Current Preserve WV AmeriCorps Members
Learn more about our newest class of Members below and visit Preserve WV Stories to read about the service they are providing to revitalize our Mountain State.
Elizabeth Nicholson
Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission
Charles Town, WV
2024-2025 Service Term
Charles Town, WV
2024-2025 Service Term
Nicholli Matheny
World Scouting Museum
Charleston, WV
2024-2025 Service Term
Charleston, WV
2024-2025 Service Term
Vicky Neal & Aly Ludwig
Sharon David
Ritchietown Renaissance & Preservation Alliance of West Virginia
2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025 Service Terms
2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025 Service Terms
Third year AmeriCorps Member Sharon David is helping to revitalize south Wheeling. She is also serving with Preservation Alliance of West Virginia on projects to encourage young people to consider a career in preservation trades. Following a stint in the Navy, she spent a year interning with the White House National Service team to launch AmeriCorps, then joined the newly formed Corporation for National Service to help establish the National Civilian Conservation Corps. When considering how to spend her retirement years, Sharon decided to combine her passion for transforming herself, places, and things with service. Sharon graduated from the Building Preservation and Restoration Program at Belmont College in 2023 and plans to help communities preserve their heritage and create economic opportunities by finding new uses for their special buildings and places.
Barbara Hudson
Riley Phares
Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex
2024-2025 Service Term
2024-2025 Service Term
Hi, My name is Riley Phares and I’m serving the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex. This is my second service term with Preserve WV AmeriCorps after formerly serving with the Morgantown History Museum. I graduated from West Virginia University with a BA in History and Anthropology. Prior to this, I worked for a year as an archaeological field technician. I have a passion for history and I want to share this with the community I grew up in.
Beside archaeology and history, I love hiking, reading, and drinking copious cups of tea.
Beside archaeology and history, I love hiking, reading, and drinking copious cups of tea.
Lois Hilbert
Main Street Ripley
2023-2024, 2024-2025 Service Terms
2023-2024, 2024-2025 Service Terms
Ethan Wimer
Arthurdale Heritage, Inc.
2024-2025 Service Term
2024-2025 Service Term
Sarah Potter
Morgantown History Museum
Morgantown, WV
2024-2025 Service Term
Morgantown, WV
2024-2025 Service Term
Vanessa Pena
West Virginia Humanities Council
2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025 Service Terms
2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025 Service Terms
Vanessa is a Preserve WV AmeriCorps Member and a resident of Charleston, serving at the West Virginia Humanities Council for her second term. She is assisting the State Folklorist, Jennie Williams, with transcriptions, fieldwork, and archival preparation for the West Virginia Folklife Program. Vanessa graduated from West Virginia State University in 2023 with a degree in Communications with an emphasis in visual media and a minor in Studio Art.
During her time in college, Vanessa worked for the chemistry department as a lab assistant for 2 years, then worked for the office of student affairs and enrollment management as a graphic designer and social media manager for a year and a half. In her spare time, Vanessa creates traditional art using a variety of mediums as well as cooking new foods.
During her time in college, Vanessa worked for the chemistry department as a lab assistant for 2 years, then worked for the office of student affairs and enrollment management as a graphic designer and social media manager for a year and a half. In her spare time, Vanessa creates traditional art using a variety of mediums as well as cooking new foods.
Adeline Smith
The City of Ravenswood: Great Bend Museum
2024-2025 Service Term
2024-2025 Service Term
Trent Dayton
Marshall County Historical Society, Cockayne Farmstead
2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025 Service Terms
My name is Trent and I am a Preserve WV Americorps member serving with the Marshall County Historical Society and Cockayne Farmstead. I am from Wheeling WV and currently live in Moundsville WV. After I graduated from Wheeling Park High School in 2019, I got a job at the Former West Virginia Penitentiary where over my time there, I was trained on just about everything. I also created a TikTok account for it and that gained over 50,000 followers, accumulated over half a million likes, and received millions of views.
I already had a love for history prior to working there, but my love turned into a passion. I would like to, one day, manage and operate a historic site. I am so thrilled to be working with Americorps in order to gain more experience in a field I care so much about.
2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025 Service Terms
My name is Trent and I am a Preserve WV Americorps member serving with the Marshall County Historical Society and Cockayne Farmstead. I am from Wheeling WV and currently live in Moundsville WV. After I graduated from Wheeling Park High School in 2019, I got a job at the Former West Virginia Penitentiary where over my time there, I was trained on just about everything. I also created a TikTok account for it and that gained over 50,000 followers, accumulated over half a million likes, and received millions of views.
I already had a love for history prior to working there, but my love turned into a passion. I would like to, one day, manage and operate a historic site. I am so thrilled to be working with Americorps in order to gain more experience in a field I care so much about.
Devin Richards
Northern Appalachian Coal Mining Heritage Association
2024-2025 Service Year
2024-2025 Service Year
Beth Gain
Clarksburg History Museum
2024-2025 Service Term
2024-2025 Service Term