Help Rebuild Something

Chloe had always been a volunteer. First through school, then as a Girl Scout. She kept up her commitment to volunteering through the demands of high school and college.

She decided to apply to volunteer through AmeriCorps, which provides year-long, full-time community service positions. Chloe was offered an AmeriCorps volunteer position with the Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley affiliate in San Jose, California.

“I didn’t know anything about San Jose. I had to Google it. I was living in New Hampshire and agreed to move across the country. I had no idea what I was doing. It was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Early on, it was clear to Chloe that she was on the right path. “I called my mom from AmeriCorps orientation and told her that I’d found my tribe. I’d never felt like that before. I get so passionate about volunteerism, but until that moment, I didn’t belong to a group of people who shared that same passion.”

While with Rebuilding Together, Chloe traveled to Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City and Las Vegas to work on home rebuilding projects. “My life may have never have brought me to those places. I met volunteers, homeowners and other people whose worlds were so different than mine, and yet we found common ground. And despite our differences, I saw how people all over the country come together to change each other’s lives.”

One of the things that drew Chloe to serving in AmeriCorps with Rebuilding Together was the focus it puts on professional development. In particular, she remembers a training on how to build your own professional brand, where she learned how to better present herself in the professional world.