We had an enlightening conversation with Vathani Logendren, Team Leader on this mission of promise and hope which has been a veritable Godsend to many of those in our community who had not received any help at all from other outreach groups who were here for several weeks after the Flood of 2013.

"I think AmeriCorps is a great example of an organization that goes into communities and helps what the needs are and Becky Ballou was a huge asset in making this project happen.  AmeriCorp's mission is to 'To strengthen communities and develop leaders' and it is a very unique opportunity because AmeriCorps in general is individual based and our mission is team based in order to go into communities and help with their needs."

The team of Vathani Logendran Oregon Team Leader, Jamie Colvin of New York, Josh Shepherd of Washington State, Chad Sievering of Ohio, California's Patrick Kelly, Michelle Fry of Georgia, Kandy Monzon of Nevada, Tina Wallace of Oregon and Alexis Penz of South Carolina and will be in Eagle Pass through May 7th 

The National Civilian Community Corps is a federally funded program and their team is based out of the Southwest Campus which is in Denver, Colorado.

The effort is for students and graduates 18-24 who went online and applied to participate, putting forth time and effort to help those who may not be able to help themselves at this point.  They provide disaster response, community development,  environmental stewardship projects all for a daily living stipend and a $5,500.00 scholarship at program's end.  The teams travel around the country for 10 months performing community service projects beneficial to those in most need.  You can look into lending a helping hand yourself at AmeriCorps.gov.