Then, we had a meeting about briefings and debriefings. The briefings are a team meeting pre-project, discussing questions about the upcoming SPIKE adventure. The debriefing is a formal presentation we give to the big whigs here at AmeriCorps at the conclusion of our SPIKE project. We get to wear our AmeriTux! This includes: white men's polo, black cargo pants, and our black steel-toed boots. Foxy. Then we watched a former team's debriefing video (we can be as creative as we want) who went to Mecca, CA and built homes for low-income families in the area.
In the afternoon, we all did a "community mapping" activity, which was essentially walking around downtown Sacramento. How fun! We had lunch in a park, and then split off into groups of 5 and explored. First, we all went to city hall to pick up these free Be the Change in Sacramento t-shirts, and I got to shake Mayor (and former NBA player) Kevin Johnson's hand! I must say, he had one of the nicest suit, shirt and tie combinations I've seen. Then we all went off and explored. First, we went to the capitol building. The lovely photo here is half of my team, Blue 6 (top step left to right: me, George, Rob, bottom step left to right: Kyla and Christie) in front of the California capitol building. It was lovely! Then we walked along a mall where the public transit trains go by, and then through an outdoor mall, and then to this area called Old Sacramento. It kind of just looked like a tourist trap with candy stores and tattoo parlors. I guess all the buildings were the restored original buildings on the river in Sacramento, but it just seemed like they were trying too hard. It could have had a much cooler atmosphere.
All in all, I thought Sacramento had a strange vibe to it. The architecture was unmemorable, the streets were wide and spread out, and no one was around except all the homeless people. Maybe I just need to spend more time downtown. Or, maybe it's just not for me!
Now for the exciting part of the day: we found out our first SPIKE project!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the winner is....... MECCA, CALIFORNIA! (google it)
Sound familiar? Remember the video debriefing we watched today? The organization we are working with, the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition (www.cvhc.org) has been working with AmeriCorps for seven years and has had dozens of AmeriCorps teams help them out. So we will have the same project as many teams in the past and the future. Which means, they are very experienced with us and know what to do and will be very organized. My team leader said his roommate did this project last year and it was his favorite one. So, yay!
Here are the details: in the mornings, we will be doing home construction (oh yes, hard hats and power saws and everything) from about 7 am to 11 am. We will then have a siesta until 2, and some of us will continue with construction, while others rotate with an after school program in the community. The great thing about this CVHC program, is that the future owners and families of these homes have to help build them. So we will really get to know the homeowners and it will put more meaning into our work.
We arrive in Mecca on November 17th and end our work on the 28th of January. Spending winter in Southern California? Not too shabby.
<3
anne
Dear Foxie Annie,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know that I have raised such a humble daughter :)
Love you, Mom
Glad you're feeling better!! So does this mean you have to change your plane ticket?
ReplyDeleteJane