Photo: CCBLA Food Bank Sign by Shayna Clayton
By Jackson LeMessurier
Want to get a job after graduating from Evergreen? Volunteering in your community is a route that you can take. I know because it was my path to employment. I work at the Center for Community-Based Learning and Action (CCBLA), a public service center of The Evergreen State College. The CCBLA is guided by our mission statement: “The Center for Community-Based Learning and Action (CCBLA) supports the partnership of academic programs, students, and faculty, with community organizations. We aim to meet mutually agreed-upon community needs to strengthen and enhance student learning through critical engagement.” The CCBLA has relationships with many organizations in several fields. With the variety of community partner connections, the CCBLA is a solid resource for the student body.
My position in the CCBLA is the campus mentor/tutor coordinator. I am a resource for Evergreen students. I exclusively help Evergreeners connect to volunteering and internship opportunities with youth organizations and schools. Students can use this resource by setting up an appointment, calling, or emailing me. It is also my responsibility to listen to our community partners’ needs and support them.
My path from volunteering to employment started at the Thurston County Food Bank (TCFB). Midway through my senior year at The Evergreen State College, I started volunteering at the TCFB every Friday for a few hours. After three and a half years of living in Olympia, volunteering had finally made me feel like a part of this community because I was actively participating in making Olympia a better place. I developed relationships with many of the clients as well as the other volunteers as we worked together to make a positive impact on people’s lives.
Volunteering at the TCFB was a was something I looked forward to every week and was a major mental health boost for me. Surprisingly, taking on the extra responsibility didn’t make me feel overbooked or bogged down. At the time, I was going to school full-time and working about 15-20 hours a week. I was nervous that I was setting myself up to fail. But, in actuality, it inspired me stop some of my self-destructive behaviors and make healthier choices. I took my school work more seriously and produced better work. I started exercising again. I started designing and creating my own nonprofit organization. Overall, volunteering four hours a week changed my life. And, to be fair, all of this positive change didn’t happen overnight. But, the more time I spent at the Food Bank the more positive change I made in my personal life.
Volunteering also helped me in my professional life. The volunteer coordinator at the TCFB wrote me a letter of recommendation for the position I now hold. My community work at the TCFB helped me feel qualified to work here at the CCBLA. Having been a volunteer, I can help give people who are new to the work an idea of what it’s like. Additionally, my experience helped me get an idea of what organizations are looking for.
Jamira Seay (senior) is using community work to advance herself professionally. Jamira is interested in being a teacher. She volunteers at North Thurston High School helping with their Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) class in hopes of gaining classroom experience. AVID is a high school elective that aims to help students learn about post-high school options and give students academic support. When asked how she feels about volunteering she said, “Volunteering in the local schools for me gives me a sense of the community, and helps give me experience in what it would be like to work in the school environment. Working with different age groups and in different subjects has been incredibly informative. In general, I would recommend volunteering if possible. It is a great way to get those emotional paybacks, help others, and create a network within the community.”
Jamira heard about this opportunity through the CCBLA. I asked her about the applicable skills she has gained from volunteering and she said, “Tutoring has helped me improve on managing small groups, facilitating conversation, and time management. I hope to gain better communication skills, more techniques to manage small groups, and create an inclusive environment for all students to feel like they are learning.” Volunteering at North Thurston High School gives her the experience she needs and a general sense of what the job is like.
Ms. Boatright instructs the AVID program at North Thurston High School. She consistently has Evergreeners volunteer with her class. When asked about her feelings on Evergreen volunteers she replied, “I really like having Evergreen volunteers in my classes. I think it’s great for high school students to get to interact with college students, and learn firsthand about some of their post-high school options. I also think it’s a good opportunity for them to interact with Evergreen students specifically since sometimes there is an unfairly negative perception of Evergreen and what it’s all about among my students who grew up locally.” She also added, “I would definitely be willing to serve as a reference or write a letter of recommendation for a volunteer I had worked with. It’s something I’ve done in the past and would certainly be willing to do again.”
Volunteering can be invaluable. When I did a one-day volunteer stint at the South Sound Reading Foundation, one of the leaders of their organization said something that has stuck with me these past few months: “When you give, you get so much more.” It’s true. When you volunteer your time, it doesn’t simply add up, it compounds.
Our space is also home to several other resources. The Director of the CCBLA, Ellen Shortt Sanchez, organizes and oversees the efforts of the Center. Talib Williams is the Gateways program coordinator and connects Evergreen to Green Hill (a youth detention site) so that the program Gateways for Incarcerated Youth can continue to run. This program has Evergreen students and Green Hill students learn together at their Chehalis detention site. The CCBLA is also home to the campus’ food bank—a satellite of the Thurston County Food Bank (TCFB) that is open to everyone on Tuesdays from 4 to 6 p.m.
The CCBLA has many other opportunities to offer, such as Literacy and Education for Adults with Disabilities (LEAD). LEAD is currently looking for Evergreen volunteers who are interested in becoming tutors starting this January through June on Evergreen’s campus. The Academic Mentoring Program for Touchstone Community Facility is also accepting volunteers to go to Touchstone every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. Kate Murphy (an Evergreen student and CCBLA employee) runs the program and is looking for academic mentors for the residents who are transitioning from jail back into the community.
For more information on these opportunities or if you have any questions about volunteering please contact me. My email is Jackson.LeMessurier@evergreen.edu or you can call me at (360)-867-6137.
