Care Force Chronicle-Baltimore, MD

by Aundrea Dean

Partner: CSX

Volunteers: 130

Service Partner: Solo Gibbs Park

Where: Baltimore, MD

When: Saturday, October 9, 2010

TCF: Aundrea Dean, Emily Kean, Dylan Morrill, Phillip St. Clair

Reserves: Eric Hopkins, City Year New Hampshire Program Manager for Civic Engagement & Peter Lucke, City Year New Hampshire Senior Corps Member for Civic Engagement

Tuesday, October 5th started off as any normal day in the office for Emily, Dylan, Phillip and me. It was full of printing project descriptions, making color copies, and finishing project coordinator information packets. However, right at noon we left the office with bags in hand, headed to Logan Airport.

Care Force Project Manager,
Huw McDonald and CYNH
Senior Corps member, 
Peter Lucke at Opening
Ceremony.

After a morning of office work, followed by a trip to the airport and on a plane; we arrived in Baltimore, Maryland. And by coincidence, we ran into the Care Force Reserves for the trip: City Year New Hampshire’s Eric Hopkins and Peter Lucke, near the escalators at baggage claim. We all grabbed our bags, jumped on the bus to the car rental terminal, and finally piled into two black mini-vans ready for another great CSX project in a new city!

 
Bright and early, Wednesday morning, the team drove to Solo Gibbs Park in Baltimore’s Sharp-Leadenhall Historic Community to get started on preparing for Saturday’s big event. Upon arrival, it was clear to see that the park is located directly across from the Baltimore Ravens stadium, yet seems to have fallen on harder times. When we arrived we were greeted by Betty Brand Thomas, the President of Solo Gibbs Park. She informed us that the Sharp-Leadenhall neighborhood was one of the oldest African American communities in Baltimore.

She discussed its history, current state, and the plans for Solo Gibbs future. Ms. Thomas described how the community has tried to help the park by donating their own garbage cans, and does their own mini-service projects to enhance the park. Finally, she explained that the city once considered turning the park into a parking lot for the Baltimore Ravens stadium. Betty made it clear that this collaboration with CSX to refurbish this park was very important in helping bring some positive attention and awareness to Solo Gibbs Park.

CSX Volunteer adds
handprint to  Historic
Sharp-Leadenhall mural.

After the discussion with Ms. Thomas, Care Force 1, our intermodal tool container, arrived and the prep team was ready to get started. The entire team unloaded the wood from the Home Depot order, then divided up the tasks and began. Emily and Dylan cut and measured all of the wood, Peter marked spots in that park that needed to be landscaped, while Huw, Eric, and I walked through the park strategically deciding which benches needed to be repaired the most. Wednesday was a short prep day ending around 5 p.m. Thursday we arrived at the site bright and early once again and immediately began working. Emily and Dylan constructed one of the backed benches that she would be leading her volunteers through. Eric, Phil and I began taking apart one of the benches that I would be leading my volunteers through reconstructing. We figured out how many pieces of wood, nails, nuts and bolts it would take to rebuild the benches reusing the old metal frames currently in place. It all sounds easy but working with rusted nails, nuts and bolts made it a lot more difficult!

On the final day of prep, we arrived and a reporter from the local newspaper was on site ready to take pictures of the day of service. Even though he was a day early he allowed Emily to have a photo shoot with her bench. Then, the entire team worked on scrapping the paint off of the tennis court wall preparing for it to be sketched that night. The team ran a few errands, practiced for our opening ceremony, and again called it an early evening. Although it was an early evening we returned that night to sketch the murals on the tennis court walls.

Saturday, October 9, 2010, the Care Force team arrived at Solo Gibbs Park at 6 a.m. finishing up all the last preparation for the service event. Around 7:30a.m. the park began filling up with CSX volunteers, students from the U.S. Naval Academy, neighborhood adults and children, and volunteers from the Baltimore Ravens. Physical training, also know as P.T. kicked off opening ceremony. Once everyone was wide awake from P.T., service began. Emily led her team through the successful completion of building and staining seven benches and four picnic tables. Dylan and Peter guided their teams through landscaping and tree planting projects across the park. Phil directed his team in completing two large wall murals and Eric assisted his team in reconstructing the baseball field. Finally, my team was able to successfully refurbish eight of the original metal benches throughout the park. Overall the team was able to complete all of the tasks that we set out to be accomplished. Betty Brand Thomas was happy, the community members were excited, and most importantly the CSX workers enjoyed their day of volunteering.

