Project POWER

A team of 25 people from near and far dedicating a year of service to the community of Asheville.

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Our members are headed off to Greensboro today to take the AmeriCorps pledge on the 20th anniversary. There's a live celebration on the White House South Lawn. Click here to stream it.  

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We'd like to wish a Happy First Service Day to the Team. Here's a song to ensure that is starts off well. 

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All of the above are from the culmination of week one of orientation. The Team was tasked with a scavenger hunt of West Asheville. They were originally split up into five teams with glorious team names but somewhere along the way they morphed back into one, giant team. 

Thanks to all of the gracious West AVL businesses that let us interrupt their regularly scheduled business day. Those businesses included: Short Street Cakes (thanks Dougie), Battlecat, The Walk, Harvest Records, Hot Stuff Tattoo, Second Gear, Blue Ribbon, The Hop West, West End Bakery, Biscuithead, Westville Market, Public Library and Waking Life. Some of these businesses weren't open at the time but we appreciated the ability to leave clues in your space. 

Keep calm and Slackjaw on. 

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First Impressions: Lauren

Where are you from?: Burlington, NC

Where did you attend college?: UNC Asheville

What was your major?: Anthropology

What is your motivation to serve?: I am motivated to serve so I can actively work to combat inequalities and encourage children to realize their capabilities

What is the motto live by?:  I would have to say my motto is "you never know the entire story."  It serves as a reminder that no matter how involved you are in something, it is impossible to fully understand another person's situation.  Therefore, you should always try to be understanding

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First Impressions: Nicole

Where are you from?: Statesville, NC

Where did you attend college?: UNC Asheville

What was your major?: Sociology/African Studies

What is your motivation to serve?: I am interested in serving for AmeriCorps because I want to thrive more in the community while working with youth and learning as much as I can during the experience

What is the motto you live by?: My life motto is to be the type of friend you would want to have

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First Impressions: Ashley

Where are yo from?: Greenwood, SC

Where did you attend college?: University of South Carolina

What was your major?: Political Science

What is your motivation to serve?: I have always been drawn to serving others, because I think it brings people together and makes me feel like I'm contributing more to the world as a whole. Serving others, no matter in what capacity, makes me step back and realize that we're all just human, and we all have specific needs. If there is a need out there that needs to be filled, I figure, why not me?

What is the motto you live by?: "Do what you can, where you are, with what you have." - Teddy Roosevelt

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First Impressions: Kimberly

Where are you from?: Richmond, VA

Where did you attend college?: University of Virginia

What was your major?: Environmental & Biological Conservation

What is your motivation to serve?: To see a child try a tomato, hold a worm or let a daddy long legs crawl on their arm for the first time is magic. To be witness to this and to be able to provide these experiences for our youth, is an honor.

What is the motto you live by?: " We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it."  - Wendell Berry

"Hope is a different thing from optimism. Optimism and pessimism are based on the idea of how things are gonna turn out. Hope is grounded in the present; it's not about the future. It's about the reality of possibilities , this sense of possibility that you can do better. Friends, others give me hope . Hope lives on hope." - Wendell Berry

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First Impressions: Madeline

Where are you from?: Lexington, VA (in the Shenandoah Valley)

Where did you attend college?: Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana

What was your major?: Environmental Studies

What is your motivation to serve?: I recognize (& remember!) how hard it is to be a kid and grow up wile navigating the challenges of the world...it's exciting to have the opportunity to play a positive role in the process.

What is the motto you live by?: "[it] takes all kinds of people to make up a world"  - Kurt Vonnegut

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First Impressions: Chris

Where are you from?: I am from all over the place. I was born in Gainesville, Florida (go Gators!). When I was five my family moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana (go Tigers!). Then, in '97 we moved to Banner Elk, North Carolina (go Bobcats!). I'm a son of all sorts of the South.

What college did you attend?: Appalachian State University

What was your major?: Philosophy

What is your motivation to serve?: My parents instilled me with a strong sense of social justice, and studying philosophy, political science and history only strengthened my resolve to get involved in service organizations. It's also kind of an old-school Greek philosophy thing: I like helping people become who they want to be. AmeriCorps allows me to do that.

