DEEP Service Magazine Spring/Summer 2014 | Page 20

POSTGRADUATENEWS

AmeriCorps*VISTA: It’s a Feeling
Siena AmeriCorps*VISTA Fellow, Jack Kelly, reflects on working in the nonprofit world, living at the
poverty line, and the benefits of being an AmeriCorps*VISTA Fellow.
Working in the nonprofit world
does not always make sense. On
the surface, one chooses to work
for an organization that doesn’t
profit from the work they do and
usually they do an enormous
amount of work for that zero profit.
But profit is not always the reason one
pursues a career, or a dream, or just an interest. Profit is a
good thing. It’s a great thing. Profit pays the bills and buys
new things, but it does not always make one feel good; and
there really is something to be said for feeling good about
the work you do daily.
In 2011, I graduated from a great university with a great
degree into a not so great country-wide economic situation.
One thing led to another, and a year later I was working for
one of the largest investment companies in the world. Not
necessarily my passion, but pretty cool, right? It was.
However, throughout college I was the recipient of a
wonderful scholarship from the Corella and Bertram F.
Bonner Foundation – a foundation that awards financial aid
to students in return for service work. Over four years of
working with nonprofit organizations, and being heavily
involved with the Bonner Foundation, nearly all of my
DEEP Service Magazine | Page 20

views and goals changed: I liked working in the nonprofit
world.
In 2013, I found myself living at the poverty line and
working for a homeownership center in Albany, NY as an
AmeriCorps*VISTA. The experience has been any number
of adjectives from transformative to informational, eyeopening to stressful, adventurous, and much more, but
overall it has been an exciting opportunity. Sometimes it’s
hard to see the impact you have on an organization.
Sometimes it stares you right in the face. But every day you
can be sure you’re helping someone.
It’s not always easy – and it shouldn’t be – living at the
poverty line is hard. But how can one understand a
situation like poverty without being in it themselves?
Choosing to be an AmeriCorps*VISTA does not make sense
on the surface, but the tangible and intangible growth both
persona H[