Clarissa with friend Tara and boyfriend Arlen
On October 25th this past year, we had the pleasure of welcoming Clarissa Miller to our staff. As an AmeriCorps Vista Resource and Data Development volunteer, Clarissa will be with us for twelve months. She is currently a sophomore at Florida Gulf Coast University, majoring in Social Work while in the Honor’s program.
Clarissa hails from Oswego, NY but happily moved to southwest Florida where she has lived since high school. Her immediate goal, after receiving her bachelor’s degree, is to work in elementary education while completing her master’s degree. Once that goal is achieved, she is open to whatever opportunities may present themselves. Her hope is to establish her own non-profit organization one day. She is therefore grateful for the opportunity of working alongside our staff to learn firsthand what work is entailed in growing such an organization.
On a personal level, some of Clarissa’s interest was sparked by having a brother on the autism spectrum. This gives her a heightened sense of the need for support in this population. Because of this, she started “Active Minds” at FGCU which is a mental health advocacy club for college students.
Clarissa is also part of Project Help in Naples where she is currently training to be a crisis helpline volunteer. Currently, however, her focus is her service to AmeriCorps and Protected Harbor, where she is working to help clients improve their financial stability, as well as making them aware of available housing and program resources.
Clarissa has little free time, but when she does, she enjoys playing the guitar, singing, dancing, and playing with her cat Piper. She also loves to spend time with her boyfriend Arlen, at the beach, and walking in parks. When asked about her favorite Bible verse, her response was John 1:16 “Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given”.