Of all of the thousands of AmeriCorps members that have served in Minnesota, there just so happens to be three who are a part of the Community Education Advisory Council here in Moorhead! Janis Bork, who served in Adult Education from 2003-2005. Shawn Carlson served as a Literacy Tutor for MN Reading Corps at Ellen Hopkins Elementary School from 2016-to 2017. Breanna Lang, who is currently serving at Moorhead Adult Basic Education from August 2021-to 2022.
AmeriCorps members commit to serving 12 months working to advance local solutions while building valuable nonprofit management and community development skills. AmeriCorps is a great opportunity for people who are in a transitional period in their lives. Janis was reentering the workforce while Breanna and Shawn were transitioning into graduate school. Breanna states, “AmeriCorps is the best of both worlds, we get to serve our community with meaningful intention and grow as individuals both personally and professionally.”
Breanna is the current AmeriCorps member for Moorhead ABE after almost 16 years without a member since Janis served from 2003-05. Janis helped make the Giving + Learning program a success, a simple concept with a mission to welcome newcomers to the community and provide lifelong learning opportunities for seniors who served as volunteers. Janis’s passion for service and helping her community still continues today and even after her time with AmeriCorps she still remains friends with those who she served with.
As all three members would say, AmeriCorps is a service to the member as much as it is to the community. It provides immersive networking opportunities and transformative professional development skills. Their time in AmeriCorps also brings about feelings of hope for the future, Janis puts it best, “ The position and service, in general, reminds me that when the world feels topsy-turvy and chaotic, there are ways we can bring it to a personal level and do something at the local level to make our small piece of the planet a little bit better.”
There are endless opportunities to serve your community no matter how big or small. Time as AmeriCorps members allows for reflecting and connecting deeper into how we look at service and the Moorhead community. Shawn states, “ I had the opportunity to interact with so many diverse students and their families. The community is so welcoming; everyone is trying to help each other out, no matter their background. There is a true sense of community in Moorhead.”
Their favorite memories in AmeriCorps are all reflected in the day-to-day interactions with those who they served and worked with. Whether it was seeing a young student’s growth in their reading skills or seeing an adult learner check out a library book for the first time. These are the small moments that show a big and lasting impact that AmeriCorps has on the community.
The overall experience as an AmeriCorps member continues to connect people not only right here in our community, but as an AmeriCorps alum, you keep that connection to service for a lifetime. It is an incredible experience that all three members cherish and would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in investing in the community and in turn investing in themselves! We are so grateful to be working with Janis, Shawn, and Breanna in Moorhead and forever excited for the future leaders that AmeriCorps brings into our community and beyond.
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