In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps alumna Barb Suozzi, who previously served three terms with Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Recovery Corps from 2018-2021. Barb discusses her service as a recovery coach at two different sites across her service, detailing how during her first year she helped individuals with substance abuse disorders to make and follow their recovery plans while serving at the Family Health Center of Marshfield Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center in Minocqua. She then described her service the next two years at Arbor Vitae - Woodruff School, where she was primarily working on prevention activities and support for counseling, with her activities and roles adapting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including shifting to preparing and delivering lunches for students that needed them when school shifted that for several months to virtual in 2020. Barb later discusses how her service experience helped lead to a job at the school assisting students as a mental health liaison before retiring and then using her Segal Education Award to study and complete volunteer service in Italy. Listen to learn about the advice that Barb would share for AmeriCorps members that she gained from her own experience, and how it led her into new career pathways and the learning opportunity of a lifetime.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Debra Bappert, who is serving her second term with Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Community Corps at Stepping Stones of Dunn County and previously served terms with two programs in Minnesota. Debra shares about how her service supports multiple aspects of how Stepping Stones supports individuals in need through food and shelter. She discusses her role helping to manage volunteers and assist the public at their food pantry several days during the week, as well as supporting volunteers creating SAM bags for their Share a Meal Program, which packs easy-to-serve meals for school children that can be sent home to increase access to food during the weekend. She also describes serving at their homeless shelter, Cairn House, helping to manage the kitchen on certain days each week and creating lunch menus based upon food in stock at the pantry and from produce donated by local farmers and gardeners.Debra also describes her previous AmeriCorps service several years ago in Minnesota shortly after graduating college, first serving as an employment coach supporting welfare-to-work program participants with Minnesota Opportunity Corps, and later serving as a reading tutor for young elementary students as a part of Minnesota Reading Corps. Listen to learn how Debra’s AmeriCorps service journey with multiple programs has led to several full circle moments, including reconnecting with her supervisor from her first term years later in their time of need and returning to Stepping Stones as an AmeriCorps member the last two years after volunteering and sitting on their board two decades ago while a college student.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Callie Grones, who is serving her second term with Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Community Corps at Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve in Superior. Callie discusses several different service activities she has done with people who are stewarding and protecting the St. Louis River estuary, which is where the river that serves as the border between northwestern Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota empties into Lake Superior and creates a place filled with biodiversity. She describes events to educate and mobilize the public that she has helped coordinate or participated in during her service, including school field trips to the estuary, their birding series, tree planting, and beach cleanups. Callie also describes learning how to take water quality samples and helping to collect them by taking a boat to their sampling sites, with the data being used to track the quality of the water on a day-to-day and long-term basis. Listen to learn how Callie came to her service position at the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve looking for an opportunity after graduating college to expand her skills and make a difference in the outdoors and how everything she has been learning is opening up different pathways for continuing her education following her service.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by Sage Spear, who was recognized as one of the Volunteer of the Year honorees at the 2025 Governor’s Service Awards for her efforts supporting the United Way of Jefferson & North Walworth Counties Inc and other nonprofit organizations and is currently serving as an AmeriCorps member with Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Community Corps. Sage discusses how her volunteer service at the United Way of Jefferson and North Walworth Counties started with supporting their weekly bingo nights and grew to supporting several other initiatives and projects. She also describes her service as an ambassador for Setting Scoliosis Straight, drawing on her own experiences needing a back brace for treatment as a child, as well as helping raise over $18,000 to build tiny homes for veterans in southern Wisconsin and over $100,000 for local nonprofits through the Miss Whitewater and Mr. Lake Geneva pageants. Sage then discusses her AmeriCorps service over the last year with MCHS Community Corps, expanding her service at the United Way of Jefferson & North Walworth Counties Inc, including leading their Parent Perks program to collect donations for their Parent Perks and Holiday Helpers drives and distribute the children’s supplies and items and the holiday gifts to individuals in need. She continues by explaining the impacts of having to stop and restart her service due to AmeriCorps grant terminations and reinstatements and how she has balanced serving as an AmeriCorps member this year while also working full-time, volunteering with other organizations, and her responsibilities this year while serving as USOA Miss Wisconsin. Listen to learn about Sage being recognized with the Governor’s Service Award earlier this year and service lights a fire in you so that you can see what can be achieved through service and want to do even more.