Summer VISTA's 'Get Things Done'

The Western Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross has been fortunate enough to have a group of five AmeriCorps V.I.S.T.A. Summer Associate’s. VISTA is one of the many programs under the AmeriCorps umbrella. V.I.S.T.A stands for Volunteers in Service to America.

Their job has been to provide the local communities of Knox, Warren, and Henderson Counties with disaster relief and information for eight weeks of service. There were no major disasters for these AmeriCorps to assist in neutralizing, but they were trained to help in the event of an emergency and will be ready to serve the community in the future.

Their training consisted of Introduction to Disaster Services, Family Services I, Mass Care Overview, Community First Aid and Safety, and Adult, Infant, and Child CPR. They were also involved in a workshop that prepared them for teaching disaster preparedness courses to all ages, but emphasis was placed on children.

Disaster preparation courses and general community disaster awareness is most of what these AmeriCorps Volunteers focused their time on. They taught “Masters of Disasters” to school age children between kindergarten and fifth grade levels.

“Masters of Disasters” is a program that teaches children about general disaster preparedness, tornadoes, thunderstorms, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. It includes a general safety lesson along with fun interactive activities for the children.

They also taught “Together We Prepare,” a program for adults that focuses on helping everyone prepare for emergencies and make them valuable assets in their communities with relation to the threats of today. This program encourages people to be prepared by taking five concrete actions: Make a Plan, Build a Kit, Get Trained, Volunteer, and Give Blood. For more information on the classes visit the instructor page.

These AmeriCorps Volunteers also passed out disaster awareness and preparedness pamphlets and natural disaster awareness booklets with information on the science of different disasters like tornados, earthquakes, and flash floods.

In addition, these associates have set up a permanent disaster safety display at Discovery Depot Children’s Museum. This display includes a “Dress for the Weather” station, a static electricity corner, a tornado corner full of tornado facts and tornado tubes, a rain stick, and a computer for the program “Notagains.” “Notagains” is an interactive program which allows children to make decisions when faced with disasters (fires, tornados, etc.)

This summer’s AmeriCorps V.I.S.T.A. Associates were Michelle Reische, Becky Tyler, Suzanne Lane, Brittney Coombs, and Misty Bowman. These summer associates were trained and directed by the AmeriCorps V.I.S.T.A. Full Year Associate, Robbie Cozad.

Michelle Reische is a recent Western Illinois graduate who majored in Social Work and minored in Sociology. She hopes to get a job in social services. Volunteering is important to Michelle because she sees it as a great way to further her career and she saw her experiences as a fun way to be involved with teaching children.

Becky Tyler is a sophomore at Augustana College majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology. She plans to be a counselor for a small liberal arts college or a family counselor. She has been a volunteer all throughout her life and this has been an opportunity to share her knowledge about disasters and disaster safety, which has always been important in her life since both of her parents have been involved with the American Red Cross.

Suzanne Lane is a sophomore at Carl Sandburg College majoring in Sociology and Criminology. She plans to work with the juvenile court system, perhaps in a juvenile detention home in an attempt to keep young adults from spending time behind bars. She was involved in AmeriCorps in order to help educate the community and because she loves to volunteer in order to better her community.

Brittney Coombs is a sophomore at Monmouth College majoring in Political Science, minoring in Sociology. She plans to obtain a challenging career in justice administration. She was involved with AmeriCorps because she has always been involved with volunteering and this opportunity has been a great way to expand her skills in helping others.

Misty Bowman is a recent Monmouth College graduate who majored in Sociology/Anthropology and minored in Philosophy/Religious Studies and the Classics. She hopes to continue in an Americorps position here at the Western Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross. She also wants to do a term in the Peace Corps and anticipates that her experiences here will help to be a transition for her.

If your group would like a disaster preparedness presentation please call us at (309) 344-1611. Also, be sure to visit the American Red Cross display at Discovery Depot Children’s Museum in “Safety City.”