Name: Josh Marin
Age: 18
Corps: Rocky Mountain Youth Corps
Hometown: Taos, New Mexico

As a life-long resident of Taos, New Mexico, Josh did not see his life going anywhere.  He had graduated from high school and according to Josh, “was just goofing off in Taos.”  Josh worked after hours at his Godfather’s store and had no plans for his life.  His future Crew Leader, Coleman Smith described Josh’s situation. “I don’t think Josh truly felt he had many options beyond Taos. Being a life-long resident and young person potentially stuck in his small hometown was pretty disheartening for him.”  That was until he heard about the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and their project with The Corps Network’s Gulf Coast Recovery Corps.

Josh decided to join the Corps and knew he would like the hard work and connection to his community.  Josh didn’t know a trip to the Gulf Coast could change his whole world view.  Josh says the Gulf is “like another country.”  He enjoyed the weather and Southern hospitality, but there was more destruction than he imagined.  He couldn’t believe so many people were still living in FEMA trailers, 20 months after the hurricanes hit. 

In preparation for the trip and while in the Gulf, Josh learned valuable work skills.  Before deploying Josh and his crew completed First Aid/CPR trainings and learned electrical and carpentry skills.  His training continued in the Gulf where he learned to pour cement and the details of housing construction.  His crew helped pour the cement for the 14 foot pillars that the new houses would eventually sit on.  The crews learned how to mud and sand walls (the final process in wall construction before painting).  Josh saw the crews not as building houses, but as rebuilding lives.

Josh returned from the Gulf and his crew is now helping to mitigate disaster impact near his home town of Taos.  Josh and his crew are working on a sustainable forestry project by thinning trees to reduce the fuel load.  Josh learned new skills for this project too, and earned a chainsaw certification

Josh is proud of the work he completed along the Gulf and says he would be doing “some job with no goals” if it were not for the Corps.  Today, Josh is determined to go to college.  He plans to use the AmeriCorps Education Award he earned and is considering studying to be a psychiatrist’s assistant.  Josh says, “It is so hard to get motivated, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps helps.”  Coleman emphasizes Josh’s transformation in the Gulf. “He saw that there are a lot of opportunities beyond Taos and that he wasn’t ‘stuck’ in his hometown. Since his return, he is focused on college and using his education award.”