Courtney is originally from the Seattle area and was teaching in Maryland when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world. Courtney had to create fully virtual lessons to teach her special education students. While the education field was rapidly changing around her, Courtney’s dreams shifted as well. She changed the focus of her master’s program from instructional design to business administration. Teaching in new ways opened her eyes to different opportunities in her career.
Courtney shares, “I didn’t have much professional experience outside of teaching so I thought AmeriCorps would be a great way for me to gain experience. I had a previous roommate who had been in AmeriCorps so I saw how much she had gotten out of it.”
“I have family in West Virginia,” Courtney explains about how she decided on the state for her VISTA opportunity. “My husband and I were wanting to leave Maryland. We were exploring our options, and I have previously lived in Garrett County, Maryland, so I was familiar with North Central WV and I really liked it.”
Though Courtney has had to adjust to the change of moving from living near a big city to a more rural setting, she has found ways to make it feel like home. She’s been able to tap into her love for nature that she developed while living in the Pacific Northwest. While moving to the area has been a culture shock for Courtney, it is one that she has embraced fully.
She says her time spent in Fairmont as a VISTA has been rewarding. She helped to lead a capacity assessment for her organization and used what she found to make recommendations for how to improve and better serve the mission of the Fairmont Community Development Partnership. She tackled creating policies for the organization, including social media policy, gift acceptance guidelines, and a grievance policy within the organization. The kind of detail-oriented work that is necessary to get the work of serving a community done well.
“I had only done things like that in theory during my studies, so being able to put my knowledge to use was fun,” Courtney expresses. “I’m also really loving the communications and marketing aspect of my service, it’s opened up a whole new possible career path for me.”
Courtney’s pride in the community and what she has been able to contribute thus far shines when she speaks of her work. She also shared about challenges she is facing as a young woman coming into a new field, saying, “[It has] been a challenge to be taken seriously, especially as a female under 35. Growing up on the West Coast in Washington, it’s different as a woman there than it is here, at least from my personal experience.”
Courtney shares that a focus on professional development, research into her work, and practicing being bold in her communications with others has supported her in addressing challenges.
As her time as a VISTA in Fairmont comes to an end, Courtney sees a bright future for West Virginia, but it will take more young people getting involved. Courtney is seeing the positive changes happening in her own community, and she is optimistic about great things happening around the state.
“We need to show young people that they do have a future here. People tend to have a negative perspective about West Virginia and believe all sorts of stereotypes,” Courtney explains. “Having lived here and been part of the positive changes, it’s been eye-opening. The [people] who are part of the revitalization and community building need to continue to reach out to younger ones, especially women and minorities, and get them involved and let their voices be heard.”
It’s all about what you make of it, Courtney admits. Yet, her time living in West Virginia as a VISTA has opened her eyes to what is happening and just how much of an impact someone can make in the Mountain State. West Virginia is filled with opportunities and potential she hasn’t seen in other places she has lived, and that is something exciting to witness.
The West Virginia Development Hub hosts AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) members in communities participating in our coaching programs as well as in partnership with organizations around the state. The Hub currently has VISTA sub-sites in Fairmont, Morgantown, Rainelle, Clarksburg, Elkins, and other communities. The VISTA program was founded in 1965 and is an anti-poverty program providing needed resources to nonprofit organizations and public agencies to help lift communities out of poverty. The VISTA program places volunteers 18 years or older into communities where they perform a year of full-time volunteer service.
In the VISTAs of West Virginia series, you’ll learn more about the VISTAs working in Hub communities uplifting economic and community development teams around the state.
Interested in becoming a VISTA? Check out current opportunities through The Hub »