5

Get to the Point

Alumni spotlight

Gulf coast recovery

inspires lasting service

by Samantha Cass, Buffalo 2

Tiffany Zapico was a Corps Member on

Red 4, Class XIII, and also a Team Leader

for Blue 4, Class XIV at the Pacific Region.

She currently lives in Montclair, New Jer-

sey, right outside of New York City.

Tiffany first learned about AmeriCorps

NCCC while working at a restaurant. A

co-worker‟s girlfriend, who was an

NCCC member at the time, told Tiffany

about her experience. Tiffany looks

back at this moment as, “Just your ran-

dom good luck.”

As a Corps Member, Tiffany took on

the role of Service Learning Coordina-

tor. Much of Tiffany‟s AmeriCorps life

consisted of projects along the Gulf

Coast. There, she assisted in disaster

recovery from the devastating Hurri-

cane Katrina and in doing so learned

quite a lot. She gained insight on her

own leadership skills as well as the

power of the community and that of her

team. Her most inspirational moment

was from a day of service named "The

Pascagoula Service Blitz."

“My first round project as a Corps

Member, we were at Community Cen-

ter for a Day of Service. We wanted to

help some homeowners in a neighbor-

hood, so we invited other NCCC teams

for Independent Service Project hours.

A total of 67 Corps Members showed

up for the Day of Service, which made

me feel supported by the Corps. I really

enjoyed helping people and learning

that we could bring people together.”

NCCC allowed her the opportunity to

meet new people, make new friends

whom she now considers as her family,

and she also enjoyed the road trips.

“I seem to have caught the nomad

bug,” she said. She likes to travel

from place to place. But most of all,

she greatly enjoyed seeing the appre-

ciation of the people for her help,

which in turn lead her to learn to re-

ally appreciate people.

AmeriCorps really helped shape her

career in non-profit management. After

graduating from NCCC, she took on a

position as a special education teacher

through Teach for America. Today, she

works for Reading Partners in New

York as a Program Manager while de-

voting her time to volunteering with

AmeriCorps Alums, the AmeriCorps

NCCC Advisory Board and she is the

chair of the AmeriCorps NCCC Alumni

Leadership Council. Her involvement

consists of connecting with other Al-

ums to bring them together for days of

service and job opportunities.

Buffalo 2 greatly enjoyed speaking with

her. For me personally, her story really

captivated me, and I really enjoyed

talking with her. For all of you who ever

get to meet her, she‟s a lot of fun.

Lastly, here are some words of advice

to all AmeriCorps NCCC Members,

courtesy of Tiffany: “You all should

take a lot of pictures and videos. You

should write about your experiences,

because you‟ll really look back on them

in a different light someday. Everyone

should enjoy every day for what it is.

Stay positive and always think possibil-

ities are endless in AmeriCorps NCCC.”

Team Leader Tiffany Zapico with her Pacific Region team Blue 4.

An AmeriCorps tent in the Gulf region

where Corps members would gather.

Tiffany preps with proper PPE before

gutting a house in St. Bernard Parish