Team Care Force - Aundrea Dean

My name is Aundrea Dean, I am 23 years old, and I am originally from Forest Park, Ohio. Forest Park is a suburban community located on the outskirts of Cincinnati. There I lived with both parents and my younger brother. In June 2009, I graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology Pre-law. At Ohio University I was a mentor with the LINKS program, a program that unites first year minority students with upper class minority students that act as mentors and role models to help first year students make successful transitions into academic and social settings on campus. It was my staff counselor from the LINKS program that introduced me to City Year.

Team Care Force Senior Corps
Member, Aundrea Dean, 
pictured with a former student
while serving in City Year
Los Angeles.

Last year, I served my corps year in the wonderful city of Los Angeles, California. I chose to do my corps year in Los Angeles because I wanted to live and experience another city and state. As a first year corps member, I was on a Whole School Whole Child team proudly serving in Pico-Union at Berendo Middle School Team.

At Berendo Middle School, I followed a class of 28 eighth grade students from class to class. From those students, I had a focus list of ten students that needed extra support to excel in school. I gave all 28 students academic assistance in math, English, history and science, as well as social and emotional support. Being on this team, I learned the value of patience, not to judge a book by its cover, and to only control things within your power.

Overall, my team faced many challenges from learning to work with all types of personalities and work styles, to trust, and communication. However, with all of our issues we were still successful in planning and implementing events, maintaining retention in our afterschool program, and making large impacts with our focus list students both socially and academically. This teams’ dynamic taught me a lot about myself, my communication style, and ability to handle different situations.

This year, with Team Care Force, I hope to learn how to be more flexible, be more decisive, and confident to lead large groups of people. Personally, I hope to develop the confidence to talk with and engage individuals in service. I would also like to gain experience making clear cut decisions without second guessing them; and to give my 100% on every project, not doubting myself or my abilities to achieve anything. I believe that with the help of my team and staff, Care Force will help me continue to push myself to do things I would not have thought I would do otherwise.

Care Force Chronicle-Washington, D.C.

by Steadman Graves 


Partner: Inc Magazine
Volunteers: 100
Service Partner: Richard England Boys and Girls Club

When: September 27-30, 2010
TCF: Steadman Graves, Dan Nemiroff
Reserves: City Year Washington D.C. Civic Engagement Team 

For my fourth Care Force trip, I traveled to the nation’s capital. The first day in Washington D.C. we saw a bunch of monuments and visited the White House. It was kind of surreal. I saw places that I had only read about in history books. For work, I arrived ready to capitalize on the knowledge that I had learned during my previous service days, because we all know that Care Force is a learning experience. This event was a lot of ‘firsts’ for me. It was my first event with just Dan and I, my first event working with James, the Care Force Service Manager, my first event working with the City Year Washington D.C. Civic Engagement Team, and my first event sponsored by Inc Magazine. For this trip, we worked at the Richard England Boys and Girls Club in Washington D.C. Each day, 190 children attend the club’s programs. On day one of the prep week, I trained the City Year Washington D.C. Civic Engagement team on how to tape and tarp walls for our painting projects. It was fun but at the same time very different for me. Up until that moment, it was I who who had been in the learning seat, and now I had to teach others the information that had been taught to me.

On top of taping and tarping, we cut a lot of wood. We wanted to give the center bookshelves, double planter benches, and planter boxes. On the third day of prep, we thought we had all the wood that we needed, but after James did a thorough count of the wood he realized we were missing some pieces. Thus, at 4:30 pm we had to make a super fast trip to Home Depot. We got the wood and like a true team we cut and kit it in top speed. We worked together and executed even when we were tired. This team work made that day special to me. Another highlight during the week was teaching a corps member how to cut wood and then watching her cut wood perfectly whenever the saw was placed in her hands.

On the day of service, I woke up at 4am and saw that it was raining like it hasn’t rained in months. That canceled any project that was going to be done outside; fortunately for us we planned ahead and were ready with indoor backup projects. Because it was my first time working with Inc. volunteers, up until this day I honestly didn’t know what to expect of them. When I learned how hard working and dedicated the volunteers were, they instantly inspired me and still continue to motivate me. Some of the volunteers were the actual owners of the business' that were being celebrated by Inc Magazine. Inc. Magazine was having their annual celebration of the top 500 privately owned growing businesses and they wanted to give the business owners an opportunity to give back to a community that was in need. It was so special to me because you rarely see persons of such importance come out and do service. They did an excellent job.  

