Submitted by Labulter on

As a mid-life AmeriCorps VISTA member, this year of service is a natural transition from a more formal "career" into a life of more meaningful, impactful work. I'm from Traverse City, Michigan and I work at Peacehaven Community Farm. We're an organization that provides housing and creates community for adults with disabilities. We invite neighbors and others to help with our gardens. These volunteers help with the physical work on the farm as well as provide a social outlet for our core members (the adults with disabilities that live at PCF). Our goal over the next few years is to build a community center to provide day programming for our residents and others, and then to build additional housing facilities. I'm spending this year focusing on coordination of our traditional farm volunteers. My focus is to spread our volunteer base wider and encompass greater diversity. I was inspired to serve by my daughter, and chose AmeriCorps VISTA to both serve my country and transition to more meaningful work. I've enjoyed finding ways to create capacity within existing resources such as; creating an electronic volunteer application, electronic waiver, etc. My advice to those considering AmeriCorps VISTA is to DO IT! Jump out of the self-imposed comfort zone and discover yourself as you serve others.