Cares.

This year Phil is a primary project site manager at Hedges Fine and Performing Magnet Cluster School for the 17^th Annual Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon. He will be working with a team of six other project site managers and over one hundred volunteers to help revitalize this Chicago public school. With the help of Phil’s leadership skills and dedication to volunteering, Chicago Cares volunteers will transform 14 classrooms, two administrative offices, the lunchroom, and the assembly hall into bright and better learning environments. 

“Phil is a solid leader. He is good at troubleshooting and has become quite the leader,” says a Chicago Cares staff member of Phil.

From all of us at Chicago Cares, THANK YOU Phil, for all your hard work and dedication. The enthusiasm and inspiration you bring to every project help spread the message of Chicago Cares. 

AmeriCorps Spotlight -Joyce Cruz

Chicago Cares AmeriCorps Role: Youth in Service HandsOn AmeriCorps Member

In honor of AmeriCorps week, Chicago Cares staff members sat down with each of our 5 AmeriCorps members to find out a little more about them and their service year. Here is what Joyce Cruz had to say about her experience so far this year. 

How did you hear about AmeriCorps and what made you decide to do a service year?

I heard about AmeriCorps through a friend that was doing AmeriCorps*NCCC. I was about to graduate from college and wanted to stay involved in volunteering and motivating others to get involved in their communities. 

Have you done any other AmeriCorps programs?

Before Chicago Cares I was an AmeriCorps member with NCCC in Sacramento, CA.

What drew you to Chicago Cares specifically?

At the end of my NCCC 10 month commitment, I started looking at other AmeriCorps opportunities closer to home. I found the posting for Chicago Cares through the AmeriCorps website and started to research the organization as a whole. I was really drawn to Chicago Cares and their Youth in Service program because of their commitment to teach the value of volunteerism to youth.

Tell us about your favorite part of AmeriCorps so far.

My favorite part of NCCC was the program really helped challenge me to step outside of my comfort zone and to learn how to live and work with the same people for our entire service year. So far, my favorite part of AmeriCorps with Chicago Cares is working with people in our office to come up with creative new ideas and then putting them into action. I no longer look at an idea and think, ‘how will that work’. Now I think, ‘how can we make this work’.

What are you most excited about working on before your service year ends?

Definitely Summer of Service. I’m really excited to be immersed in the schools we’ll be working with. I think it will be great to see the students really think about the issues in their communities and learn how take the actions to address them.

What skills have you learned in your year that you’ll take with you to your next job?

I’m less awkward talking to strangers. I’m a lot better at things like cold-calls, asking people to step up and lead projects, and building relationships with volunteers and community partners. I’ve also learned a lot about marketing, and how you present a volunteer opportunity in different ways to different people.

What are you plans for after AmeriCorps?

I would like to keep working for in the nonprofit field. I think eventually I’ll go to graduate school for a social service related career.

AmeriCorps Spotlight - Elliott Dionisio

Chicago Cares AmeriCorps Role: Days of Service Specialist AmeriCorps*VISTA Member

In honor of AmeriCorps week, Chicago Cares staff members sat down with each of our 5 AmeriCorps members to find out a little more about them and their service year. Here is what Elliott Dionisio had to say about his experience so far this year.

How did you hear about AmeriCorps and what made you decide to do a service year?

I always had a history of community service. When I got laid off from my first job after college I decided to look into AmeriCorps for my next adventure. The NCCC program appealed to me because I’d get to travel, be a part of a team and it would provide me with some good experience before I go back to school. I then wanted to continue with another year of community service and liked the position offered at Chicago Cares because it was a stable position at one organization and would provide me with a chance to learn lots of new things.

Have you done any other AmeriCorps programs?

Yes. I did NCCC based in Sacramento, CA, October 2008-July 2009.

What drew you to Chicago Cares specifically?

I felt the organization was very elegantly structured. It seemed to have a structure that was strikingly simplistic on the outside and very easy for volunteers to get involved in. I wanted to be a part of something that sustained itself so well.

Tell us about your favorite part of AmeriCorps so far.

I like having the chance to communicate with people. I like getting in touch with team captains and building relationships with them. I like being a resource for people and showing people the ropes and helping them through our systems. I love that I get to spread the word about Chicago Cares and our events and get people engaged.

What are you most excited about working on before your service year ends?

Once Serve-a-thon wraps up, I’m excited to sit down and write out everything I learned so that anyone coming into my position has a great base of information to start from. The position is a lot of learning along the way but the more resources that can be provided at the start, the better. I value taking the time to make sure the next person is prepared and continuing the legacy of the position for Chicago Cares.

What skills have you learned in your year that you’ll take with you to your next job?

I have learned a lot about professional corporate relations. I’ve also learned a lot about messaging things in an effective way by framing things correctly and choosing the right words for the right audience.

What are you plans for after AmeriCorps?

I plan to go to law school!