All in all this was a great event. I enjoyed being in Washington D.C. and I enjoyed working alongside the City Year Washington D.C. Corps. It was during this event that I realized I was able to identify when something was out of place, and whether or not we were on track with our preparation. With every event I learn something new, and with this event I learned that no matter who you are or what position you hold, YOU CAN SERVE.

Team Care Force- Steadman Graves

Read this short, personal bio to learn more about one of the senior corps members serving on Team Care Force. This week's bio covers Steadman Graves, as he has written the upcoming Care Force Chronicle covering the Inc. Magazine event in Washington, D.C.

Team Care Force
Senior Corps Member, 
Steadman Graves

Steadman Graves

My name is Steadman Graves. I am 21 years old and I was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. I am the second oldest of eight children, but I never felt like I was close with those children. I never really felt the love that I should have felt from my parents, which caused me to act out and try and get attention anyway that I could. Despite these problems, I was eager and destined to finish high school and worked extremely hard. I graduated from Boston Day Academy which offered a different approach to high school but was as rigorous as they come.

After high school, I completed one year at Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts, and one year at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. It was a great experience and I enjoyed it but I knew I was not completely satisfied. After leaving Full Sail because of financial reasons, I moved in with family in North Carolina. I was not sure what my next move would be but I knew I had to make one. A City Year recruiter came to North Carolina Central University and spoke to some students there, and my mom who is a professor there passed the information on to me. She encouraged me to apply and I gave it some deep, long thought. I figured it would be a great way to give back to my community and finally find the fulfillment I had been looking for. I moved back to Boston and started my corps year on the Neighborhood House Charter School team.

My first year of service was great. I grew so much and my leadership skills were in constant development. My team was excellent and we got along so well with each other. I think the reason for this was that we all worked well independently and we focused on getting our jobs done. One thing I did struggle with early in my corps year was punctuality. I was never extremely late, but I would consistently get to the school 2-5 minutes late. Although it did not directly affect the students I worked with, I knew I had to get to work on time to show that I was a responsible role model. After our Advanced Training Retreat in January, I got on the right track. I took responsibility for myself and did what I had to do to get to work on time. I saw that my team’s program manager was happy and he developed trust in me which encouraged me to do even better.

I did not initially consider signing up for another year with City Year and then I found out about Care Force. I was on a great team for my corps year and I wanted to continue on to the next best thing. I always want everything that I do to make me become a better person. At the NHCS, I was forced to face some of my fears and rise up and be the leader that was hiding in me for years. Care Force will allow me to continue to fulfill one of my many goals that I have in life. In my first year I was able to give back to my community directly. In my senior corps year I will be able to bring City Year to the communities that may not have City Year or an organization like it, and show them what community is, and how important it is. I know this is going to be a great year for me. I want to build relationships with teammates, staff, and those that we do service with. I hope through this experience I am able to change someone’s life in anyway that I can.

Care Force Chronicle- Richmond, VA

Volunteers built and stained
five picnic tables

By Phillip St. Clair

Partner: CSX
Volunteers: 107 volunteers
Service Partner: The City of Richmond
When: September 21-25, 2010

TCF: Emily Kean, Aundrea Dean, Dylan Morrill, Phillip St. Clair

There are events that happen on every trip that make them unique and special. But for me, Phillip St. Clair, this trip to Richmond ,VA, was one of the greats. From the very start, I could see our three days of prep were going to be interesting. We were going to be planting a lot of trees, which we had done on trips before, but this time we were working with a local arborist and Bobcat drivers. As soon as we set foot in Gillies Creek Park, the service site, I was approached by a very energetic arborist who immediately handed me a map and started telling me where each tree should go. This would have been fine, except I realized that he should have been giving the information to our project manager, Huw McDonald, and I did not have the heart to stop him as he spoke. He continued on and on until Huw came to the rescue and joined the conversation. With information now passing to the right person, we were able to figure out where each tree should be planted.

CSX Volunteers worked
together  to plant a total
of 80 trees around
Gillies Creek Park.

Richmond had been experiencing a long drought, however, making it extremely difficult to dig the holes into the dry, rock hard ground. Fortunately, we had two Bobcat tractors to help us pre-dig the holes and even move the 50+ pound trees. Aundrea Dean quickly saw an opportunity she could not pass up. Exhibiting an unheard of level of confidence and determination, she walked right up to the driver and said, “Umm, excuse me, but that guy over there told me I could drive the Bobcat.” There was no hint of joking in her voice or her body language and the driver simply got up out of his seat and let her take over the reins, no questions asked. After a few moments, Huw joined us, wondering why we seemed so enthralled with the Bobcat. He did a quick count of the group and almost hit the floor as he slowly realized our very own Aundrea Dean was rumbling down the field in a Bobcat. She had a great time, moved some trees and can now add “operates heavy machinery” to her resume.

