NCCC Team Leader Spotlight - Jimmy Kelly

Team Leader Alumni Spotlight: Jimmy Kelly Jimmy Kelly served as a Corps Member and Team Leader at Perry Point in Classes XII and XIII. He is now the Maple Unit Leader at the North Central NCCC campus in Vinton, Iowa.

What were some of your favorite projects?

One of my favorite projects was working with Camp DREAM. Our project was in Fletcher, VT and we worked for their camp for 6 weeks building a tree house that would house 10 to 12 campers. We also helped construct a garden and doing some of the grounds-work. It was a composite team, so we had a bunch of people from different teams Team Leader Jim Kelly and his team together. We all slept in tents, cooked our food over a camp fire and would only go into town once a week, on weekends. No cell phone reception. Just us, the team, and the work. The work was extremely physically demanding every board for the tree house had to be carried uphill a quarter of a mile. As a team leader I had a few projects I really enjoyed. The first one, we worked at Camp Hope kitchen preparing dinner for 200 to 400 people every night. So our team got to develop and plan the recipes, and because so many people connect deeply through food, it was a really good way to serve volunteers and Corps Members from every campus. Denver, Sacramento… we would dress up as KISS to serve the food, or have ―criss-cross‖ nights where we wore our uniforms backwards.

How did NCCC impact your Life After AmeriCorps?

First, from a mind-set perspective, it definitely slowed me down, chilled me out a little bit, and taught me the different ways of communicating with people and how important that is. Bringing that communication to them, if you’re having problems communicating with people, learning how to break that down. It taught me patience as a communicator. It also set the stage for jobs that I would later have, highlighting the needs we have as a country. I moved back to Iowa, and that summer there were massive record breaking floods in Iowa and the Midwest. My girlfriend and I worked in a Red Cross that summer, responding to the floods, then I saw a VISTA position that opened up. I thought, working with AmeriCorps – that’s something I get, Corps Member Jimmy Kelly (to the right of President Clinton) there’s something I can bring to this position. I worked with with some of the other members of his team that organization for almost 2 years, and was able to work with NCCC teams from the North Central region, established that personal relationships with the members and staff. That in turn set me up to get a job with NCCC. Working with the government and in public service is something I’ve always been interested in, but working as a Corps Member in NCCC really showed me a super effective and efficient way to get involved. You can sit there and write policy or be involved on higher levels, but what’s really exciting is what’s happening on the ground.

What advice would you give to NCCC members?

Just take the opportunity to test yourself. Whether it’s actively engaging in a difficult situation or conversation, communicating with a person you view as difficult… test yourself because that will result in the most growth, and that’s where you’ll see yourself and others around you benefit.

Pushing your boundaries is one of the underlying aspects of NCCC.