AmeriCorps team completes three-month Pateros tour

PATEROS – The 13th AmeriCorps team to spend part of its 10-month tour working in the city since April 1, departed for its home base in Sacramento last Saturday, June 18. The nine-member crew comprised of five men and four women ranged in age from 19 to the mid-20’s, came from eight states, and included a mixture of non-college, college-bound, college-enrolled, and college graduates in the group.

Before arriving in Pateros, the team also performed a variety of projects including environmental stewardship, urban and rural development, and fire recovery. They did fuel mitigation work in Grass Valley, California, and invasive species (scotch broom) removal in Stayton, Oregon.

Locally the team divided its time between home rebuilds with Okanogan County Long Term Recovery and renovation and grounds work at the Pateros Treehouse Early Education Organization (PTEEO) property on Independence Street.

After their AmeriCorps tour is complete the team members will go their separate ways to pursue a variety of professions. One member, Chloe Dinwiddie from Kansas City, Missouri, plans to take up firefighting thanks in part to her AmeriCorps experience. Some other examples:

• Liam Henry from Fairfax, Virginia, plans to attend Old Dominion University in his home state and major in mechanical engineering.

• Julie Reeves from Margate, New Jersey, a 2021 University of Delaware graduate, is headed for Philadelphia to teach English.

• Sinawe Cuba from Atlanta, Georgia, has completed two years of college and plans to complete his accounting degree.

• Kay Roberts from San Antonio, Texas, is heading to the University of Hawaii to study psychology.

• Charles Viegert, from Columbus, Ohio, will return to college to complete his theater major, music minor and communications minor.

• Margot Koenig from Cincinnati, Ohio, has a degree in Environment and Natural Resources and wants to find work in that field.

• Jack Dedman from East Haddam, Connecticut, has his eye on a trade like carpentry.

• Rafael from Austin, Texas, a political science graduate of Texas State, is joining the Peace Corps for a posting in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) South Africa.

On March 6, 2021, Douglas-Okanogan Fire District 15 burned the parsonage, a doublewide manufactured structure, which represented the beginning of major outdoor grounds renovation on the PTEEO property.

A previous AmeriCorps team arrived in April-May 2021 and removed nearly 2.5 tons of ash and trash left by the controlled burn.

Extensive playground fencing was completed in 2021 and interior renovation of the former Church of Christ building began in January this year.