UWG News Archive

AmeriCorps tackles UWG trails

June 3, 2003

CARROLLTON, GA - “Building bridges” is frequently the metaphor used to describe the process of strengthening ties among community members, but this summer the University of West Georgia is bucking tradition by building trails instead. In an effort to revitalize campus walking trails for community use, UWG Landscape and Grounds has enlisted the help of the AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps to repair and enlarge the trail system.

A team-based national service program, AmeriCorps*NCCC provides volunteer groups to help with community projects to meet compelling needs in such areas as the environment, education, housing, public safety and disaster relief. Through AmeriCorps, young women and men from about age 18 to 24 give 10 months of their lives to serve their country through volunteer work on a series of six-week projects around the country.

UWG News Photo In response to a successful project proposal by UWG, two AmeriCorps teams for the Southeast Region have been assigned to help re-establish the six miles of trails damaged in 2000 by a pine bark beetle infestation and subsequent timber harvest, as well as to create two miles of new trails. The project’s goal is to strengthen ties with the community by re-establishing the once heavily-used trail system to provide recreational opportunities for hikers, runners, bikers and nature watchers, complete with informative and directional signage.

The first team of nine AmeriCorps volunteers arrived on campus in late May and immediately began several days of orientation, site inspections and training in safety and trail design. They are spending the rest of their stay at West Georgia clearing unwanted vegetation, identifying and correcting erosion problems, grading and leveling awkward and hazardous trail sections, and installing signage. After the first team’s departure on June 20, a second AmeriCorps team will continue with the work for an additional two and a half weeks.

Before coming to UWG, the current team spent its first eight and a half months with AmeriCorps performing a variety of services around the Southeast. According to team leader Michael Sweet, a 25-year-old from Madison, Wis., the team tutored elementary school students and worked on the Palmetto Trail in South Carolina, built houses with Habitat for Humanity in North Carolina, helped open a re-sale store in Alabama and assisted the Red Cross with disaster relief after recent tornadoes in Kansas.

The team members say they enjoy learning new skills, increasing their confidence levels and having the opportunity to do service work without having to worry about holding down a job or paying rent at the same time.

“I think 10 months of being able to do volunteer work without worrying about your living arrangements — and to do it with a group of eight other people — is a great thing,” explained Andrea Daniel, a 23-year-old from Fort Collins, Colo.

Belina Mizrahi of Chicago, 23, added, “I like the variety of projects; it’s a great way to learn a lot of different things in a short time.”

Completing the tour of service requires a high level of determination. In addition to performing 40 hours a week of volunteer work, members must complete an 80-hour independent service project during the 10-month period, and they sometimes help out with projects during their weekend free time. For holidays, they get only three personal days, a two-week winter break and a three-day spring break.

Living arrangements for the team are provided by the project host. At West Georgia, team members sleep in a residence hall, luxurious quarters compared with some previous projects, during which they have camped or slept on the floor of a community center, sometimes 30 to 40 minutes away from their work site.

In keeping with the AmeriCorps stress on teamwork, the volunteers share a 15-seat van as their only means of transportation, and they typically pool their small stipend of $4 a day for food to make it go further. The stipend for laundry is an equally small $3 a week. At West Georgia, however, food for the team was subsidized by Mellow Mushroom, the Maple Street Diner and Publix Super Markets until Food Services re-opened for summer semester.

“We have never, ever starved, but this is a luxury to have food provided by a project sponsor,” said Sweet. “Definitely this program isn’t for everyone.” He added that his team has been lucky to have only one member drop out since it started its tour in September. Many teams are down to six or seven members.

Sarah Lapan of Brattleboro, Vt., 19, said, “When you live with eight other people for 10 months, there’s going to be a lot of drama within the team. Overall, I feel lucky; everyone’s pretty easy going.”

The reward for all their hard work includes an education award from AmeriCorps of up to $4,725 to help pay for college or student loans, the satisfaction of jobs well done and the gratitude and support of the communities they’ve assisted.

At West Georgia, this support includes volunteer assistance on the trails from a number of local community groups, such as the UWG cross country team, the Heritage Hills Homeowners Association, the Little Tallapoosa Botanical Society, the Master Gardeners of Carroll County, local garden clubs, the local chapter of the Sierra Club and Perpetual Motion Bicycles.

On-site training for the first AmeriCorps team included two days with a professional trail builder from Trail Design Specialists, whose services were funded through a Department of Natural Resources grant to the Southern Off-Road Bicycling Association (SORBA). The local SORBA chapter is also loaning trail building equipment for the project.

“Volunteerism is a key part of what got the AmeriCorps group here,” said James Hembree, UWG grounds superintendent, who explained that the University committed to obtaining at least 100 hours of community volunteer time for the project in its proposal to AmeriCorps. The trail system will also be sustained through future volunteer efforts.

Trail-building volunteers are still needed, and volunteer work sessions are scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday until July 11 from 8 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. For information or directions to the day’s work site, contact UWG Facilities at 770-836-6576.

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