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by Analena Peterson, who was one of the honorees recognized as Volunteer of the Year at the 2025 Governor’s Service Awards. Analena discusses how after struggling with reading when she was a younger student, she learned to love reading and wanted to provide books for other children to help them develop their own passion for reading. She describes how her volunteer efforts grew from donating books to local Little Free Libraries and a few nonprofit organizations to collecting, sorting, and donating over 25,000 books and opening more than twenty of her own Little Free Libraries throughout Wisconsin and in a few other states before graduating high school this May. Analena discusses how the connections she has made through participating in pageants has expanded her ability to open up more Little Free Libraries across the state. She also shares about volunteering to assist numerous non-literary collection drives with organizations like the Volunteer Center of Washington County. Listen to learn how she plans to continue her volunteer efforts as she prepares to start college this fall while running track as a student athlete, including creating her own nonprofit organization to help support her philanthropic efforts in the future.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Jon Goltz, who served two terms with College Possible Wisconsin and previously served a term with Wisconsin Reading Corps. Jon describes his service providing coaching to students at Casimir Pulaski High School and St. Thomas More High School, working with juniors during his first term and seniors during his service this year. He discusses the different types of assistance he has provided to the students on their path to graduating high school and applying to and enrolling in college. Jon also describes his service with Wisconsin Reading Corps providing literacy tutoring to K-3 students at Whitman Elementary School and his path to serving students after a variety of positions in other career fields following graduation. Listen in to learn about how Jon’s AmeriCorps service with College Possible Wisconsin and Wisconsin Reading Corps helped him gain experience working with students and transition into a career in education next year, when he will be a physical education teacher with Milwaukee Public Schools. NOTE: The interview for this episode was recorded on the morning of April 25, 2025 prior to the unexpected termination of Wisconsin AmeriCorps program grants that evening, which impacts questions and responses by Jon about the remainder of his service term.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Connor Grossnickle, who served two terms with College Possible Wisconsin. Conner describes his service providing coaching to roughly 150 students from underserved backgrounds as they pursue their college degree, with over half of his students at Milwaukee Area Technical College, as well as those attending Mount Saint Mary University, UW-Milwaukee, and other colleges across the country. He discusses not only helping them with common pitfalls that students face, such as issues with financial aid and registering for classes, but also helping them become comfortable on campus, particularly with many of them being first-generation college students. Connor also describes how he was assisting a sizeable number of unenrolled students as they navigated various challenges, working to help them on a path to financial stability either through planning out their course towards financial stability, whether reenrolling for school, becoming a part-time students, or pursuing another path towards certification for a job or starting their future career. Listen in to learn about how Conner started his journey as an AmeriCorps member and how he hopes to build on that experience in his future career endeavors supporting the work of Milwaukee area nonprofits organizations. NOTE: The interview for this episode was recorded on the morning of April 25, 2025 prior to the unexpected termination of Wisconsin AmeriCorps program grants that evening, which impacts questions and responses by Connor about the remainder of his service term.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Haiying Yang, who is serving this year with College Possible Wisconsin. Haiying describes his service providing coaching to 164 college students from underserved backgrounds, helping them navigate academic and financial challenges they face throughout the year and assisting them with career development along their path to graduating from college. He discusses how he connects with the students on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus where he is based, as well as how he provides assistance to students at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Tennessee State University. Listen in to learn about how Haiying is making a difference for college students while also gaining experience he hopes to use in a future career assisting students in higher education.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Emma Ehlers, who is currently serving her second term with WisCorps at The Nature Place in La Crosse. Emma describes her service this year as a Community Program Educator and the programs she helps lead, such as visiting schools and other organizations with their Critter Mobile and a combination of their two lizards, three snakes, ornate box turtle, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches. She discusses the wide variety of programs and efforts she supports in her role, from participating in community events to share about the natural world to the Memory Camps for adults with mild to moderate dementia with different presenters at their center in Myrick Park. Emma then describes her service as an Environmental Educator the previous summer, providing themed environmental program for children on different nature topics each week. Listen in to learn about how Emma gained a love of nature in elementary service and how serving at The Nature Place let her reconnect with Humphrey, the corn snake that had once been in her fourth grade classroom but is now one of the animals at The Nature Place that she uses when providing environmental education.