The End

0: Speeding or parking tickets (woohoo!)
1: Sprained ankle
5: Tax clinics
6: Resource fairs
12: Trips to Columbus
34: Tax and benefit clients served
37: Lunches at Chipotle**
173: Counselors trained
12,109: Miles I put on my car
49,510: Pounds of food collected from the Holiday Food Drive
77,182: Pounds of food collected from Stamp Out Hunger
525,600: Minutes I served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA

**Number has been guesstimated

Well, the time has come. This is my last day as a VISTA, and I'm feeling bittersweet right now.

It really has been an incredible year. I've grown so much more confident in myself.
Now I can quite comfortably:
-Drive by myself in an unfamiliar area
-Give presentations to dozens of people without hyperventilating
-Make phone calls to strangers without prepping what I'm going to say for ten minutes
-Drive a large truck around with fond feelings

Thanks so much to everyone at Shared Harvest, to all my fellow VISTAs, and especially to everyone who kept up with my blog all year. Your encouraging comments really kept me going on those rough days.

But hey, this doesn't have to be goodbye! I have started up a new blog. If you're as curious as I am about where my life is headed, please feel free to check it out here.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Day 364

1: Day left until my VISTA term is complete

Today is my second-to-last day at the Shared Harvest Foodbank, and as an Americorps*VISTA member. Tina took Martha and me out to lunch to celebrate this afternoon (Acapulco's...nom nom nom), and Martha got a cake from Jungle Jim's!

Isn't it pretty? Thanks again, Martha!

Wow, what a year it's been. When I graduated from college I remember lingering over my regrets. I never ate at the Burrito Buggy. I never joined an intramural sports team. There was this newspaper vending machine I used to pass all the time on Court Street. The paper was called "Graffiti." I always wanted to spray paint the word "Okay" right on the machine. But I never got around to it.

Of course, I never would have done it. I have too much respect for newspapers (and the law).

My point is, I don't have any regrets about my VISTA year. I mean sure, it has definitely had its ups and downs. I was often frustrated with computer illiteracy. Callers nearly brought me to tears when they told me their devastating stories. I was physically and mentally exhausted this winter juggling my many, many projects.

But I'm so glad I stuck with it until the end. I've learned so much this year. And even though it didn't seem like it at the time, I really feel like I made a difference.

And now we'll take a break from the sentiment to focus on our parking lot. Check it out! LINES!

And this prohibits people from parking too close to the loading dock! Hooray!

Until tomorrow, kids. I plan on having a link to my new blog sometime soon. I still need a title for it. I'm not really sure what it's going to be about yet, but I know I want to start off each blog post with a quote instead of a number. Any suggestions?

Finals Week

1: The number of weeks I have left in Americorps.

And so the final countdown begins. This is my very last Monday as an Americorps VISTA member, and my very last week. I don't think it's sunk in yet. I've been looking through some of my older blog posts lately, and it's hard to tell if this year flew by or not. Driving Gus the Bus around seems like a million years ago, but it also feels just like yesterday. Does that make sense?
Anyway, it'll be nice to have some time off for a while. Hopefully not too long of a break, though, because those student loans aren't gonna pay for themselves, kids.

Personal note: Went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky over the weekend and had a fantastic time. Came back with a cold. Boo.

The ceiling near "Frozen Niagra" at Mammoth Cave.

ALSO: The parking lot at Shared Harvest is finished! YAY!

Potholes

4: The number of hours I spent driving Monday.

Krupa and I ventured to Columbus a couple of days ago for the PIPP Plus training. By the way, PIPP stands for Percentage of Income Payment Plan. It's an energy assistance program that allows low-income families pay their gas and electric bills based on their own income, rather than the actual cost.

Anyway, they recently redeveloped the program and made it PIPP Plus. There are a lot of changes that will hopefully make it more simple and beneficial for applicants.

It was interesting to hear about the program, but to be honest it was sometimes hard to keep up. There was a lot of new information, and I didn't know too much about the program to begin with. We don't offer the PIPP application through the Ohio Benefit Bank; we just refer clients to their local Community Action Agency. And seeing as I have eight days left as a VISTA, I don't think I need to worry about it too much.

And now for some Shared Harvest news! I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it, but the driveway at our friendly neighborhood foodbank is ridiculously dangerous. It's full of cracks and potholes and random chunks of blacktop all strewn about. We've had delivery trucks get stuck on the hill on more than one occasion in the snowy months, and I admit that I've driven straight into a foot-deep pothole, splattering my car with mud.

This week was the beginning of a beautiful thing. Tina finally broke down and decided it was time to splurge on a new driveway and parking lot!

While this is wonderful news and everyone is pretty much thrilled about it, it does create some parking problems until they are finished with Project Pavement. Check out my story-telling pics:

Ready to leave for our Columbus trip. What a mess!

I don't think I've had a picture of Krupa yet! And that silver car behind her is my Dexter.

Some employees check out the progress of our beloved parking lot.

Splendiforous!

I'm excited for the parking lot to be all pretty. Too bad I won't be able to park on it for long!

