Americorps, Pre-Service Orientation

I would really much rather do a post on the Black Gold Festival that started tonight in Hazard and will continue through the next 2 days.  It is pretty much consuming my life since I live in downtown, one block away from where the action is happening.  Just this morning, I discovered on my way to work that the city switches the direction of the one-way street in front of my house just for the three days of the festival.  Go figure.  The policeman seemed to think I was an idiot when he stopped me, but oh well.  But... more to come on the festival later, when I have experienced the full extent!

For now, I will talk a little bit about my Pre-Service Orientation for Buildcorps.  I spent 4 days at Camp Cedarmore, outside of Frankfort, learning all about what it means to be an Americorps service person, poverty/homelessness, and we managed to find time to do a few fun things too.  The training on Americorps was a lot of learning how to do the paperwork and reporting.  Apparently Americorps is always at the top of the list for programs the government might cut from the budget, so as a result we have to make sure we are representing the organization in a correct and positive light.  A big part of this was learning which terminology to use.  For example, I am not "working" and do not have a "job" instead I am doing "service."  What some people would consider my "boss" at the Housing Development Alliance is technically my "site supervisor." And I do not earn "income" or a "salary," instead I receive a "living allowance."   And so on...
Branches of Americorps seem to be divided by state, and Buildcorps is one of the Kentucky branches.  I found out we would be competing against the other Kentucky Americorps programs in a food drive this fall, in order to stock the local food pantry's of Kentucky with canned food.
Apart from the expected team building, we learned a lot about poverty and homelessness in the state, which really could apply to our country as a whole.  We did a poverty simulation on the first day where we learned how frustrating it can be trying to balance making ends meet, childcare, finding a job, and/or looking for government or outside assistance.  In the simulation, there was never enough time to get everything done in a day, or even a week.  We were given limited transportation passes as a symbol of how hard it can be to get around if your only option is walking, or if you have to pay for gas or public transportation that you really can't afford.  Also, it taught how common it is to be sent from one agency to another, and how the next agency or even the one after that isn't necessarily the one that you need.
We also learned about how in the US, even 20 or 30 years ago there was a much larger safety net in place for people who were at-risk of homelessness  (most Americans, in reality, are only a few paychecks away from financial trouble and maybe even homelessness).  This safety net has been greatly reduced- but I won't elaborate anymore since I can't have an official political stance while being represented as an Americorps!
As a break, on the last night of our training we went to Frankfort.  We ate at a seafood restaurant on the river, and went to Buffalo Trace Distillery- a stop on the "Kentucky Bourbon Trail"- a tourist attraction that I want to continue exploring!  We did a ghost tour at the distillery, I guess Ghost Hunters, the TV show had shot a show there in the last year or so.  Along the way, we got some of the history of Kentucky Bourbon and Buffalo Trace.  I'll include some pictures I took on the tour: