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ECO AmeriCorps Gratitudes
Past Rich Earth ECO AmeriCorps members: Jamina, Julia, Gretchen, Jennifer & Ryan
For years, the ECO AmeriCorps program has brought a steady flow of eager and enthusiastic humans to the Rich Earth family. We’ve been honored to be a host site in this program–run by the Vermont DEC as part of the national AmeriCorps program–which has made it possible for us to make connections with people who were uniquely eager to take a trip beyond the U-bend and learn about the power, potential, and pathways to reclaiming human waste as a resource.
AmeriCorps offered a unique kind of position, enabling members to spend 11 months immersing in this work, building relationships, following their curiosities, and finding their niches. Without the ‘sorting hat’ of this program and its enabling powers, we never would have met such wonderful people–many of whom went on to work with Rich Earth, our spin-off Brightwater Tools, and more than that become our friends on this long journey toward healing the relationships between our bodies and the land.
As ECO AmeriCorps–at least in its current form–comes to an end due to tragic federal funding cuts, with ripple effects felt across the nation, we remain grateful for the time it enabled us to spend growing meaningful connections.
We’re also saying farewell to our last ECO AmeriCorps member, Robin Fitzgerald, whose creativity and joy was an absolute delight and inspiration to have on the team. They delved into every aspect of our work; helping out on portable toilet runs, making art for our thank you cards and ‘Piss-Off competition’, assisting with social research, running our VermiPonics system, writing grants, dreaming up new ideas for our education programming, and generally believing in the meaningfulness of this work to deepening our relationships through the intricate entanglement of our bodies, ecosystems, and community. Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts, Robin!
