Et cetera : AmeriCorps NCCC serves with Connect Columbus

NCCC member Al carrying a log to clear the trails at Camp Luther.

By Ashley Prunier

AmeriCorps NCCC team Maple 5 arrived in Columbus, Nebraska on April 30 to serve Connect Columbus, Habitat for Humanity, Educational Service Unit 7 (ESU7), Camp Luther, and The Columbus Housing Authority.

The team has been repainting and rewiring the offices of ESU7 and sorted through multiple shelving units of VHS tapes to downsize the video library. At Habitat for Humanity they have started siding a house and put together a small shed for a community garden that will provide local residents with free space to grow vegetables and fruits. While serving at Camp Luther, the team has widened their trails to allow for wheelchair accessibility and landscaped to provide the campers with a more scenic panorama. They plan to begin painting window frames at The Columbus Housing Authority Heritage House and have already spent a day playing bingo and socializing with the elderly and differently- abled residents.

“I have enjoyed interacting with the elderly residents of Heritage House because they are so welcoming and accepting of all of us. It has been nice to see the faces that our service will affect.” says NCCC team member Ryan Parino of Roseville, California.

Connect Columbus is an organization that helps to increase collaboration between other local organizations to address unmet health and human service needs within the community. They focus most specifically on addressing poverty and expanding youth services, while also promoting volunteerism within Columbus through their Volunteer Center.