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VISTA worker broadens horizons
YOUNGSTOWN
Angie Hakeem says being an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer enables her to serve the community and individual clients in fighting poverty in ways that are personally satisfying.
“It has been over and above my expectations,” Hakeem said of her first year with VISTA, which ends July 10. She plans to remain with the program another year.
AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to fight poverty. It was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965 and incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs in 1993.
VISTA members serve full time for a year at a nonprofit organization or local government agency working to fight illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses and strengthen community groups.
Hakeem’s sponsor is Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, from which she goes into the community to work with other agencies and organizations to establish Ohio Benefit Bank sites and train OBB counselors.
The Benefit Bank is an Internet-based program that assists low- and moderate-income residents file tax returns and assess their eligibility for tax credits and benefits.
It is a one-stop shopping site for people to find benefits for which they may be eligible. They also can receive help filling out and filing applications directly to the appropriate agency, said Kim Peters, Second Harvest agency relations program manager.
“Anytime we can put resources, such as tax refunds, back into the community, it takes some pressure off other agencies,” Peters said.
A Youngstown native, Hakeem, 43, says it definitely helps to work in a familiar community.
She graduated from Austintown Fitch High School in 1986, attended Youngstown State University, received an associate degree in business administration in 1992 from Penn-Ohio College, and she earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies and a master’s degree in Christian counseling from Midwest Seminary in Wisconsin.
She is the daughter of Ahmad Hakeem and Dr. M. Rossie Taylor, both of Youngstown, and has three children: Shaiyla Hakeem, Maraiya Hakeem and Treland Hakeem, all of Youngstown.
She has worked in management, owned a small business and plans to study criminal profiling and become a criminal defense lawyer.
Hakeem said her job will broaden in her second year with VISTA to become a community organizer of new OBB sites and partnering and networking with agencies and organizations where she can meet potential clients.
As a VISTA member, she receives a living allowance of $897 per month paid by the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Also, at the end of the first year, she is eligible for either a $5,500 education award or $1,500 in cash, Peters said.