Tonya Scheideman, 21, left a plastic bag factory’s assembly line in Redding, Calif., for a cross-country adventure organized by a kind of domestic Peace Corps — the Maryland-based Americorps National Civilian Community Corps.
Scheideman’s decision brought her from rebuilding sites in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans to Baltimore’s Gwynns Falls Trail.
For the past five days, Scheideman worked alongside 10 other NCCC volunteers restoring stone fire pits that NCCC predecessors — unskilled laborers in need of work — built during the Depression under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps project.
The NCCC team of enthusiastic young men and women also widened the trail, pruned overgrown shrubs and plants, removed debris and planted 250 maples, dogwoods and sycamores along the 15-mile hiking and bicycling trail for its June 7 reopening.
“The trees are restoration-grade,” said NCCC team leader Travis King. “Their powerful root system allows them to grow three times faster than normal and shade out invasive [plants] so they die out naturally without pulling or weeding. It’s helping increase Baltimore’s canopy coverage that Mayor [Sheila Dixon] is trying to double within 30 years.”
The effect Americorps had on King’s friends persuaded him to join the organization, he said. “Over half the stories they told about their lives came from the 10 months they spent in Americorps. They couldn’t stop talking about it.”
For the 10 months Americorps NCCC members work on environment, education, public safety, unmet needs, homeland security and disaster relief projects, they receive housing, meals, limited medical benefits, about $200 (before taxes) every two weeks and up to $400 a month for child care. But an important motivation for King is the nearly $5,000 for education he’ll receive. He plans to go back to school for a master’s degree in nonprofit management.
“People have different reasons for joining,” said Kari Smith, Americorps alumna and assistant director of Baltimore Parks & People’s Green Communities. “They’re trying to find a direction to take for their lives outside of school. There is a hope that the members will work in public service.”Smith knows firsthand how Americorps encourages its members to learn about the issues plaguing the communities they’re helping. “They don’t just come in and leave,” she said. “They’re aware of Baltimore’s issues, and that helps them have a more meaningful project.”
“There aren’t very many well-paying jobs where I’m from,” Scheideman said. “It’s hard to find security and benefits [in Redding.] If I wasn’t with Americorps, I’d still be on the assembly line.”
