Peace Corps Fellows Program at WIU - Example of Internships

“In my opinion, Peace Corps Fellows bring a wonderful adaptability to their work with communities. They have been willing to go outside their comfort zone to serve in far-flung places around the world. Peace Corps Fellows accept the imperfections and idiosyncrasies of the communities in which they serve. For the most part, I believe their attitude is, “OK, this is where you are now. Where do you want to go? How can we get there?”

-Donna Raynalds
Executive Director, SIDEZ
(WIU Peace Corps Fellow 1995-1996)

The Southernmost Illinois Delta Empowerment Zone (SIDEZ) includes all of Pulaski County, the southern sections of Alexander county, the southern sections of Johnson county and all of Vienna --- it is a federal designation, created to solve problems in areas with high unemployment and poverty. A region of the state with a unique social history and a legacy of economic underdevelopment. Denise Foy, a M.S. candidate in Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration, who served as a Wildlife Biologist/Environmental Educator in Niger, has polished many of the skills she utilized in West Africa during her internship with SIDEZ.

“Skills that have been the most useful tend to be those that deal with human interaction. In a small area such as southern Illinois, we have a wide varietyof people, I have tried to work with as many as possible, to include them in the projects”, states Foy.

And reach out she did --- spearheading, organizing and conducting a recreation program planning workshop. Says Foy, “I had a diverse group of 50 participants from communities and agencies throughout the empowerment zone. In the end, we received eight grant proposals for summer recreation programming.”

Additionally, Foy has conducted grant research, supervised new recreation programs, served as chair of the SIDEZ Tourism committee, created a hospitality training program for the empowerment zone, and worked on community projects such as water needs assessment and building demolition.

According to Donna Raynalds, Executive Director of SIDEZ and herself a former Peace Corps Fellow at Western Illinois University “The recreational initiative, started on a small scale the year before Denise arrived, grew by leaps and bounds this year. She showed participants the resources that were already available in their communities. Many that have never sponsored recreation programs before are offering a wonderful range of activities.”

Foy’s work has proved an exemplary example of recreation and tourism programming as a component in the development process, and its influence in helping to form community pride and identity.It serves the show the importance of a holistic vision for positive change rooted in community collaboration.

Peace Corps Fellows Program · Western Illinois University · 1 University Circle - 503 Currens Hall · Macomb, IL 61455
(800) 526-9943 · (309) 298-2268 · pcf@wiu.edu

The PCF program is a unit of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.