“My typical day thus far has been anything but typical,” said Amanda Irwin, member of the Class of 2015. After graduating last spring, Amanda moved to Buffalo to work with the Wesley Service Corps.
“Moving to Buffalo has bombarded me with diversity, my race, and understanding a new concept of community,” Irwin wrote in a recent e-mail interview. “The support of fellow Houghton students in the area has been great and extremely helpful – I don’t know that I could have done this program without that.”
Stephanie Smith, Director of Wesley Service Corps (WSC) and Houghton alumna from the Class of 2007, noted that sixteen Houghton graduates are currently engaged with the program, which was established in 2010. She said that it grew from the many connections Houghton students were building in Buffalo as student teachers, summer AmeriCorps project participants, and full-time AmeriCorps workers. WSC also built upon the work of former Houghton professor Dr. Chuck Massey and the relationships which he had developed in the city. According to Smith, Wesley Service Corps now encompasses year-long opportunities for recent Houghton grads through AmeriCorps as well as Buffalo Urban Mission Partnership (BUMP). The latter, as stated on their website, is a “collaboration of churches and ministries in Buffalo for the purpose of equipping and training women and men for Kingdom work in the City.” This equipping and training, the webpage says, is done through living and worshipping together in fellowship, studying urban missions, and serving others through non-profit organizations and local churches.
Since beginning the WSC program, Irwin has been grant-writing, working with her hands to assemble things like a candy machine, and compiling a newsletter for senior citizens in the area where she lives. “I go to work every day trying to anticipate the solutions to problems I may be faced with and never really knowing what might arise,” Irwin commented. She lives only two and a half blocks from her office, with two fellow Houghton graduates who are also participating in AmeriCorps programs.
As an AmeriCorps VISTA, Irwin serves a nonprofit agency known as Concerned Ecumenical Ministry, on the west side of Buffalo. According to her description, this organization runs facilities housing youth directors, support centers for Congolese and Burmese communities, a church known as the Dream Center, case managers for service to senior citizens, and a ceramics collective. Assisting with administrative work for the organization, Irwin is in charge of managing room rentals and communicating building maintenance issues to a board of directors. “I had to learn quickly, be unafraid to ask questions, and be confident enough in myself to make decisions,” she said.
Smith also pointed out that the Wesley Service Corps is not only for alumni. Summer programs through AmeriCorps are available for current students, as well. These include urban agricultural youth development programs and ESL programs for refugee students. There are approximately twelve to fourteen slots in these programs each year.
“Wesley Service Corps members get to engage in a highly formative service experience that is well beyond a typical entry level job,” commented Smith. “While there are inherent challenges, such as navigating cultural barriers, living at poverty level, and finding work/life balance when surrounded with so much need, these are part of what make WSC opportunities so deeply formative and meaningful.” These sentiments are shared by Irwin, who writes, “This is definitely not for everyone. But if you have a ready heart and an open mind than it is possible to experience some really amazing things.”
According to Smith, “These WSC members are infusing life, energy, and passion into the communities they serve, reaching beyond themselves and entering into the story of thousands of Buffalonians.”