Past AmeriCorps Members: Where Are They Now?

We have proudly hosted more than 20 AmeriCorps members over the last seven years, and they have played a critical role in our efforts to ensure that homeowners in need in our community can live independently in safe and healthy homes.   Friends of Rebuilding Together Twin Cities frequently ask us for updates on AmeriCorps alumni, and we thought we’d share an update on our most recent AmeriCorps alumni: Alina Stevenson, Jessie Livingston, and Kyle Swatfager.

Alina Stevenson – After successfully completing her first year of law school at the University of Oregon, Alina accepted a summer position at a nonprofit in Seattle called Legal Voice where she will be working on women’s issues in legislation, including revising and drafting bills so they include protections for women.

Jessie Livingston – Jessie is studying in Costa Rica, after spending a month and a half at an activist language school in Guatemala.  She is planning to head to Panama and then Nicaragua to continue her studies this semester and will spend the summer working at a camp in Northern California.

Kyle Swatfager – This past fall, Kyle joined the Rebuilding Together Twin Cities team as our Project Coordinator.  He is responsible for overseeing our Critical Repair projects from start to finish, including previewing projects, developing the scopes of work, determining volunteer and contracted labor needs, and working to ensure that projects are completed within budget and time constraints.  We are thrilled to have Kyle on our team!

AmeriCorps Members Make a Difference at the Safe and Healthy Homes Summit

This past week, two of our AmeriCorps members, Kyle and Alina, traveled to North Carolina to take part in the Safe and Healthy Housing Summit. They joined AmeriCorps members from Rebuilding Together affiliates from across the country for this four day summit in partnership with NeighborWorks that focused on training the members in the seven principles of safe and healthy homes. They learned how to better assess a home to create a work scope that can be reasonably accomplished, while impacting the home in sustainable ways. Much of the training was hands-on, and they learned how to do many of the repairs that are essential to safe and healthy homes. Alina spent her time insulating an attic and crawl space, ripping out carpet, and fixing gutters. Kyle spent his time learning how to replace soffits and gutters. It was a great learning experience. Thanks to Rebuilding Together of the Triangle for hosting this summit!

Welcome New AmeriCorps Member!

We are thrilled to welcome a new AmeriCorps member this month.  Kyle Swatfager will join Jessie and Alina as an AmeriCorps Project Coordinator.  Kyle has extensive experience with working with individuals and communities in need, including serving in the AmeriCorps NCCC program.  He also has experience with construction and home repair.  Kyle holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota.  Welcome to the Rebuilding Together Twin Cities Team Kyle!