Gay Alaskan joins AmeriCorps, makes it better for himself and other youth
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A few weeks ago, a young man from Kodiak sent Bent Alaska the link to his It Gets Better video that he made in New Orleans. Why was he in New Orleans? He’s participating in a 10 month AmeriCorps program doing service projects in the Midwest, and his team went to Louisiana for the final weeks.
The video is cool, and it’s even more interesting in light of his experience as an openly gay member of AmeriCorps, the projects his team worked on, and why he made an It Gets Better video in his free time.
Kevin Viado was raised in Kodiak, had never been to a gay event, and described himself as “really shy” before joining AmeriCorps. After several months of helping other people, with a team of mostly straight young adults who like and accept him as he is, he is now confident enough to make his own It Gets Better video and help other LGBT youth.
What a great experience – and a remarkable young man!
I’d like to thank Kevin for answering these questions and sending the video and photos. His program ended this week and he returned to Alaska on Friday. Welcome home, Kevin!
Why did you join the AmeriCorps NCCC program?
I joined the program because I wanted to look at the world beyond myself, help people out, get experience and find direction. Ever since I joined the program, I feel like now I’m on track (despite not knowing what’s gonna happen next after NCCC) and a lot more confident in myself.
On a off topic note, I love that I’m working in a team – living and working with different personalities has been an amazing experience. I love my team, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have grown to be the person I am now.
What is it like for you as a gay participant of NCCC?
What it has been so far, it has nothing but been great. I’ve gotten a lot of support by my team as well the other people from other teams. I’ve got to meet other gay NCCC members and its really nice to know that. One of the team members is actually a lesbian and she’s really chill and fun to be around with. I’m a lot more open about myself than I was in the beginning of the program.
Why did you make a video with It Gets Better New Orleans? Did you seek out IGB or meet them by chance?
I decided to do the video because I understand how hard adolescence can be. As I grew older I’ve realized that there is more to life than high school and you can see that if you begin to see things in a more positive perspective like what can you get out of bad situations? A learning experience as well growing thick skin and confidence. I remember pondering at the time if I should do the video or not, but then I thought of bullied teens and just said “Why not? Just do it!”
I found out about the It Gets Better New Orleans event on a flyer at a gay bar. I’ve always wanted to attend a gay event.
[caption id="attachment_1139" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Kevin tests out an herbicide backpack"]
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What projects did you work on?
The first project we worked on was in Indiana working with the Nature Conservancy. The job was to take on invasive plant species that affect the wetlands. Man that job was physically enduring but I loved it even with the heat/humidity, the MOSQUITOES, the heavy herbicide back packs, and getting stuck in the mud all the time. It was fun doing an environmental project since I love being in nature.
The second project was in Dubuque, Iowa working for the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. The tasks included working in the animal husbandry, educating the public, etc. I’ve always wanted to work at the aquarium and this was my chance. During this project the other half of my team got to go to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to do disaster relief – mucking and gutting homes that were damaged by the flood. I really wanted to do to that so bad.
For the third round, it was split project. The first three weeks was in Omaha, Nebraska working with Habitat for Humanity. This project was a great opportunity to get construction skills as well giving a help in hand. I gotten a lot better being on roofs since doing Habitat For Humanity.
The last five weeks we were in Macedonia, Iowa (small, small town), working for a non-profit organization called Santa’s Children Christmas Village. Our sponsor, Orien Hodges, goes to hospitals, homes, camps, etc visiting ill children as Santa Claus all year round. What we did was help his organization to get on its feet. We managed to get his website started as well finding potential sponsors. The biggest accomplishment was setting and hosting a youth volunteer seminar to encourage youth to no just help him out but getting out there in their communities.
Now on our last and final round, we are in New Orleans, Louisiana working with the United Saints Recovery Project. What we’re doing is help rehab homes that were damaged by Katrina. Tasks included painting, siding jobs, demolition work etc. One of our main jobs is help leading the short term volunteers that come in (like college students) – to me that’s a challenge since I get paranoid and nervous about the whole leading thing. But, I lead a team for the first time and I actually enjoyed it! We had to remove a lot of concrete on an empty lot of what used to be a house. The group I worked with were awesome and I love them! What’s really great about this project is I got to feel and understand more about the impact and the people affected by it. I’ve gotten to meet friendly home owners, the neighbors, locals, etc, and a lot of them are quite the character – I love it! We also got a tour and got to see the lower Ninth Ward. The lower Ninth Ward pretty much looks like a ghost town. On a lighter note the Brad Pitt homes are super awesome looking.
I forgot to add during our training also known as CTI (Corps Training Institute) we did a three day project by doing demo work on a old roller skating rink. What surprised us and our sponsor was that we managed to get things done in a day and a half. She had to find us other work to do. It’s things like these that surprises me on how great teamwork can be.
Last thoughts
I have to say this journey has been an awesome one. I’ve learned about what’s out there and myself. It’s weird to look back and see how everyone (my team and many others) have grown. I still remember the first day and how awkward it was for me (since I was really shy and two days late!) It’s going to be weird to transition outside of the Ameri-world and into life. I don’t know what’s next for me but I know I want to live an adventurous life not a mundane one. ^_^
Here’s a vid of me giving out a message to gay teens in New Orleans:
Nice job, Kevin! (Unfortunately, NOLA misspelled his last name.)
The video was not affiliated with AmeriCorps in any way.
The program Kevin joined is AmeriCorps National Community Civilian Corps also known as NCCC. It is a team based program with members ages 18-24, consisting of 11-12 people per team. The length of this program is about 10 months, and people are put in regions. Members must complete 1700 hours (as well as doing 80 hours of independent service projects) in order to graduate the program, and members receive an education award of $5,350.00. Visit the AmeriCorps NCCC program more information.
Tags: Kodiak
