Community Resource Guide For Helena VISTAS Volume 1. July. 2014

About The Authors Elise Ewing, Minnetonka, MN Elise Ewing was raised in the Twin Cities. She graduated from North Park University in Chicago in 2010, with a degree in Youth Ministry. She has a passion for urban development, at risk youth and addiction counseling. Post graduation Elise has taken continuing education classes related to her professional development including cooccurring disorders, grant writing and various psychology courses. She worked for 2 years at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, an organization that provides inpatient and outpatient services for adults and teens struggling with addiction and mental health issues. She was interested in the AmeriCorps VISTA program, because of the non-direct form of service. Seeing as many of her experiences were in direct care positions, she was eager to learn and be challenged in a more behind the scenes setting of a non-profit. Elise worked at Youth Homes in Helena as the stand in assistant development coordinator. Helping to recruit volunteers, develop the program, help with grant writing efforts, fundraising and donor relations. Elise loves running, hiking, soccer and ultimate frisbee. She enjoys being outdoors, spending time with friends and exploring. She also enjoys a fair amount of wit and sass. Post service, Elise will be continuing westward to Portland, OR, to work at a local non-profit that helps at risk and homeless youth transition into more stable conditions. Mallory Cooper, San Antonio TX Mallory Cooper was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She graduated with a degree in Geography at Texas A&M University in 2009. Since graduating, she has traveled and lived in a variety of places experiencing different jobs. One of her more memorable times was working on farms in Germany and Italy. Her close friends would say she's a bit of a wander bug. She was interested in the AmeriCorps VISTA program to serve a local community and to see if she wanted to pursue social work. Her term of service was at Montana Education Partnership (MEP) building capacity in a newly created near-peer mentoring class in Helena Public Schools. She also assisted in establishing the Helena Youth Philanthropy Council (HYPC). 5

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