AmeriCorps Story of Service – Quarter 2
by Susannah Prenoveau | March 15, 2021
As I wrap up my second quarter of service with the Nisqually Land Trust, and we wrap up our planting season, I’d like to share my reflections on this special time of the year in the habitat restoration field. In case we haven’t met, my name is Susannah, and I am the AmeriCorps Volunteer Coordinator for the Nisqually Land Trust here in Olympia, WA. As part of my service year to this non-profit habitat conservation organization, I spend two days a week (at least) outside in nature, stewarding the land and coordinating volunteer work party events. The past few months, this stewardship has included planting thousands of native shrubs and trees with volunteers and staff in the Nisqually River Watershed.
I decided to take this year and dedicate it to service when COVID-19 freed up my previous work schedule with the loss of a newly created job opportunity I had been moving toward since 2016. I’ve never worked in my past careers with an environmental organization, but I’ve spent a lot of time in nature, and I love to move in and also sit still and observe it whenever I can. I’ve learned so much the past few months, and I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to grow in an area I never knew much about previously.
What this season of planting has taught me is how meditative a process working in nature can be and how necessary that’s become for a world currently fighting to survive a pandemic. Take, for example, this excerpt from my journal during the first months of planting I participated in back in October of 2020:
“There are moments with the groups of volunteers sitting in the dirt with us that we all fall silent. The chatter about life stops while our bodies stay in motion – digging holes, tickling roots, and patting native life back into the soul of the Nisqually River floodplains. It’s there that I find a connection to all things – the breeze that kicks up reminding us we are well into fall now, the pair of eagles flying overhead as we work, the warmth of the sun peeking out from the clouds, and the shared purpose we are all working toward together in this stunning, small part of the Pacific Northwest wonderland. This work has become a moving meditation for me, and I believe for the staff and volunteers as well. It’s a time where we discover a connection to each other in these quiet moments and in giving back to the environment in a time when so much has been taken away from us.”
I’m so thankful to be a part of this unusual service year – to provide opportunities for the community to get out of their homes and out into nature, to find that moving meditation which contributes not only to the health of the land in the watershed but to each of us and our personal health and well-being.
As a Washington Service AmeriCorps member, part of my service duties include submitting a “story of service” each quarter of my 10 and ½ month term. These are sent to the Washington Service Corps to post on their website and social media. The purpose of a service story is to share my experience and the impact I am making at my service site and the impact it is having on me! This is something I particularly enjoy doing, documenting my time with the Nisqually Land Trust in writing and sharing it with NLT supporters as well. I will have one more story of service before my term is over, so look for that one in June 2021!