Gooooooooooal!

As part of my AmeriCorps year, I had to put together a Member Development Plan, which is really just my goals and such for the year.

Service Goals
Volunteer Recognition
I know that positive reinforcement is a very strong tool and I would like to utilize that in volunteer services. I would like to regularly update the website with photos and blurbs from each Sponsor for a Day, in order to help them feel good about their accomplishment and to show Habitat’s appreciation for their hard work and support. I would also like to do occasional volunteer spotlights that feature inspiring stories about why people volunteer for HFH.

Volunteer Communication
I would like to better utilize Facebook.com as a tool for communicating with out volunteers. After taking pictures at the worksites, I want to post them promptly so that people can tag themselves and show them to their friends. It is also a great way to share volunteering opportunities and a venue to cross post our monthly newsletter.

Increase Interfaith Service
Habitat for Humanity was built upon the idea of the “theology of the hammer” bringing people of different faith traditions together in common action for a common good. I would like to explore this ideal and increase its presence within the affiliate. My first goal is to read Millard Fuller’s The Theology of the Hammer to get a full understanding of the concept and to better share it with others. I would then like to reach out to various faith groups in the community. HFHS currently has many groups that volunteer from Christian churches, particularly of the Methodist and Lutheran denominations. I would like to expand that to other Christian denominations as well as groups from other faith traditions, including but not limited to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Baha’i. Ultimately, I would like for these groups to build a home together in cooperation. I would also like to place special focus on encouraging the involvement of youth groups from various faiths.

Student Involvement
HFH Suffolk has a Student Build that brings in students from all across Long Island to support our mission and build a home. I would like to expand this program. Student involvement in the past build did not seem to go beyond each chapter’s individual build days. I would like to encourage students on the future build to meet and reach out to the homesteading family, to attend the dedication, and for the relationship to not cease at the end of the workday. I would also like to involve younger students. At schools that already participate, volunteering is limited to older students as per Habitat regulations, but younger students should be encouraged to volunteer in other ways, like serving meals to working volunteers, raising awareness, or bringing gift baskets to the house dedication. Using Connetquot’s school district as a test, I would like to see their Habitat program expanded to include students in younger grades, with presentations about the mission of Habitat for Humanity, and encouraging children to be creative in their support of HFH’s mission.

Educational Goals
Habitat for Humanity
My goal is to learn as much as I can about the operations and workings of Habitat for Humanity, specifically the Suffolk affiliate. I would like to understand how all of the different departments work separately and together to achieve their goals.

Faith and Volunteering
I would like to better understand Millard Fuller’s concept of “The Theology of the Hammer” and its continued influence on Habitat for Humanity. I would also like to learn about the motivations of the individual faith groups that come to volunteer with HFHS. In the future, I plan to study the influence an individual’s past and present faith tradition has upon their thoughts and actions towards society, and I would like to take this opportunity to talk to people about how their faith brought them to participate in service.

Similar Organizations
I would like to have a better understanding of other organizations that do similar work to HFH. I would like to learn more about Section 8 housing, the Long Island Housing Partnership, and the Community Development Corporation, as well as any other organization that Habitat works closely with. I would also like to learn about other organizations that our affiliate does not specifically work with but whose efforts may be similar to ours, such as Rebuilding Together, and the Long Island Land Trust.

Professional Goals
Planning
I would like to improve my planning skills this year. In the past I have often procrastinated or not fully thought out all of the steps it might take to achieve a long-term goal. I would like to work harder at making and keeping long and short term goals to gain the most out my service here.

Squee for Glee!

Last night I was watching Glee when my roommate Katie asked me if I had done anything like that when I was in high school.  I wish!  While our chorus program did occasionally utilize chairs and props and awkward dance moves, it was by no means a show choir.  Still, we did have a very active theatre program that occupied the lives of my circle of friends.

Glee provides just a touch of nostalgia for those hours upon hours of rehearsals.  Devoting all of our time, against our parents' better judgement, to entertaining the masses and, more importantly, feeding our passion for the art.

I look at the character of Rachel Berry, a nutty young woman with a burning desire to become a star, and I think we're all a little bit like her, wanting a touch of spotlight, to be recognized for our talents.

And I see Finn Hudson, quarterback fo the football team, struggling to balance his talent and love for performing with survivng high school.  We're all like him too, trying to make it work without completely losing touch of what we want to be. 

And that's why Glee is such an attractive show.  It doesn't feature characters that we want to be, but rather characters that we already are.

Plus, they do a lot of really kickass stuff. 

I disapprove of Kanye's big head as much as the next girl, but the show's rendition of "Gold Digger" was nothing short of fabulous.  And Rachel's outburst at the Chastity Club about girls wanting sex just as much as boys was a definitive "Get it!" moment.

I'm excited for the season ahead, for the opportunity to live vicariously through the group's struggles and successes, to rock out to their numbers, and to squee at the screen when Finn finally realizes that Rachel really is a lot cooler than his cheerleader girlfriend.

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

In my head, I've always really liked Autumn. It's cool and crisp, and there are apples and pumpkins everywhere, and people wear cute scarves and sweaters and boots. But when it comes down to it, I'm not actually all that much a fan of September through Novemeber. And today I figured out why. Because, while I love the golden rust of an idealized New York Autumn, when you look outside my window, this is actually what you see:

A lovely shade of gray that can really only be described as MEH

So, I decided to do the only happy thing I could think of and make a yummy autumn lunch.

Aaron and I made some grilled cheese with cheddar, mozzerella, and smoked turkey.  We ran out of hummus, so I added a little bit of peanut butter to some Trader Joe's Asian Style Spicy Peanut Vinagrette, just to thicken it up, to make a zippy dip for our pita chips.  Topped it off with some Cambell's creamy tomato soup.

It's still pretty gross out, but I feel like I can get through all of this boring data input with all of that yummy in my tummy.