Note: During AmeriCorps Week 2024, MCAN wants to thank, highlight, and celebrate our AmeriCorps members who make a difference in Michigan through service every day. In addition to our AdviseMI and College Completion Corps, MCAN is proud to host an AmeriCorps VISTA placement through the Michigan Community Service Commission. Our currently serving VISTA, Genesia Thompson, reflects on her service term and what impact she has made through AmeriCorps.
As an AmeriCorps VISTA member, I serve to build capacity at MCAN in a variety of ways and across departments.
For example, one of the projects I spent a lot of time on during the first part of my service was working closely with the Michigan Promise Zones Association, the statewide membership association composed of 13 Promise Zones, to implement structural changes and overall continuous improvement. Promise Zones are location-based scholarships for people who graduate high school in specific areas. The first Promise Zone in the country was formed in 2005 in Kalamazoo. This inspired other communities around Michigan to create their own local Promise Zones, with help from the state legislature, beginning in 2009. This movement has spread across the country since Kalamazoo’s start. This past October, I was honored to attend the 11th biennial PromiseNet conference, held in Detroit, which focused on creating tuition-free pathways for students across the country. I was amazed to learn that there are 441 Promise programs in the country, and all 50 states have at least one program operating. I was glad to learn that there are resources that track programs nationwide and others that conduct quality research about Promise programs. Data and research are important for programs like this, especially to demonstrate their importance and the impact that they have on people’s lives and the state’s economy. What a great legacy to come out of Michigan!
Supporting Michigan Promise Zones is just one of the many ways that MCAN is working towards the Sixty by 30 goal to get more Michigan residents to and through college. This guiding star is something I think about often while serving at MCAN, and I know Promise Zones are helping achieve that goal. Various reports, including a Gallup-Lumina Foundation study, have routinely cited the cost of tuition and attendance as a top reported barrier from students, along with the psychological and emotional obstacles that postsecondary education can pose. Michigan’s Promise Zones have collectively served thousands of Michigan students for over a decade and have greatly alleviated that financial burden.
I truly believe Promise Zones are a great, consistent example of the Sixty by 30 movement, especially as they continue to adapt to meet the needs of students. The Michigan Senate is currently considering legislation that would expand the definition of “qualified educational expenses” that could be covered by a Promise Zone to include the following: the cost of housing and food; transportation expenses; federal student loan fees; miscellaneous expenses that could include a personal computer; an allowance for childcare or dependent care; disability-related costs; cost to obtain a license, certification or professional credential; and study abroad program costs.
Outside of helping the MPZA, I have been doing a lot of work with different MCAN departments, including Higher Education Innovation, Adult Student Attainment Strategy, Community Mobilization Strategy, and Service Strategy, by building out resources and helping to launch new initiatives. Projects have included assembling and creating resources needed for upcoming visits to higher education institutions, researching learning management systems for MCAN professional development, assessing the impact of our Innovative Program Grants, helping lift off our new CLEP project, and supporting room monitors at the MCAN conference.
As someone who is planning to remain in the nonprofit sector after my service term, I have seen the professional development benefits of serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA. I have learned so much more about the landscape of college access and completion by being at my site, connected with the work of many different partners throughout the state, familiarized myself with the state and national efforts regarding higher education, and continued to build on my professional skills while serving in a sector that I have been extremely passionate about for years.
During AmeriCorps Week 2024, MCAN wants to thank, highlight, and celebrate our AmeriCorps members who make a difference in Michigan through service every day. In addition to our AdviseMI and College Completion Corps, MCAN is proud to host an AmeriCorps VISTA placement through the Michigan Community Service Commission. Our currently serving VISTA, Genesia Thompson, reflects on her service term and what impact she has made through AmeriCorps.