 Hi, everyone. We are here for Mercy Connections, a nonprofit organization in Burlington that offers classes in education and transition, justice and mentoring in women's small business program. Myself and the panelists are coming here today from one of the education and transitioning programs for Mont community leadership training. In leadership, 11 participants and myself learn how to use our voices to stand out in the community. In this class, we have opportunities to meet with local representatives, visit the state house in Montpelier and work to create our own community project. What's for some of us is this show. I'd like our participants to introduce themselves and share a little about their experiences in Vermont community leadership training. Stephanie, would you like to start us off? Thank you, Clara. I am participating in the Vermont community leadership program at Mercy Connections and I guess what I want to share the most important thing I'm taking away from that program is my idea of leadership has changed and I realize now that is not really about power, but about people talking to one another, listening carefully to one another and finding common threads, common ground to form community and deal with issues together. Kathy? I began at Mercy Connections in October of 18 as a relatively new resident in Burlington. I was in search of support services as a person in major life transition and transformation. I decided to do the Vermont leadership program as a way to develop community connections and establish a network with other support services, service organizations plus renewed community leadership skills. I'd like to use the education and training to work with people in need of social support due to having unusual chronic diseases, particularly women. Kirsten? Hi, I'm Kirsten Cowan-Hobbin. I really have enjoyed this class and I thought of leadership as something more like a role, similar to Stephanie. I didn't think of myself as a leader, so I've gained a lot of the skills and the confidence to be a leader. We came up with our own definition for leadership, which is to inspire and motivate people to make positive change for the future. We learned about different ways to become engaged in the community, including going to meetings, city council meetings, neighborhood planning meetings, voting. We had a city councilor come in to talk with us and she talked about a wide range of issues that are pertinent to us, such as the opiate crisis, runoff and even parking. Like Clara said, we had the opportunity to have a project. I see that my neighbors oftentimes have a hard time making ends meet at the end of the month. I think that's a basic right that we need, that everyone should have is a right to your food and housing and health care. I am starting a community pantry away for us to come together and help each other and provide free donated items, such as food and household items so that people have enough to survive. This class has taught me to learn more about myself, what my values are and to act upon those values. Important part of this class has been to get our message across, which is what we're doing right now. We learned about public speaking. We had a guest speaker come in and talk to us about connecting with the audience and speaking from the heart, being authentic. One of her tips that stayed with me was when dealing with anxiety to take those butterflies that you might have in your stomach, which I have right now, is for them to motivate you and let them fly. Clara also mentioned the state house visit, which we all were able to go to. It was a highlight for me because it made it more real and I could really see, I could really observe the house of representatives and that the state house is an open forum. Anyone can go there and visit. What I've learned, I've gained confidence and become more comfortable. I've learned skills to be an effective leader. I've learned about the many different ways of becoming involved in the community and that each person can motivate, inspire and make change in their community. We do this together because I wouldn't be up here without you and everybody else, my other classmates behind the camera. I wouldn't have the courage to be able to speak with you today without their help. Good things come from working together as a group. I just want to leave with you that there are many opportunities in your neighborhood. Find something that you're passionate about and be brave and step up and speak out. We can all be leaders working together. Chris? Okay, thanks. One of the things I've learned in the leadership class is to be prepared and do my homework for effective communication with the public and stick to the topic. So that's helped me out with communicating in the public and also right now. Okay, back to Clara. Thank you, Kathleen, Kristin, Stephanie and Chris. The leadership program for me has given me opportunities. I would have never had a chance to do if it was not for Mercy Connections. Heather Gilbert, the teacher of many classes at Mercy Connections, has been a great person to learn from and she means a great deal to me and many others that attend classes at Mercy Connections. I know like many participants at Mercy, we have all taken more than this one leadership class. I have personally participated in developing self and kindling connections. Developing self helps you gain a better understanding of who you are. It acts as a step one to knowing or re-knowing yourself and your strengths. It encourages you in activities that are draw awareness to your inner critic so you can recognize it and develop better self-care routines, which will further encourage by daily kindness challenges each class a challenge was presented as an act of kindness towards yourself. Kindling connections is more in-depth like the step two to revealing and nurturing your authentic self activities like creating a vision board, block clarity to the vision you had for yourself, which always helped you create the final project was a PowerPoint presentation on your story and your identity. I found these classes to be life changing helping me build the skills to take care of and love myself. I'd love to share with our viewers some of the experiences all of you have had with Mercy Connections. Stephanie would you like to start? Thank you. So I have also participated in the justice and mentoring program through Mercy Connections. We are given an orientation about the protocols and the like of working with women who are either incarcerated or are coming out and rejoining their community. The orientation is very thorough as is the pairing of the mentees and mentors so that success is pretty certain. And after all of that you get to actually do it and to be a support, a companion with someone and you sort of walk together through whatever is going on in your lives. And again