Just after accepting the Vista position with Cornerstone I had a chance to volunteer for a week. I have always enjoyed volunteering.

It seems I get more out of it each time than I give. Volunteering is funny that way. Give a little and you get a lot back. One of the days I volunteered I got the privilege of visiting the Welcome Back/Tarrant County program, a ministry for prisoners just about to be released from prison.

I'll be honest, I was nervous. But Carolyn suggested I take the opportunity to learn a little about one of Cornestone's programs. Such knowledge is helpful if I am going to communicate to effectively to potential volunteers.

So I went.

We have certain stereotypes of prisoners and ex-cons. Much of that comes from Hollywood I'd imagine. Turned out, almost none of what I thought would be true, was true.

That said, not many of them looked like me, but that I was prepared for. Tattoos were the norm, but I've learned enough in my life not to judge someone by skin color or tattoo markings. What I wasn't prepared for was the incredible witness this ministry is to prisoners about to enter the real world again after their incarceration. The day I was there, five former inmates got up and spoke. All have have steady jobs. All have homes or apartments of their own. All have family or church support systems. All have accepted Christ.

There stories of sacrifice and really hard work were a lesson to me, even though I have never been to prison. They made a choice to completely walk away from their former life. If that's not a walking advertisement for Cornerstone I don't know what is.

That was the day I really understood what this ministry was all about. The goal, plain and simple is to change lives. In each ministry offered here at Cornerstone, the goal is to have our clients walk away self-sufficient and changed for the better.

Praise God.

Until next time,

Ryan

I guess this is my first post, kicking off what I hope will be a productive and exciting year here at Cornerstone.So for those of you that don't know me, I'll introduce myself properly. My name is Ryan Wilcox and I am very excited to be serving as an AmeriCorps Vista for the Cornerstone Assistance Network this year.

I'm a graduate of Texas Christian University here in Fort Worth. I've always had a passion for service and AmeriCorps mission was very attractive to me.

I spent last week in Albuquerque, NM for PSO training, the training given to all Vista's before being sworn in and officially going to their sites. The experience only affirmed that I have made the right decision for myself in becoming a Vista. I met Vistas from all over the country, many of whom I did not look like or agree with on a range of issues.

But you know what? That didn't matter. The only thing that really mattered was that we all had a common purpose, a dedication to improving our communities and the lives of the people we would come in contact with, and a larger goal of lessening the effect poverty has on America today.

Lofty goals to be sure. But in my book, if one homeless person ends up getting his GED or becomes self-sufficient because of what Cornerstone does, it's a success. Over the next few weeks I'm going to make the effort to visit with as many CAN employees as possible, that way I can learn the organization and better convey to volunteers the goals of the organization and reasons why everyone here is so passionate about what they do.

Until next time,

Ryan