Welcome, Thor!
Thor recently completed a pilgrimage through Europe. In this picture, he is brightening the steps of Paris’ Sacré-Coeur.
The Northeast Kingdom Collaborative is thrilled to announce the newest addition to our team--an Americorps VISTA volunteer! Thorolf van Walsum, a recent Queen's University graduate, is settling right here in our little corner of Vermont for at least the next year to help us build our communities.
The Vermont Youth Tomorrow AmeriCorps VISTA Program (VYT) places service members at community-based organizations, schools, and municipalities throughout Vermont where members mobilize resources and build organizational capacity for programs that help low-income youth and families develop job skills and academic proficiency, gain access to affordable housing and healthy food, and cultivate the social assets that they need to thrive.
Through service, VYT members gain important professional skills and experience, as well as build and reinforce their belief in the power of lifelong community service.
We’re lucky to have found Thor! He comes to us on the heels of an international adventure hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, including a whirlwind of exotic camping experiences.
This is Cleo, Thor’s lab mix and personal overseer.
When he isn’t backpacking across Europe, Thor will be found in a cozy chair with his back twisted into a delightful pretzel as he dives, nose-first, into a book on ecology, philosophy, or both. His three-year old lab mix pup, Cleo, is looking forward to making many appearances both in person and on Zoom.
And he isn’t a total stranger to Vermont. His mother, now the owner of her own private psychology practice in Ottawa, started her postgraduate career doing facilitative mental health work in Northern Vermont. Raised on stories of the Northeast Kingdom’s misty mornings and wandering backroads, Thor’s addition to the NEKC team feels like an unorthodox homecoming. Not bad- for a flatlander!
Among other things, Thor’s service time with the Collaborative will be spent spearheading the maintenance and marketing of NEK Strong, ensuring the resources are up-to-date and the information makes it into the right hands. We look forward to adding his perspective and skillset to the Collaborative’s work--he is already proving to be an asset!
