Skip to main content

MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Rochester AmeriCorps Members Start at Host Sites


50 Rochester AmeriCorps members began their 11-month term of service on Monday, September 26th by reporting to their host sites. Before venturing off to serve Rochester City School District students and their families, members received an intensive and comprehensive two-week training at the Damon City Campus. Representatives from RCSD delivered overviews of the school district and its partners, and students from Teen Empowerment performed spoken word pieces on pressing issues in the community.

The Center for Youth and the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence trained members on restorative practices and nonviolent communication so members can build positive relationships with students and improve school climate. To learn more about the Rochester community, the group received a presentation from ACT Rochester on poverty and self-sufficiency, and engaged in a discussion with July ’64 director, Carvin Eison, after viewing the film.

On the fourth day of training members jumped right into direct service at Project Homeless Connect, an annual event which serves individuals who are homeless or under resourced. Members partnered with guests to connect them to services such as birth certificates, employment, haircuts, and health care. Zip lines, tightrope walks and floating beams scared no one away when members worked through tree top obstacle courses at Bristol Mountain Aerial Adventures. In an exhilarating teambuilding experience, members problem solved and supported each other while harnessed up to 50 feet in the air.

For the rest of the year, members will be serving directly in Rochester City schools or in tutoring and pre-collegiate programs, with many programs at the Center for Youth, at Cameron Community Ministries, and the Department of Human Services. After such a successfully training we are looking forward to seeing how their dedication to service positively impacts the Rochester community.

Catherine Farrell
Rochester AmeriCorps
09/29/2016