MAVA VISTA Bios

A resident of Saint Cloud Minnesota, I graduated from Apollo High School in 2007. Now married to my high school sweetheart and raising three beautiful boys, I know the importance of spending family time together learning and playing. I found VISTA through an opportunity with a Children's Museum that will be in our hometown. I believe there are so many benefits to having a Children's Museum in my community. Through being a VISTA, I will connect more families to the museum. More families will experience learning through hands-on interactive play together. Creating healthier children, stronger family bonds, more engaged communities and a promising future. That is why I choose to serve as a VISTA!

My name is Christina, I have been doing community work since I was in my early 20s with my church donating food and doing back to school drives providing school supplies to low income families who are experiencing financial hardships. My compassion and eye opening experiences developed my passion and purpose. It grew from there. Actively pursuing the goal of creating sustainable  communities. It brought me here to Americorp to engage, build, support and execute strategies with a team striving for the same goals to help our communities find and discover a better quality of life. 

A fun fact about me, I call myself a mini-architect, one of my passion projects is building miniatures and dollhouses for little girls who want that Barbie dream, but can't afford it, from recycled materials.  

My name is Lena and I graduated from Macalester College in May 2022. I majored in International Studies with a concentration in Community and Global Health (CGH) and minored in French. I have a strong interest in public health which drew me to the CGH concentration where I took classes such as Anthropology of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Global Perspectives on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health.

I used the knowledge that I learned in classes and connected them to real world scenarios and skills through internships. I interned with Hennepin County Department of Public Health to create an assessment of their hiring practices using an equity lens where I learned the importance of having county employees represent the communities they serve. I also interned with the University of Minnesota where I conducted research and developed lessons for their digital global health curriculum. Through this experience, I expanded my knowledge of medical terminology and learned to effectively create learning material on health subjects. Most recently, I interned at a health clinic in Dakar, Senegal during my semester studying away in the fall of 2021. I worked with a nurse to assist her in providing family planning care to women in the neighborhood. It was interesting to learn about the processes within the clinic and the local health problems that many women faced in the area.

I was drawn to this AmeriCorps VISTA position with Hennepin Healthcare because I wanted to connect to the Twin Cities community. I have been living in Minnesota for 4 years and I have loved living here. The health internships that I have had in Minnesota have been remote so I thought this would be an opportunity to be on the ground and be able to interact with people in the community. I felt that with the year commitment, I would be able to develop deeper relationships and make a bigger impact with the volunteer services program, which is important to me. Also, being in a hospital setting is a good way to expand my public health skills and knowledge.

Morgan Logue is a recent graduate from South Dakota State University. She graduated with a Human Biology major and a Criminal Justice minor. During her time at college, she discovered her interest in volunteerism when she volunteered at a hospital and began working closely with their volunteer coordinator. Morgan also volunteered through multiple student organizations on campus. Two organizations she felt were most impactful were HEROH, an organization dedicated to educate students about well-rounded health, and the Feminist Equality Movement, which focused on raising awareness of sexual assault. Morgan is excited to combine her passions of health and advocacy as she serves with Rainbow Health to help recruit volunteers. 

Alli Mans graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN in May 2022. She majored in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and minored in Art & Design and Religion. Alli will be serving as the Volunteer Engagement Associate for Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity in Moorhead. Throughout her years at Concordia, she participated in and led several week-long HFH trips and served on the board as a spring break coordinator. Alli thoroughly enjoyed her experience working with HFH and wanted to continue collaborating with them in her community after graduation. She is excited to work with such an impactful organization and create meaningful connections within the community.