After work, we were lucky enough to have some free time in Richmond to explore the city. A friend of mine even took the team out swimming in the James River, which runs right through the heart of Richmond. We were able to relax, take in the scenic beauty and the pleasure of good company. 

<> 

Program Manager
Ken Wakwe
alongside his team of
CSX employees.

Event day we arrived bright and early on Saturday and set up for the approaching service. Opening ceremony ran smoothly and after transporting several groups of volunteers to different projects around the park, we got to work. CSX employees worked alongside community members and everyone worked hard throughout the day. The group of volunteers I worked with truly connected with improving the welcome signs and planting trees to give the park some continuity. The day flew by and the trees were planted without any problems, thanks to the Bobcat and our enthusiastic volunteers. After an eventful prep week and a great service day, I can safely say the team and I had an amazing time in Richmond. I am fully committed to going back to visit my friends and will be sure to swing by Gillies Creek Park. 

Team Care Force- Phillip St. Clair

Team Care Force Senior Corps 
Member, Phillip St. Clair 
presenting his half pipe TV stand 
creation for a Skate Park themed 
Huddle Up Zone.

Read this short, personal bio to learn more about one of the senior corps members serving on Team Care Force. This week's bio covers Phillip St. Clair, as he has written the Care Force Chronicle covering the Aramark event in Richmond, Virginia.

Phillip St. Clair

I am Phillip Michael St. Clair and I was born on February 23, 1987 in Raleigh, North Carolina between midnight and mid-morning at Wake Medical Hospital. I entered the world a whole two and a half months premature weighing a mere 4.1 ounces. I was immediately rushed to the intensive care unit only to be transferred hours later because another child had meningitis. I was transferred to Rex Community Hospital where I stayed for two whole months before I was released to go home with my mother. The only thing that saved me was my full lung development. If not for this I would have certainly died. To give you a mental image, from head to butt I fit in the palm of my mothers’ hand. Once given the chance to grow I didn’t take it for granted. I am a living testament that where there is a will, there is a way.

I grew up in the shadow of an athletic older brother so my summers were spent traveling to baseball tournaments up and down the East Coast. I excelled at academics early on and figured out that I had a love of Mathematics. Once given the chance to help a fellow classmate in 9th grade I knew I had a knack for not only teaching, but teaching math. From then on I dove into the world of math. I earned a degree in Mathematics and a teaching Licensure from Elon University. I had planned on teaching high school right away and establishing my career as a young educator. As graduation grew near though, I began thinking about the impact I would be making on my future students. Sure I could be a “cool” teacher in their eyes but would I be that “great” teacher? Would I be the kind of teacher and role model like those before me that so influenced me to take on the great task of educating our youth? The answer I found was no, not yet. While I found myself capable of teaching students who had been given a chance to succeed and prosper simply by good fortune and their upbringing, I could not benefit those who did not fall into that category. How could I help those who could not or did not know how to help themselves?

In hopes of helping them I decided to join City Year. I chose to serve in San Jose, California where they had a high level of Hispanic students who were in desperate need of a male role model away from the machismo influence. A male role model who could show them that learning was not only fun but entertaining and cool. A male role model who could teach them how to respect each other and themselves. Through City Year I was able to sow the seeds of idealism in these middle school students and I can only hope that they absorbed some of what I was trying to show them.

I worked on the first City Year team in a San Jose middle school and I found things to be a bit rough. However after talking with other corps members around the nation, this seemed to be the case with all middle schools. The students would really connect with me and open up one day, but then completely shut down and hate me the next. I tried my best not to take it personally but that may have proven to be the hardest lesson learned last year. I was able to implement an origami class where I taught basic folding skills and simple mathematical concepts behind the art. I also taught an airplane statistics class where the students would fold and fly paper airplanes and then measure and calculate certain simple statistics behind their flights.

To further learn and grow as an individual I decided to join City Year’s Team Care Force. I wanted to continue working with volunteers and corporate sponsors to complete high priority service projects. This year I hope to increase my aptitude for hard work and heightened responsibility while keeping a positive outlook on how I lead and be truly inspiring. I want to gain the skills needed to apply for a management job working for one of our corporate sponsors. Through my experience here I can also relate these skills to teaching and add to my repertoire to keep students engaged and loving the math I am teaching.