AmeriCorps Spotlight - Erik Rosen

Chicago Cares AmeriCorps Role: Youth in Service HandsOn AmeriCorps Member

How did you hear about AmeriCorps and what made you decide to do a service year?

I heard about AmeriCorps through City Year. I was interested in doing City Year in Chicago because I heard about their service work. Exploring service-oriented options, I thought Chicago Cares would be more challenging, and I would be able to build more skills and use the skills I already have. I just graduated last year and was unsure of what I wanted to do, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to get some experience in the non profit industry, while at the same time giving back to the community I was brought up in. Honestly, I didn’t actually know this was an AmeriCorps position when I applied. I found out when I interviewed.

Have you done any other AmeriCorps programs?

No, this is my first AmeriCorps position.

What drew you to Chicago Cares specifically?

Being able to work with youth and to have the opportunity to enhance their academic and social skills through service.

Tell us about your favorite part of AmeriCorps so far.

I think it’s being on site and working at the projects. My favorite thing is developing relationships with community partners and getting to know them, not just as site representatives but as people. Also, becoming familiar with areas of the city I might never have ventured into before has changed my perspective on a lot of issues and areas in the city.

What are you most excited about working on before your service year ends?

Summer of Service. We’ll be working with several high schools to teach students about what Youth in Service does, focusing on different issue areas, and putting what they’ve learned into action with different service projects. We’re taking more of a hands-on role with the students.

What skills have you learned in your year that you’ll take with you to your next job?

Organizational skills and being able to pay greater attention to detail. I was a big picture person before, and although it’s good to see things that way, it’s definitely helped that I can now take into account everything that will go into a project.

PepsiCo Volunteers Make an Impact on CPS

Last year volunteers from PepsiCo helped make Avalon Park School a more engaging learning environment, painting dingy stairwells, brightening classrooms and creating murals. Want to be part of the impact this year? Don't forget to register for Serve-a-thon! Click here for more information about registering and how you can be involved!

AmeriCorps Spotlight – Regan Bertke

Chicago Cares AmeriCorps Role: Volunteer Development Specialist for Ongoing Programs

In honor of AmeriCorps week, Chicago Cares staff members sat down with each of our 5 AmeriCorps members to find out a little more about them and their service year. Here is what Regan Bertke had to say about her experience so far this year.

How did you hear about AmeriCorps and what made you decide to do a service year?

Originally I heard about AmeriCorps from my mom, who works for Habitat for Humanity. They had an open position in 2008. I was in Toledo at school and money ran out, so I decided to come back home to the ‘burbs and help build houses. I wanted to work more behind the scenes in my second year.

Have you done any other AmeriCorps programs?

I was in a State/National program in 2008-2009 with Habitat for Humanity. I worked at project sites training and leading volunteers on the projects that day. I was outside every day—no matter rain, sleet, cold, snow, whatever. The worst day I worked, it was 10 degrees below zero and had snowed a few inches the day before. The snow then froze overnight and we had to use a pick-axe to clear out literally 3 inches of solid ice from the first floor of a 3-bedroom house that we were working on. My arms never hurt that bad in my whole life.

What drew you to Chicago Cares specifically?

I really like working with volunteers—I think it’s special that they are so willing to give up their time, money, and resources to help. I like being able to foster the relationship between volunteers and the people, projects, and organizations they’re helping. It’s great that there are so many people willing to give up their Saturdays to hang out with seniors or read to kids or improve a garden and I just wanted to be part of that.

Tell us about your favorite part of AmeriCorps so far.

My job here has been my favorite part so far—if this were a full-time paying job, it would be close to my dream job. I like being able to train and develop leaders with skills that they can use not just at Chicago Cares, but also  take on to their professional lives. I also really enjoyed going on site visits and being able to see the faces of all the people our leaders are helping—it put a more human touch on the work.

What are you most excited about working on before your service year ends?

I’m excited to be a part of Star Awards this year. It’s really important that we show our volunteers how much they do for us and for the community. They are giving up something personal when they volunteer for us—they could be spending that time with their family or friends or just taking a break from life. Volunteering is part of their life, but it’s also something more for us and for the community and it’s great that we recognize that.

What skills have you learned in your year that you’ll take with you to your next job?

My communication skills have gotten a lot better, having to talk so much with strangers on the phone and on email. I’ve learned to express myself in a way that I’m still appreciating them even if I want to reach through the phone and strangle them. I also feel much more confident with my writing skills now, after writing and editing the E-calendar. It’s time-consuming but fun trying to figure out how best to communicate what we’re doing at all levels of the organization, as well as what leaders are interested in and want to know about. It’s definitely a tedious and frustrating process of writing and editing to get the articles perfect—or as close to perfect as possible—but it’s also worth it.

What are you plans for after AmeriCorps?

Get a J-O-B. I’m taking a camping trip right after my term is up in September in the U-P in Michigan. It will be great to just relax—no phone calls, no emails, just getting away from civilization and people in general. Then I’ll come back and start hunting, here in Chicago or in D.C.—wherever someone likes me enough to give me a job.