Riley is our new AmeriCorps VISTA. As our third and final VISTA, much of his work will focus on sustainability. While with the WPC, Riley will be working to develop new youth prevention teams, develop training materials and info sheets to be used by current and future teams, aid in the strategic planning process by holding focus groups with youth and parents, and work to increase the visibility of the WPC in our community. 

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Look for Riley at our next WPC meeting. In the meantime, here's a bit about what he does when not at the office, goals as a VISTA and future plans. Welcome! 

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What do you like to do in your spare time? 

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I love to exercise my writing skills, I write philosophical fiction, non-fiction and short stories that I enter into national writing competitions.

 

I have a dog named Cowboy who is responsible for most of my happiness and I bring him with me and my girlfriend when we go camping, hiking, roller blading and swimming.

 

I read a lot and my favorite authors are: Kurt Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy, Joseph Heller and Daniel Quinn.

 

I also love to build things, I love making coffee tables, building shelves, benches, bars, anything that engages my creative mind. 

 

What do you hope to get out of the VISTA experience?

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 I hope to see growth in the community. I know it is often a misguided hope to change the world and make a difference in a year. I hope to experience what the reality is and how far I can stretch it. I am very invested in Whatcom county and my community especially, being in Bellingham gives me something to work for. My goal as a VISTA and in life is to never change anyone's mind but merely to keep it open. I am here to be a part of the community I am not here to tell you what that community is meant to look like. 

 

What are you most looking forward to during your time with us? 

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I am looking forward to making positive change fun. So often we think of seminars and booklets, trainings and meetings as dull and banal but I think there are so many ways to utilize conversation, technology and people to make positive growth really enjoyable. While I want to maintain a professional status I think having fun is necessary to being effective.

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What are your future career plans?

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I try to keep career plans open because I so often change them. I once wanted to be a professional baseball player, then a business man, then a politician and now I aim to be a professor of moral philosophy and really look towards restructuring our perspective on right and wrong. If I do not end up being a professor I am interested in humanitarian law, and any form of non-profit work that looks to improve everyday life. As far as careers go, I try to keep an open mind. 

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