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Three MCHS Members Participate in AmeriCorps Day at the Capitol
March 19, 2025
On March 19, 2025, MCHS AmeriCorps members and staff participated in AmeriCorps Day at the Capitol in Madison. The event, organized by Serve Wisconsin, aimed to educate lawmakers on AmeriCorps by highlighting the positive impact AmeriCorps programs are having on communities across Wisconsin. Attendees listened to various speakers and met with multiple legislative offices. The MCHS AmeriCorps program is thankful for the opportunity to advocate for AmeriCorps and showcase the important service being carried out by our members.
Community Corps member, Danitza Rodriguez Jimenez, serving at ECDC Multicultural Community Center in Wausau thought her time at the Capitol that day was well spent. “At our Day at the Capitol event, we got to not only speak to representatives and their staff and have our voices heard, but it was a great opportunity to observe and see how to go about these conversations and interactions. Furthermore, it was fascinating to be able to hear from former AmeriCorps members who now work at the Capitol and are representatives!” Danitza also enjoyed connecting with fellow Corps members from across the state to hear about their service, their plans for using the Segal Education Award, and why they joined AmeriCorps.
Also participating that day was Pamela Lee, Recovery Corps member serving with Wood County Health Department in Wisconsin Rapids. Most meaningful to Pamela was “. . . seeing how engaged and open minded the representatives were, it was really empowering. Seeing that they really want to make a difference and get to know us individually as well as know about AmeriCorps” made this a great experience that she was grateful to have been involved in.
Also highly inspired by her face-to-face meetings with legislators was Milena Mileva, Community Corps member serving at Discovery Education Station in Marshfield. “I had a wonderful day in Madison. I . . . connected with my AmeriCorps supervisor, saw the beautiful Capitol building and was impressed by all the hard work of AmeriCorps. I realized how much what we do contributes to the community, every single one of us, coming together as a great puzzle on the map of Wisconsin.”
AmeriCorps Day at the Capitol wrapped up with a program of speakers in the First Floor Rotunda. Three AmeriCorps alumni currently serving in the Wisconsin Assembly took time to share with close to 150 attendees how their service term impacted their community leadership development and present roles. Representative Amaad Rivera-Wagner left us with this final statement, “I just want to be here this morning to thank you because you are the dreamers of dreams, and you are the builders of the possible future.”
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MCHS Community Corps Member Helps Launch Nekoosa School District Food Pantry to Combat Food Insecurity
February 7, 2025
Community Corps member Nikki Stearns, a third year member, has helped establish a food pantry in the Nekoosa School District.
The pantry serves children and families in the community. It offers free monthly food packages for families. These packages include resource guides, recipes, and a list of upcoming events in the Nekoosa and surrounding areas to keep families engaged in their communities. The pantry is also working on providing delivery services for families who lack transportation access.
This effort is supported by the Wisconsin Partnership Program grant awarded to Marshfield Clinic Center for Community Health Advancement. The WPP grant is dedicated to improving food security for children and families in rural northern Wisconsin. The grant supports the Feeding the Whole Child, Whole Family, and Whole Community through Civic Engagement initiative.
Full news story can be found here: Nekoosa School District launches food pantry to combat food insecurity
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MCHS AmeriCorps members gather from across Wisconsin
December 6, 2024
Over 60 MCHS Community Corps and Recovery Corps AmeriCorps members from across the sate gathered in Stevens Point, WI for the 2nd annual Fall Meet-up. The one-day event was filled with a combination of training and networking activities.
MCHS AmeriCorps staff Christina Garcia facilitated Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training, which taught attendees how to recognize someone in a mental health crisis and then get them the proper care they need. Members also gained insight from one of their fellow AmeriCorps members Dylan Bolin, who is serving at Milwaukee Riverkeeper, and gave an interactive and engaging presentation on public speaking. Additional activities for that day included roundtable discussions, networking activities, elevator speech practice, and some fun minute to win it games!