Care Force Chronicle - Minneapolis, MN

By Dan Nemiroff

Partner: ARAMARK
Volunteers: 100

Service Partner: Oak Park Neighborhood Center
When: September 19-23, 2010
TCF: Georgia Lawrence, Steadman Graves, Florence Capinding, Dan Nemiroff
Reserves: Wil Holbrook, Care Force Deputy Director, Liana Ponce, former City Year Miami Program Manager

The prep team arrived in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon ready for a great week of work in a new city. On Monday morning the team got an early start and headed over to the Oak Park Neighborhood Center to take a tour of the facility and get the prep started for the service day. Jacara, the Director at the center showed the team around and told us about the Oak Park community and the great services the center provides to the neighborhood. The center offers many programs including before and after school activities for children, college prep for high shcool students, and job training for adults. Jacara herself grew up in the Oak Park area, attended the center as a youth, and her son now works there as well.

The team worked hard prepping all the projects over the week. The prep consisted of a lot taping and tarping classrooms and hallways, priming walls, cutting and kitting wood, and building a sketching murals. The staff of the center were very friendly and supportive, and everyone at the center seemed really excited about ARAMARK beautifying the center!

Despite some heavy rain on the event day, the Aramark volunteers arrived at the center pumped and ready for a transformative day. The day started off in the center's muti-purpose room with some physical training and some inspiring words from Oak Park staff members. After the opening ceremony the team split up and got right into service. Although it was a little cramped in the center, the volunteers were able to accomplish a great deal, and really give the center, the staff, and the Minneapolis community, a much deserved face-lift. At the end of the day, the 100 volunteers had painted two hallways, four stairwells, four offices, an art room and a teen room. In addition, they had constructed four cubbies, four bookshelves, and three cubby counters, framed three large canvas murals, painted 32 panel murals, and created a social team room as the ARAMARK signature project!

Team Care Force had a great time in Minneapolis. We were able to explore some of the great neighborhoods, eat at some delicious restaurants, and meet some really remarkable people. A big thanks to Liana Ponce, former Program Manager from City Year Miami, and Wil Holbrook, Care Force Deputy Director, for all their hard work and support throughout the project in Minny!

Care Force Chronicle- Nashville, TN

By Dylan Morrill

Partner: CSX
Volunteers: 102
Service Partner: Radnor Lake State Park
When: September 16 -18, 2010
TCF: Phillip St. Clair, Dylan Morrill

On September 16th, Care Force Service Manager James Simmons, Phillip St. Clair and I flew to Nashville to lead CSX volunteers in a "Trees for Tracks" event. After dinner at Corky's BBQ, we were joined by Care Force Program Managers Susan Bensen and Huw McDonald.

The five of us headed to the service site at Radnor Lake State Park early Friday morning to prepare. The history of the park dates back to 1913 when the L&N Railroad Company, a predecessor to CSX, purchased the land and constructed a large lake in order to operate their steam engines. After ten years, L&N executives banned all hunting and fishing on the lake and it became a preserved area. Today, it is a large state park with miles of trailes leading through untouched wildlife. However, one patch of land near the edge of the park has almost no trees. Why? Well up until recently, the land was just outside of the park property line, but close to several park paths. The owner of the land had begun demolishing many trees to clear land for new houses. After much fundraising, Radnor Lake successfully raised enough money necessary to buy the land and stop the development. Unfortunately, a lot of trees had already been bulldozed. Our job on Saturday was to lead CSX volunteers in reforesting the area and restoring it to what it once looked like.

The preparation for the event went well. Our team got all the tools and materials set up and had all the trees delivered in adequate time for us to have dinner in downtown Nashville and experience Broadway Street, a famous street in Nashville known for its large country music scene. The amount of live music on the street was amazing, I now know why they call it "The Music City." The night ended early though, because the best service days are the ones run by a well rested Care Force Team.

On Saturday, 102 CSX volunteers arrived ready to serve. Kimberly Ferguson, a member of Team Care Force 2010 who lives in Tennessee, also joined us to help during the day. After Physical Training and Opening Ceremony at the Radnor Lake Visitor's Center, the volunteers were shuttled a few blocks away to the service site and the tree planting began immediately. The CSX volunteers dug 88 holes and planted all 88 trees in just a few hours. The staff at Radnor Lake was very pleased that the CSX employees decided to take time out of their day to come make the park a better place. During the closing ceremony, a park ranger spoke from the heart about what a difference CSX had made and how much life they had given the area in such a short amount of time.