To celebrate AmeriCorps Week, Neighborhood Services profiles AmeriCorps Volunteer, Samantha López.
Phoenix native Samantha López always dreamed of becoming a researcher and community advocate. After starting college up in northern Arizona, surrounded by pine trees, hiking trails and glorious weather, she quickly realized how much she favored working outdoors and being with the community.
“I wanted to try a different working style and reconnect with nature," López said. “I found AmeriCorps through an extensive search of outdoor jobs."
That research on
AmeriCorps led her to a service as a trail worker in the Grand Canyon with Arizona Conservation Corps in February 2022, assisting with the maintenance of trails through inspections, cleanups, education and naturalizing. The experience invigorated her desire to work with the underserved and be a part of the solution to the issues facing their communities. She explored AmeriCorps' VISTA program, designed to do just that. And the rest, as they say, is history.
AmeriCorps is a network of local, state and national service programs that engages more than 70,000 Americans every year in intensive service to meet community needs.
AmeriCorps' Vista program connects its members to local organizations nationwide to provide support and expand capacity to make sustainable changes in areas that affect poverty, education, public health, climate, to name a few. AmeriCorps VISTA members assist in various activities that help create positive change, such as fundraising, grant writing, research and volunteer coordination.
López is doing just that.
Through a partnership between
HandsOn Greater Phoenix and AmeriCorps VISTA, López landed a service with the Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) as a Volunteer Recruiter, tasked with creating a pilot program to encourage and recruit teens in Phoenix Union District high schools to be community volunteers and future community leaders.
Her current position is a perfect fit, having spent some time working as an assistant teacher and clinical coordinator/counselor for the youth in the past. Her degree in Humanities and Psychology from Northern Arizona University was an added bonus.
“From a young age, children are very capable and desire to contribute to the community. I believe in giving them the power and resources to make a difference," said López. With that experience and knowledge under her belt, López is passionate about helping teens explore their gifts and learn ways to give back to and connect with their community and purpose
López is thankful to be a member of the HandsOn AmeriCorps VISTA program and a member of the Neighborhood Services family. She relishes every chance to work with different community organizations and learn about the many resources and tools available to individuals and communities. The support she's received from AmeriCorps and her colleagues in NSD have made her experience even more positive and meaningful. So much so that she highly recommends joining the AmeriCorps VISTA program to anyone who has a passion for community service.
“There are so many opportunities to choose from—backcountry work in the Grand Canyon to working in an office setting," she explained. “All service terms offer an education stipend, and some schools will match a percentage of the stipend to help pay for expenses."
López added that joining the AmeriCorps VISTA program is a great way to learn new skills, meet new people and explore new interests.
In celebration of AmeriCorps Week, the Neighborhood Services Department thanks Samantha and the 70,000 Americans involved in AmeriCorps for being committed to creating a positive impact in neighborhoods through volunteerism!
To be a part of
Neighborhood Services' Volunteer Program, visit the program's
website or email Samantha.D.Lopez@phoenix.gov.
