Meet Shel

Shel Azalea is a RISE AmeriCorps Member serving her second RISE term with ArtForce Iowa in Des Moines. 

Born in Thailand, Shel resettled in the United States as a refugee at age 12. 

Shel joined RISE AmeriCorps not only to give back to his community, but to develop professional skills. After her first service term with RISE, Shel reports learning a lot and gained experience working in an office space.

One of her goals for her second term at ArtForce Iowa is to improve her artistic creativity.

“As a refugee myself, there have always been connections within my community from day one when I came to the U.S. In my community, people like to help each other out however they can and I think that is what makes us resilient.”