What is the motto you live by?: "Be excellent to each other." Bill and Ted                 

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean. 'Cause, remember: no matter where you go... there you are." Buckaroo Banzai

"Breathe Deep. Seek Peace." Dinotopian greeting                    

"Short time here, long time gone. The reason to try to be good, smart, kind and on the side of the angels is because it's more fun and because there really aren't any angels." Mark Vonnegut                  

We only have a little time in this particular form on this particular planet. I want to do as much as possible and have as much fun along the way, and I want to help others do the same, and eventually we can all become who we want to be. I feel like it's easier to do this if you're cool, nice, understanding and well-read.

Namaste.

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First Impressions: Brittany

Where are you from?: Easton, PA

Where did you attend college?: Temple University

What was your major?: American Studies

What is your motivation to serve?: Helping young people realize that they absolutely CAN empower themselves and their community.

What is the motto you live by?: "it ain't what you got, it's what you make" -Shovels and Rope

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First Impressions: Grace

Where are you from?: Atlanta, GA

What college did you attend?: Guildford College

What was your major?: Religious Studies

What is your motivation to serve?: To give back to my new community and to empower children to reach their full potential.

What is the motto you live by?: TO HAVE FUN

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First Impressions: Lee

Where are you from?: Memphis, TN

What college did you attend?: University of Tennessee

What was your major?: Kinesiology

What is your motivation to serve?: I believe we were put on this earth to use our talents to enrich the lives of others. By doing so, to the best of our ability we become the best version of ourselves.

What is the motto you live by?: It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -JK Rowling

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First Impressions: Ali

Where are you from?: I'm from Clearwater, FL (for which I apologize profusely)

What college did you attend?: UNC Asheville

What was your major?: Majored in Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Political Science

What is your motivation to serve?: I'm serving in Americorps because I'm at a unique juncture in my life where, like many other Americorps volunteers, I have the time and energy to serve my community as I figure out what direction I'd like my life to take.

What is the motto you live by?: This question makes me anxious, because it could go in so many directions, but I suppose my answer would have to be "Try to care as much as you can, as often as you can."

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First Impressions: Blanca

Where are you from:? I am a Mexican American born in the city of Los Angeles, CA

What college did you attend?: Warren Wilson College

What was your major?: Social Work

What is your motivation to serve?: My motivation to serve are the people of the communities I have had the privilege to know about.

What is the motto you live by?: My life motto "Be the change you want to see in the world" -Gandhi

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First Impressions: Josslyn

Where are you from?: Philadelphia, PA

Where did you attend college?: University of Tampa/Temple University

What was your major?: Psychology

What is your motivation to serve?: My motivation to serve is just to gain new experiences and learn a little about myself and others, I'm very open to any and all potential outcomes.

What is the motto you live by?: As for a life motto, I definitely live by a bunch but I do have a tattoo that says "everything is sacred, nothing is sacred" which to me is a reminder of the non-dual reality of life and that the universe exists in perfect balance as long as the heart and mind are willing to see beyond what is obvious. Opposites exist to comprise a whole. I believe in the oneness and total connection of the universe as one living breathing organism.

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First Impressions: Seth

Where are you from?: High Point, NC

Where did you attend college?: Appalachian State

What was your major?: Non-Profit Public Relations

What is your motivation to serve?: I am motivated to serve because people can't thrive without love, happiness, laughter and support. I believe everyone has a right to those things in this lifetime and I want to provide what I can to those that are without (in every sense of the word).

What is the motto  you live by?: I'm not sure if i have a life motto. I believe that God is Love and that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. I seek to enhance or infuse Love where I can, to whom will accept it and to explore the dimensions of the word for the reason that I was created for that purpose.

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First Impressions: Caitlin

Where are you from?: Kalamazoo, MI

Where did you attend college?: Michigan State

What was your major?: Environmental Biology/Microbiology

What is your motivation to serve?: Everybody deserves opportunities for healthy and fulfilling lives, and I am glad to be able to "pay it forward" after all of the opportunities I was given in life.

What is the motto you live by?: Hakuna matata