Attendees of the event walked away saying “It was very nice to meet other members and get to know them on a face-to-face basis” and “I truly love coming to events for AmeriCorps. I always leave feeling better connected to my service and purpose which set me on this path in the first place.”
MCHS AmeriCorps members from across the state will convene once again in person this coming March, for a larger three-day training event in Wisconsin Dells.
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Marshfield Clinic - Recovery Corps AmeriCorps members share service stories as part of CDC Foundation efforts
October 2024
Two AmeriCorps members and a program director with Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Recovery Corps recently participated in a national campaign by the CDC Foundation to highlight the impact of Public Health AmeriCorps across the country. The campaign will share innovative and successful models developed over the past few years with Public Health AmeriCorps in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control to boost the public health workforce.
Earlier this month, the CDC Foundation released several videos highlighting the impact made by MCHS Recovery Corps AmeriCorps members as part of their service as recovery coaches providing support to individuals in recovery from substance abuse disorders and addiction. One of these videos, Public Health AmeriCorps: Recovery Corps Gets Things Done in Wisconsin, highlights the overall efforts of MCHS AmeriCorps throughout the state, with additional videos focusing on the service and stories of individual AmeriCorps members.
MCHS Recovery Corps AmeriCorps member Christian Johnson reflected following the recordings that “the opportunity to share both my story and successes was made incredibly smooth by all the wonderful people behind the scenes. My hope is that this interview will help people to understand why finding AmeriCorps is so important!” Christian is currently serving his second AmeriCorps term at Marshfield Medical Center-Eau Claire. He explains during his interview as part of the Public Health AmeriCorps: Helping Others with Recovery Corps video that he came to his AmeriCorps service through his own recovery. Having noticed that it was hard for people who not been through recovery to talk about it, including professionals, he started looking for ways that he could give back to others and address this, leading to his service with MCHS Recovery Corps.
MCHS Recovery Corps AmeriCorps member Julie Wilson, who is currently serving her second term at the YMCA of the Chippewa Valley in Eau Claire, is highlighted in another video, entitled Public Health AmeriCorps: Community Through Service. Julie discusses the Sober Strong program that she created to provide support to women in early recovery from substance abuse disorder, including how she was inspired to create the program based on her own experiences in early recovery. Reflecting on her participation in the project, Julie explained that “I found the interview and filming process with the CDC to be thought provoking. It helped me reflect on the past year (and beyond since I have been in recovery for 3 ½ years now) and realize just how much is possible. I went from having little hope for my life to helping women find hope for their lives. It has been an amazing journey.”
Videos featuring MCHS Recovery Corps
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Marshfield Clinic - Community Corps AmeriCorps member organizes Manitowoc County resource fair
October 2024
While wrapping up her first AmeriCorps term with Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Community Corps at NAMI Inc. of Manitowoc County this summer, Amy Smith was actively planning a community-wide resources fair to highlight county-wide social services resources in Manitowoc County. The fair was designed to be attended by potential clients of the agencies participating in the fair, as well as community members who might want to volunteer with these organizations.
Amy realized that getting the word out for an event like this would be critical, explaining that “we don’t want to have a party and no one shows up!” Seeing advertising as a problem to be solved, Amy reached out to contacts at a local broadcasting company with several stations. These efforts were highly successful, as she recorded a radio ad that had 270 donated commercials running just before the event, an invaluable help in spreading awareness of the event.
By the time the event was held on September 9, over 30 agencies signed on to participate in the resource fair. Approximately 100 participants attended the fair to learn about all of the organizations and the services they provide.
Reflecting on the scope and success of the event, Amy’s host site supervisor, Donna Firman, Board President of NAMI Inc, of Manitowoc County, reflected that “it is not an exaggeration to say that there has never been an event like this in size, scale and quality in the decade that I’ve lived here. We are so proud of Amy - a perfect combination of heart, hard work and execution.”
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