VISTA Volunteers Work Across the Plateau

Nine VISTA volunteers are beginning their work with five local organizations. The AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program, co-sponsored by the South Cumberland Community Fund and the University of the South, is sending volunteers to work for one year or more with the Chattanooga Area Food Bank’s mobile food pantries, Discover Together, the Grundy County Health Council, Mountain T.O.P. and the South Cumberland Community Fund.

McKenzie Liegel and Zach Berry are working with the Chattanooga Area Food Bank in Grundy and Marion counties. Liegel grew up in a small town in rural Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the VISTA mobile food pantry coordinator for Grundy County. 

Berry is from Chattanooga and studied literature and philosophy before graduating with a B.A. in 2013. He is the VISTA mobile food pantry coordinator for Marion County. Liegel and Berry will work to develop mobile food pantry programs and delivery systems with a local support network in their respective counties.

VISTAs working with Discover Together are Chris Paff and Michelle Thibodeaux. Paff, from Portland, Ore., worked as a computer programmer for a year before serving in Tanzania for three years with the Peace Corps. As VISTA community workforce development coordinator, he will build workforce development activities for parents of young children participating in Discover Together, and potentially for other adults in the community. 

Thibodeaux is a recent Sewanee graduate, originally from Atlanta, Ga. As a student, she worked with multiple schools in Grundy County and now plans to pursue a career in education. She is the VISTA community ambassador coordinator for Discover Together, and will develop a network of trained volunteers to better engage families in Discover Together programs and the community.

The Grundy County Health Council will be working with VISTAs Lacey Oliver and John-David Wheeler. Oliver was raised in the local area and graduated from Sewanee in May. As the VISTA school health activities coordinator, she will develop trainings for students and other volunteers in all seven schools in Grundy County and will develop a school anti-tobacco program. 

Wheeler is originally from Union City, Tenn. He served in the U.S. Army, then graduated from University of Tennessee-Martin. He is the VISTA health network coordinator, and will expand GCHC’s partnerships with local social service agencies and churches to develop a community-wide health information and education network.

Ida Zago and Melanie Pozuc are working with Mountain T.O.P. Zago grew up in Michigan and New York City, and also graduated in May from Sewanee. She is the VISTA weatherization coordinator, and will create a new low-income housing weatherization program that will help improve the economic well-being of area families. 

Pozuc is a recent graduate of Kent State University. She has experience with Mountain T.O.P. and is looking forward to working with the organization in a new capacity. As the VISTA communication and assessment coordinator, she will develop a volunteer networking and communication system in support of Mountain T.O.P. programs, determining community needs and assessing the results of programs.

Franklin County native Charles McClain is working with the South Cumberland Community Fund. Serving in his church has been important to him, and last year he entered into the discernment process. He is the VISTA grant-writing coordinator and will help build the capacity of community organizations by developing a grant-writing and management network for them.

For more information contact Jim Peterman, director of Community Engagement at Sewanee, at 598-1482 or by email to <jpeterma@sewanee.edu>.