Anna Matejova, an AmeriCorps VISTA member is easily perceived as humble in both spirit and manner. This is perfect for her position as a volunteer coordinator and tutor for an ESL Program which helps refugees from all over the world, especially Burma, Bhutan, Congo, Burundi, and Iraq.

She has enthusiastically learned the needs of the community by piloting several tutoring programs, networking with individuals that work with refugees in social and health services, and researching opportunities for these clients. Her biggest resource is the personal relationships that she has built with foreign-born individuals and families within the community. She has chosen to live within the community that she works in and she has developed relationships to better understand the needs, wants, and cultures of the people that surround her. Her research and guidance from her network of experts has lead her to a successful year as a coordinator for Houghton College’s “Semester in the City” Program.

Semester in the City is an opportunity for Houghton College students, who live in rural New York, to learn about city life and the social and economic needs throughout Buffalo. These students, who are directed and guided by Anna, volunteer in after school programs, tutoring, and teaching ESL classes to refugees. Anna facilitates empowerment and fosters ownership for volunteers by helping them create their own lesson plans and outside educational field trips for students. This also allows ESL students to learn from multiple methods, increasing their knowledge, retention, and interest in education and eventually, self sustainability. Since June 2010, Anna has recruited more than 418 volunteers and has logged 3,496 volunteer hours. She has expanded the ESL and tutoring program and has also served more than 760 individuals within the City of Buffalo. Because of these accomplishments, Houghton College has been awarded enough capital so that a coordinator can sustainably carryout the programs that have been developed by Anna when her term is complete.

Anna recently told VISTA Leaders her favorite story of service. She said,

“I was teaching a lesson and asked students to share whether any of them had a problem in their home, one woman emphatically said ‘Yes, my home….very cold!’ Using hand motions, Beh Meh explained that there was no heat in her home.  During that class, I could tell she was concentrating intently. She had written down the phrase ‘I have a problem with my heat,’ and practiced saying this. Class ended, and I asked Beh Meh whether she wanted me to go with her to talk to her landlord about the problem with the heat in her home. “No, seven o’clock, I go landlord house….” A few days later, I saw Beh Meh in class again. “How is your home?” I asked her. “Do you have heat?” “Yes!” she answered with a big smile. “My home good.”

Because of this, and so many other teachable moments, the WNY AmeriCorps VISTA team would like to nominate Anna Matejova as the recipient of the Service Impact Award.