Back to School event

21: The guesstimated number of Quick Checks Krupa and I performed at the Back to School event Saturday.

Krupa and I took a trip to Dayton on Saturday for a Back to School event that the Faith Deliverance Church was conducting. It was sponsored by their Urban Awareness Youth Group, and Krupa and I were really impressed with how smoothly everything ran. There were about 400 kids who showed up to collect backpacks, pencils, notebooks and other school supplies. Most of the booths for hot dogs and ice cream and such were outside in the church's parking lot, but Krupa and I asked to set up inside the church.

We figured we'd have more privacy indoors. I don't think anyone would feel completely at ease answering personal questions about their income and expenses out in a crowded festival-like setting. We also had a laptop with us for Quick Checks, so we needed an outlet

It went really well. A lot of people came by to talk to us about the Benefit Bank and take some brochures, and we helped more than 20 people by telling them what they were eligible for through the Quick Check program. Well, I think it was more than 20. We started off keeping a tally, but we got so busy that we lost track of how many people had stopped by.

The only problem we had was that Nickelodeon was playing in the church for the kids waiting for their school supplies, and it was incredibly loud. Then a few student groups came to the front of the church with their musical talents (see left). It was really cool and everything, but when the break dancing music came on, I literally had to scream at my client so he could hear what I was talking about. Fortunately, things settled down after that.

The best part was that we got to leave early. The event was scheduled to go until 6 p.m., or whenever all of the supplies had been handed out. It was so well-organized that we were able to pack up our stuff at a little after 2.

It was a really nice event, and Krupa and I had a good time. The women who helped plan it out thanked us profusely for coming out, and I'm sure the OBB will again play a part the next time they have a resource fair.

Of course, I will most likely not be there, because I have 10 days until the end of my VISTA year. Crazy!

Krupa and I are going to Columbus this morning for an updated training on PIPP (Percentage of Income Payment Plan), so I will try to remember to take pictures. Stay tuned!

S-U-C-C-E-S-S

14: The number of potential OBB sites Krupa and I visited.

Krupa and I ventured to Middletown Thursday for some Butler County site recruitment action. It went a lot better than our Greene County adventures, for which we could not find half of potential sites we had in mind. We went through our spreadsheets this time and Googled each place to make sure we had the correct address.

It did pay off, for the most part! We still couldn't find one or two sites, so maybe those places are gone for good or haven't gotten around to updating their websites yet. Anyway, we actually got to sit down with several people this time around, and it felt great. Our favorite experience by far was Lifeskills, a place that helps young adults get their high school diplomas.

The people we met with were incredibly friendly and welcoming. Their enthusiasm was contagious. We sat down with the principal as well as the family advocate, who is like a guidance counselor at Lifeskills. The family advocate actually had a stack of benefit applications with her, and said she already worked with the students there to help get them on food assistance. She was really excited about the OBB, because it is going to make that process so much easier!

Is this a perfect match or what? I'm really glad we were able to talk with them. They're going to be a great fit with the OBB, and I'm sure they'll actually use it. We were even able to show them the training site and the Quick Check program, and they just got more excited about it the more we talked. Success!

Bad Computers, Good Computers

25: My days left as an Americorps VISTA.

I'm typing away on a different laptop than I am used to today. Whenever I turn my own on, it freezes up as soon as I log in. Even after restarting it fifteen times and making many a phone call to IT.

I'm guessing my old laptop is sensing that our year together is almost complete, and has decided to retire early. You couldn't wait another three weeks, Bob the Laptop?

Anyway, Bob decided to quit on me Friday when Krupa and I were in Dayton for a Smart Money event--a resource fair, if you will. I hadn't gone to a resource fair in ages, and I really do enjoy them. We weren't able to do Quick Checks for anyone, on account of Bob's poor work ethic, but we did talk to 40 people about the Benefit Bank and 50 people took OBB pamphlets and flyers. Yes, that's right. We kept a tally.

We should have kept track of all the people who came by just to eat some candy but alas, we did not.

So the resource fair went really well. It was long--we had to leave at 6:30 a.m. and I didn't get home until a little after 4:00. But I feel like we really got the word out and helped a lot of people realize what kind of help is out there.

Moving on, I had a benefit training Thursday in Lebanon. It was at a new training location--The Warren County Career Center. And I will start by saying that the people who helped set this up were incredibly helpful and amazing.

The career center was a lot bigger than I was anticipating. There were several buildings to choose from, and I couldn't find the tech center for a long time. Eventually I went into a small office building and a woman kindly pointed out where to go. I was worried people would get lost--the tech center was down a long private drive and literally looked like a ranch house. But everyone made it there fine, and the computer lab was faaaaantastic. No internet issues at all. It was actually a pleasant experience.

Well, except for one guy, who kept crossing his arms and leaning back during the scenarios, asking me when the next question was going to pop up. I had to remind him to click the "next" button more than once.

I was going to have a training tomorrow in Dayton, but the computers at our training location are down so we have to reschedule.

Personal note: Our AC is broken. The lowest high this week is going to be 86. Woo.