Americorps*NCCC is a national community service program for people ages 18-25.
It is based on a program from the 1930's called the Civilian Conservation Corps.
There are campuses in Colorado, California, Maryland, and North Carolina.
Teams work on different projects throughout the year. While I was there, my team worked with Atlantis Inc. in Denver.
They help to provide accessible housing and jobs for people with disabilities.
They are also very active in making sure that the Americans with Disabilities Act is being followed through.
I met many wonderful people at Atlantis. They also taught me to see things differently...
and for that, I am grateful. I won't be posting pictures from Atlantis until I can contact them and get permission to use people's pictures.

My team also spent some time working in Bonham, Texas.
We were working at a place called Caddo National Grasslands,
at Lake Fannin, starting a project to try to
restore some cabins that had recently been listed on a list of historical places.

Cabin #11

We were replacing the old particle board on the windows and doors. And also putting in vents
to allow some air to get through the cabins.

Caretaker's cabin

We also repaired many of the roofs on several of the cabins.

Main Lodge

We used the Main Lodge to store our supplies and equipment.
Since it had been home to many different animals, we had to spray it and clean it inside,
because of the risk of Hanta Virus.

The weather became a problem for quite some time while we were there.
With below freezing temperatures, freezing rain and snow, it made it difficult
to work on roofs, etc. so there were many days we were unable to work.
After one particularly rainy week, we had some trouble with our van...

oops...

Went a bit off the road there...

Finally called for help...lol

In the end, what we were hoping to prevent was this...

Next project...back to Denver.
We went back to Colorado after doing as much as we could on the cabins.
We worked with a local art studio called Downtown Aurora Visual Arts,
or DAVA for short. They provide a place for local kids mostly,
to go after school. They could paint, draw, color, do pottery, etc.
We also built a sandbox, garden and mural behind the building.
We were there to help the kids with their artwork,
and with the pottery, we taught them how to use and recycle the clay, etc.
We had them work on different projects for the sandbox and mural also.
We made face "masks" to put on the building wall. We also made "tiles"
to use as part of the sidewalk and as "scales" on a large cement dragon.

Sandbox and Garden
Those are the face masks on the wall in the background.

Under the faces were two big cement "chairs" inside the sandbox.

The cement dragon stood watch on the edge of the sandbox.
This is before a row of "scales" on it's back,
and before the tiles were added as scales.

Several of my team members, and my Team Leader also.
Glazing tiles and face masks.

Several of the faces the kids made were part of a local art show, too.

It was a lot of fun, working with the kids. And I learned quite a bit about pottery, too.

Next project...off to the Rockies
My team went to Salida, Colorado to work with the Bureau of Land Management
and the U.s. Forest Service. We were working at the
Arkansas River Headwaters Recreation Area, at a place called
Railroad Bridge, at a place called Stone Bridge, mostly in the area of Beuna Vista, Co.

One of several rows of parking barriers we put in.
They were put in using no cement..by basically compacting the dirt around them.

We cut and used these trees for fences in many areas.

And here is one of those many fences.

A fellow team member and I put these barriers in to keep vehicles off of the trails.

We also rebuilt a wetlands area
to replace the one that the new parking lot had been built on.

This is "Martin"...a Bull Snake. He lives in the new wetlands area.
The Rangers we worked with had gotten to know him, and had named him.

Another part of the project was building Portage Trails.
We cleared out several areas for rafters and kayakers to use
to get out of the river before coming to an old stone bridge.

An almost finished trail.

This was at the end of the road to our campsite in Buena Vista.
"WARNING! Buena Vista Correctional Facility next one mile
Convicts at Work No Stopping! No Tresspassing!"
Luckily, we never saw any convicts while camping here.

We had quite a few "one day" projects as well. From painting houses and other buildings to building community gardens in the Denver area. It was a wonderful
experience overall. I learned a lot about myself and learned to do many things I wouldn't have ever pictured myself doing.

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