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service story of AmeriCorps member Trisha Bradley, who is currently serving her second term with Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) Community Corps at the Dodge County Public Health Department, and had previously served another term with MCHS Recovery Corps. Trisha describes how she helps get information out to the public about health concerns as part of her service at the Dodge County Public Health Department, ranging from spreading the word about recent food recalls to giving presentations about the impacts of social isolation on mental health. She also discusses her efforts helping the health department complete its Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan, including doing focus groups and surveys to help assess community needs and creating standard operating procedures. Trisha then describes her service with MCHS Recovery Corps, providing coaching and resources to support individuals in recovery from substance abuse disorders. Listen in to learn about why the MCHS midterm training was one of her favorite experiences from her AmeriCorps service and how the training and professional development she received because of her AmeriCorps service helped lead her to a full-time job helping families that she will have following her service.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps alumnus Randy Schneider, who served for four terms as an AmeriCorps members with Wisconsin Reading Corps and has been one of their program managers over the last three years. Randy describes his service as a literacy tutor working with kindergarten through third grade students over four years at Longfellow School in Milwaukee, including in-person tutoring sessions and modifying to virtual sessions for a portion of his service during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also discusses serving as a lead tutor for his final three terms, gradually expanding the number of fellow AmeriCorps members he supported during his time with the program. Randy then describes his transition to becoming a program manager with Wisconsin Reading Corps and how he has continued providing support to their AmeriCorps members in this new role, as well as the advice he would give to those interested in AmeriCorps service or those already serving. Listen in to learn about the significant impact that serving with AmeriCorps has had for Randy as a physically disabled cancer survivor, who has gone from struggling to make ends meet to thriving thanks, in no small part, to the doors opened by his AmeriCorps service.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Nicole Eshelman, who is serving her second term with Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction AmeriCorps Farm to School. She has been serving students in the greater La Crosse area the last two years, being based at the Holmen School District and Extension La Crosse County - University of Wisconsin-Madison. Nicole describes the variety of service activities she has done supporting the sustainability of Farm to School programming at thirty-four schools across the region, including fostering partnerships with various community organizations to bolster various Farm to School lessons and activities. She also discusses leading nutrition education lessons for a wide range of students, from 4K to seniors in high school, and how she adapts concepts and activities for different grade levels. Listen to learn how Nicole began her AmeriCorps service as a way to use her degree focusing on health and wellness management and program building after making a career change and how she has found enjoyment making an impact in the community by being a part of providing healthier meals and nutrition, environmental, and garden education for her own children and those across all of the schools she serves.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Kori Blumer, who is serving her second term with Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction AmeriCorps Farm to School at the Monona Grove School District. Kori describes the variety of service activities she has done leading nutrition education lessons and cafeteria taste tests, helping to get local foods into schools, and supporting the sustainability of school gardens and farm to school programming across the district. She also discusses the launch of their new community dinner series during Farm to School month in October to highlight their efforts in procuring local foods for school meals. Kori shares about how her academic background in nutrition and becoming a registered dietitian helped lead her to her Farm to School AmeriCorps service and the enjoyment she has found working with students and connecting with the community. Listen to learn how Kori is using varied lessons across the age range of students she is serving, as well as using a variety of foods to make connections with students, from local butternut squash, beans, and corn in Three Sisters Stew to help celebrate Native American Heritage Month to exposing students to the use of insects in foods and agriculture in different parts of the world by bringing in chocolate chip cookies made with cricket powder and chapulines (fried grasshoppers).
