Five weeks until the end of my AmeriCorps VISTA Service. The last two years have been a whirlwind of rapid ingestion of knowledge and information, meeting new people, gaining new friends, and living new experiences.

As meaningful as my first two service locations were, I have found a home with my third service location. Flance Early Learning Center inspires optimism through its mission to provide excellence by educating and nurturing young children, supporting families and strengthening community. Flance is a promising but inconspicuously placed center within the 63106 zip code. October 2020, Flance became my third service location. As the Flance Family & Community Support Liaison, I have engaged the community through Friday food distributions, community surveys, parent engagement and a burgeoning parent support group. Flance services families from varying walks of life, and I find myself enamored with our African families. Their language fascinates me.

All the same, my service is coming to its end. Flance has offered an opportunity for full-time employment. However, I am struggling. Full-time employment with full-time benefits would be a godsend. It would allow me to finish paying off my vehicle early and place me in a position to finally escape low-income housing and purchase land, something I have desired all my life. Full-time employment with full-time benefits would allow me to build on that land or pull a manufactured house onto the land and make it home. However, my health is in question. As much as I would like to stay at Flance and remain busy, I cannot. Full-time employment is a strain on my health, and it requires I skip certain essential medications necessary to maintain adequate heart health. Taking those essential medications late in the day causes me to forfeit much-needed sleep due to frequent bathroom runs. If you have never taken diuretics, you cannot understand.

Albeit, when COVID hit, and we were all required to stay home, those six months of working from home were ideal. Working from home allowed me to work as well as take care of myself. During that time, I tutored at YourWords STL. I was able to take my medication as prescribed and yield to my body’s biological rhythm. There was less physical stress, fewer palpitations, reduced shortness of breath, and no rushed movements, in attempts to get dressed, hop in my vehicle, motor down the road, and be on time to start the workday. At that time, my day consisted of logging in, checking emails, and fulfill the assignment in the comfort of my comfortable chair. Frequent bathroom runs were not noticeable, and dressing for work were earrings, lip balm, and a blouse. LOL!

Joining AmeriCorps has been a learning experience. I wish I had known of AmeriCorps years earlier when youth was on my side and my health was not as questionable. To the organizations that made my AmeriCorps experience meaningful, Mission St Louis, Urban Strategies Inc, YourWords STL, and Flance Early Learning Center, I say thank you!