5/21 Americorps and Habitat for Humanity

Even though yesterday was Sunday I had to work a little bit. We received an invitation to go to a special Americorps and Habitat joint celebration. Although it wasn't easy to drag myself out of my house, I'm so happy I went.

It was the last day of the national Americorps week and the first day of the Habitat Buildathon. Habitat for Humanity International is building 20 homes this week and it's a huge deal. Plus it's a celebration of the fact that they just built their 1,000 and 1,001 home in the Gulf. You're probably familiar with Americorps, the government program that allows young people to give up to a year of service in the US. VISTA was there too (Volunteers in Service to America).

Thousands of people filled the Gulf Coast Coliseum, and lucky me got to sit in the reserved section so was in the second row. The talks were mostly by Americorps members and Habitat volunteers and were so impressive. I can't begin to tell you the emotions that welled in me, and wish I'd taken notes so I could more accurately represent what happened.

I'd encourage all young people who may not know what they want to do with their lives to check out Americorps. The youth were exuberant about the experience and the travel.

What a great job I have!