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Kathryn Yang, who served three AmeriCorps terms with the Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services at Pathfinders in Milwaukee and was recognized this year with the Governor’s Service Award as AmeriCorps Member of the Year and the Impactful Service Award at the national Excellence in AmeriCorps Awards. Kathryn describes how she was served by Pathfinders herself after being a survivor of being exploited to human trafficking and bringing this experience to numerous aspects of her AmeriCorps service the last few years. She discusses helping provide a voice for youth experiencing similar circumstances through the Collaborative Rapid Advocacy for Youth (CRAY) group and the Power of Paths (POP) Youth Action Board. Additionally, she describes how she has conducted support groups for women in detention and trainings for police officers and medical staff when working with youth experiencing homelessness and exploitation. Listen in to learn how Kathryn grew in numerous ways during her AmeriCorps service with WAHRS at Pathfinders, including finding her own voice and the ability to speak openly and unafraid conducting street outreach as part of the Street Beat team.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Tholia Lewis, who is serving with the Milwaukee Justice Center (MJC). Tholia discusses her service assisting members of the public at the Milwaukee County Courthouse in several ways, including serving as a courthouse navigator, helping them complete forms needed for different processes, and providing information at their help desk, as well as assisting people calling their helpline prior to coming to the courthouse. Listen in to learn about Tholia’s experience serving during the initial year of the MJC AmeriCorps program and how she is gaining experience helping people navigate the court system before beginning law school.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Morgan Westlund, who has been serving over the last year with the Green Bay Conservation Corps (GBCC). Morgan discusses the service she has done so far this year in the city’s parks and other outdoor spaces, serving part-time during the school year while completing high school and then full-time this summer following her graduation. She describes how much of her service over the winter was focused on restoration and removing invasive species, while her service over the last several months has featured a variety of projects and plantings. Morgan also highlights how her participation in the leadership pathway program with GBCC and the experience she gained earlier in the year have led her to become the crew lead for one of their three crews this summer, leading the crew based at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. Listen in to learn about how serving with the Green Bay Conservation Corps while completing the classes for both her high school diploma and an associate degree has opened up several opportunities for Morgan and how she hopes to build upon this experience as she continues her studies in college while majoring in environmental science.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Kourtney Carrico, who recently completed her third term with Easterseals Wisconsin as their Transitions Coordinator. Kourtney discusses her service leading programming for individuals with disabilities ages 16-25 to help them gain skills and experiences to support their transition into adulthood. She describes the Transitions Weekends that she organized for campers four times a year, including field trips to allow for job exploration and activities to learn skills for preparing meals, doing interviews, cleaning and packing, and going online safely. Listen in to learn about how Kourtney will be leading the inaugural Transitions Week at Easterseals Wisconsin Camps this summer and to find out how Kourtney has been able to bring the experiences and knowledge she has gained both as a special education teacher during the year and as an AmeriCorps member to impact the different students and campers with whom she has worked the last three years.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Kathy Esposito, who served this year with Schools of Hope at Lowell Elementary in Madison. Kathy discusses her service this year as a literacy tutor, from helping some of her students learn their alphabet and letter sounds to helping others build up their skills and confidence for more challenging books. She describes how she came to her AmeriCorps service this year after a career in journalism and with a passion for language and literacy, finding enjoyment working with the students to develop their reading skills. Listen in to learn about how Kathy has been able to serve neighborhood students at the same school her own children attended and some of her favorite books for helping her students become better readers.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Rowan Russell-Berry, who is currently serving with Schools of Hope at Lake View Elementary in Madison. Rowan discusses their service this year as a literacy tutor, describing the different activities they are doing with and their work coordinating and supporting volunteer literacy tutors at the school. Rowan describes several additional projects they are working on this year, including the program-wide Books of Hope project that provides books to all of the students the program serves, a new interactive training for volunteer tutors in the Madison Metropolitan School District, and new surveys to gauge student attitudes as readers. Listen in to learn how Rowan has worked to boost student interest and enhance participation in literacy tutoring, incorporated song writing, comic writing, and a dice rolling story creation activity, as well as forging connections with students through assisting with the walking school bus program and numerous clubs at the school.
In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Angelica Morales, who is currently serving her fourth AmeriCorps term with the Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services (WAHRS) at Pathfinders in Milwaukee. Angelica discusses her service over the last four years at the Pathfinders Youth Shelter, which provides short-term shelter for adolescents aged 11-17 and crisis counseling for older youth. She describes the assistance she provides for youth, including her role in the intake process, their intervention plans, and group meetings, as well as the overall support, guidance, and supervision she provides during their stays at the shelter. Listen in to learn how Angelica has grown to love working with youth through her AmeriCorps service at Pathfinders, as well how she has found opportunities to use her artistic abilities to help providing education and awareness about a variety of topics.