Seven AmeriCorps volunteers from the National Civilian Community Corps are spending a month at Heartland Farm in rural Pawnee Rock, a nonprofit ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Their work has included moving some rain catchment barrels and creating a better platform system, helping to restore a grassland labyrinth, and doing some organic farming and gardening.
Asked to use one word to describe their experience, volunteers thought of “growth,” “strength,” “diverse,” “confidence” and “eye-opening.”
“The experience you gain is substantial,” said volunteer Bess Brandow, a native of California. NCCC workers conduct projects for nonprofit groups across the nation.
“We can do anything a community organization is looking for,” she said.
NCCC is the branch of AmeriCorps for young people between 18 and 26 years old and can be compared to the Peace Corps that sends volunteers to other countries. The team at Heartland Farm includes people from California, Connecticut, Tennessee, South Carolina and New Jersey.
After a month of training last October, the team headed to North Carolina to help with disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Helene.
In January, they were sent to Arkansas to help build a trail at the Mississippi River State Park. This April, after a month at Heartland Farm, they will return to Denver briefly and then go on to their next project.
Volunteers receive room and board and are paid a small stipend. Heartland Farm has a house for volunteers, but at their last project, they slept on cots. The volunteers can also earn an education award to attend college or pay off college debt.
Heartland Farm Manager Katie Goerl said her staff has experience working with NCCC and can offer insights to other nonprofit organizations that might want to apply for a project. She noted organizations can work in partnership on a project and she encouraged anyone who is interested to contact her. “I would love to help.”
Goerl expressed gratitude for the work volunteers are doing here.
“They’re making a tremendous and immediate impact on our farm.”
About AmeriCorps and NCCC
Brendow said young people who are looking for something to do right after high school or college might consider NCCC if they want to take a year to travel the country or do some service work. For those who want to figure out the next thing in their lives, she said, “I highly recommend the program for that. People join in for a lot of different reasons, and it’s a cool thing to consider.”
There are a lot of outdoor projects, such as environmental work, ecological restoration, or home construction or rehabilitation.
Other community programs may include helping people complete their income-tax returns or helping a food pantry set up a new system. There are other branches of AmeriCorps, including AmeriCorps Seniors, for people age 55 and older. In Barton County, Volunteers In Action/AmeriCorps Seniors is managed by Linn Hogg through Barton Community College. Her mail address is HoggL@bartoNCCCc.edu.
More information can be found online at Americorps.gov.
