LISC CT's Summer AmeriCorps Cohort Helps in Response to COVID-19

The impacts of the COVID-19 crisis have disproportionately affected Connecticut’s most marginalized communities, creating an increased need for critical services. To respond, LISC Connecticut launched its first AmeriCorps summer cohort, with the purpose to focus on critical community needs such as food and shelter

At the national level, LISC has over 3,100 AmeriCorps members placed in community development organizations across the United States. AmeriCorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that is federally funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service. LISC AmeriCorps members serve the organizations they are placed in and lead valuable projects, engage local residents with the revitalization of their own neighborhoods, and develop skills, experience, and insight into community development.

Four organizations were selected as placement sites for the LISC CT AmeriCorps COVID-19 Response Cohort: Hands On Hartford, Journey Home, Foodshare, and Enfield Food Shelf. Individuals that were selected for the summer cohort completed 300-450 hours of service for their host organizations. 

Jackie Kasinskas, AmeriCorps Member, and Katie from Hands On Hartford.

Hands on Hartford

Hands On Hartford (HOH) works to strengthen the community in Hartford by serving its most economically disadvantaged residents in the areas of food, housing, and health. HOH brought on Jackie Kasinskas to serve as a Community Engagement and Direct Service Coordinator to plan, organize, and implement community engagement projects on site and virtually. Jackie was a recent college graduate looking for an opportunity to participate in service and give back to the community during the pandemic—Hands On Hartford was the perfect match. In this position, Jackie recruited, engaged, managed, and trained volunteers, organized and led community volunteer projects, and connected with community partners. She led multiple park cleanups, organized service projects such as a hygiene kit packing event, and recruited volunteers for their basic needs programs including MANNA Community Pantry, Community Meals Program, and Backpack Nutrition Program.

The pandemic had significant implications for HOH’s services and each program had to be modified in order to comply with safety precautions. Unlike many organizations, HOH did not shut down during the peak of COVID. There was an increased need for their services, and thus, remained open, diligently working to serve the community. As the summer continued and volunteers dropped off (some due to health vulnerabilities and others due to returning to school), Jackie engaged with new partners and had to think creatively on ways to support HOH as volunteer availability fluctuated. Since the completion of the AmeriCorps summer cohort, Jackie has been hired as a full-time employee at Hands On Hartford!

Journey Home

Journey Home is committed to ending chronic homelessness in the Greater Hartford area by organizing and applying effective solutions to the barriers that create cycles of homelessness. Additionally, Journey Home is a lead agency within the Greater Hartford and Central Coordinated Access Network. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Ashley Hemphill became involved with LISC CT’s AmeriCorps summer cohort as a Housing Solutions Case Manager to help connect clients with rental assistance.

Ashley assisted clients in many ways including filing paperwork for identification, security deposits, and more. Every day was different and her tasks depended on the specific needs of each client. This was Ashley’s first experience as a case manager and she learned a great deal from this opportunity. Prior to becoming an AmeriCorps member with Journey Home, Ashley wasn’t very knowledgeable about the homeless services system in Connecticut, but from this opportunity she was able to learn and grow as a home case manager and as a community member.

A volunteer at the Foodshare drive-thru food distribution center at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

Foodshare

Foodshare is the regional food bank serving 42 towns in Hartford and Tolland counties and is a member of the national organization Feeding America, along with more than 200 other foods banks across the country. The need for food assistance has risen significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic - over forty percent from this time last year. Foodshare has expanded their efforts to provide food to the growing number of households in need. In addition to providing more food to partner food pantries and meal programs, Foodshare launched a new temporary drive-thru food distribution at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. This distribution site has served nearly 200,000 households and has provided over five million meals. Foodshare hosted a COVID Response Assistant to support the increased number of food distribution over the summer.

Kay McAuliffe was selected as Foodshare’s COVID Response Assistant through the LISC CT AmeriCorps program. Kay provided critical support at the Rentschler Field distribution center during the summer months. She was responsible for coordinating and orienting groups of volunteers, and helped to create a safe and welcoming environment for the people in the community that Foodshare serves. Kay provided essential and timely support at a time of unprecedented need. Over the course of the summer, Kay coordinated hundreds of volunteers and helped provide food access to thousands of residents in the Greater Hartford community.

Lelania Lebrun, AmeriCorps Member, working an event sponsored by the Enfield Food Shelf.

Enfield Food Shelf

Enfield Food Shelf’s top priority is to serve the community of Enfield to ensure no families are left without food assistance. The impacts of COVID affected many in the Enfield community. When Kathleen Souvigney, Executive Director of Enfield Food Shelf, learned that she had the chance to apply for an AmeriCorps member from LISC, she knew just who she wanted to hire. Lelania Lebrun had volunteered with the Enfield Food Shelf while completing hours for her social work degree at Central Connecticut State University and had made a lasting impression during her short time volunteering. “It meant a lot to me that Kathleen thought of me to be the AmeriCorps member of her choosing,” explained Lelania, who was hired as an Assistant Outreach Coordinator to provide support for all of the food assistantship programs and to work on events with partner organizations.

As an AmeriCorps member at Enfield Food Shelf, Lelania completed many impactful projects. Some of these projects included drafting a manual outlining the food share mobile truck and a plan for its arrival at specific sites, attending the Fall for Enfield event, and helping the organization move to a new location. In addition to these projects, Lelania completed day-to-day tasks including sorting and marking food items, stocking shelves, preparing for distribution days, and distributing bagged food and supplies to clients. One of Lelania’s major projects was creating the Enfield Food Shelf SNAP Challenge during the month of September. The main premise of the challenge was to have the community of Enfield try to grocery shop on the limited allocation of SNAP funding. Participants were challenged to buy three healthy meals for five days with only $25.

The LISC CT AmeriCorps COVID-19 Response Cohort made a valuable impact on both the participating organizations and the AmeriCorps members who stepped up to serve their communities. The community development organizations received additional assistance in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the AmeriCorps members developed skills, experience, and insight into community development. For more information about LISC’s AmeriCorps program, click here.