it's sort of forming your own little community and both people benefit so much from it. It's wonderful. Kathleen. And just in two classes and workshops Mercy Connections has a weekly support group facilitated by Sister Ann. The group begins with a meditative lighting of a candle as a symbol of our shared eternal light. Serene music is then played during a moment of centering followed by a reading of inspirational writing. The circle is then begun with a personal reflection and sharing which done by passing a heart shaped stone. Participants are free to pass if desired. While sharing participants quietly listen whatever participants share is held in confidence by the group. The circle group provides a safe supportive environment to share concerns and joys which is very helpful to each person's well-being. Another group I've participated in is called Book and Writing which is a group that means weekly using books donated by the Humanities Council. The group is led by lead teacher Melissa Lang. During group participants discuss the assigned reading and share their own writings. Melissa provides a list of prompts to rise from the reading which generate discussion and provide writing ideas. These ideas are related to the book and or personal stories connected to the theme of the book. Weekly's writings are related to the reading of the book, the prompts or a topic of choice. Sharing of the writings is encouraged but not required. Constructive feedback is provided by Melissa and participants which provide support for improving writing skills. This group provides much enrichment through reading, creative writing and the group process. This results in improved personal connection and expression which is beneficial to improving self-esteem. Kirsten? Hi, I'd like to talk about two different programs I've been involved in. The tutoring program and Mercy Marketplace. I came to Mercy Connections after I had made several transitions in my life. I had just moved here from Burlington. I just moved here to Burlington from southern Vermont and I had lost my dad who was my number one cheerleader and I really needed a place that could give me the extra support and the network, social network to build my self-esteem. So I took some of the classes and I really, I built my confidence so that I was able to volunteer as a tutor teaching adults in literacy and English language learning. And I started volunteering. Before I moved here one of my dreams was to work with adults from other countries, share and learn about our respective cultures and to help them to adjust to life in the U.S. Mercy Connections has helped me to realize that dream. The tutoring program is led by Melissa Lange, a lead teacher and we provide individualized instruction in reading, writing, speaking and math for all adults. Our lead teacher, excuse me, our program fosters a supportive, inclusive community of learners which promote autonomy and self-direction. Volunteering here has provided me a meaningful direction, connected me to the community and provided me a way to contribute. This past fall I worked with a participant who was going towards his citizenship test. So he had to know a hundred questions on government, U.S. government and history and many of them I didn't know. He was so devoted and dedicated that he would provide me with a lot of practice, all these questions while on his work breaks. I was really inspired by him because he worked, he was so motivated and he really appreciated my help. He always thanked me. So I was really honored to be able to go to Rutland to see the ceremony where he was sworn in. I, in a college intern, took a lot of pictures and he wrote me and he was just ecstatic. He immediately registered to vote and he was just proud of his accomplishment and I'm proud that I was able to help him be part of that. So I'm grateful that Mercy Connections has empowered me to believe in myself and in turn to share my unique talents and abilities. The other program I have participated in is the Mercy Marketplace where you can sell your creative pursuits at a one-day bazaar. This class prepares participants to create a product that can then sell market price display and sell in a supportive environment. I make some healing, writing, and art work. I was part of a class not at Mercy Connections at the Hope Lodge with Patricia Pontain, so I was able to transform that artwork into a marketable product in the form of prints and also some cards. There you go. So I learned to value my own creativity and that selling is about making a connection, just like public speaking, what's about making a connection and telling your story. Most importantly, it's been an opportunity to share the inspiration and hope that Mercy Connections has given to me. And I am just thrilled, it's refreshing to be part of a community where everyone encourages each other to learn and grow and be our best selves. The staff and the interns and the volunteers not only teach us the practical skills, but they teach us self-care, positive self-talk, and self-care needed to reach our goals and to realize our dreams. And the highlight of that class was right before we did the marketplace, we gathered together and we to celebrate our efforts and to prepare ourselves for the day and even shared a cheer. Each step of the way I felt supported and loved and I am happily to report that I even made a respectable profit. Chris? Okay, thanks. So I've taken a few classes at Mercy Connections and it's a good place for a reboot, a positive new start and it develops a sense of being part of a community. It's important to have lifelong learning and growing. Mercy Connections can provide that and one of the classes I've taken is Getting Ahead which helped me realize my resources and use them in my life to improve my situation. So it's a good experience that enriches people and helps them grow and lifelong learn. So I appreciate that and Heather Gilbert has been a great support person and teacher. So that's really helped me also. So that's it. Go ahead, Clara. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and it's clear that Mercy Connections has had a great impact on all of us here. Now I'd like to introduce the lead program facilitator, Heather Gilbert. Thank you, Clara. As the lead program facilitator of Vermont Community Leadership Training, I'm very proud of our leaders here today and their presentation. Our mission at Mercy Connections is to meet people who are in transition and support them in reaching their goals. We provide programs that educate, mentor and launch entrepreneurs. Our leaders have talked about a few of our classes. There are many more programs and resources available. If you would like more information or to make a gift to Mercy Connections, visit our website at www.mercyconnections.org or call me at 802-846-7294. Thank you for watching our program.