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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps
volunteers mobilize volunteers to help build new job skills, support
communities recovering from disasters, tutor students, and engage veterans
transitioning back to civilian life.
This month, we are welcoming the 75,000
new AmeriCorps members who will mobilize thousands of additional volunteers and
make our country stronger. Last week, Virginia and Oregon kicked off the
month, while Rhode Island had a great event this week. Stay tuned for many
details on AmeriCorps Opening Day, because it is a nationwide celebration!
We are also highlighting an AmeriCorps
program that is being used as a model for training teachers. And, we're
spotlighting a Social Innovation Fund grantee with an innovative solution to
improving healthcare access for elders.
We also want to wish the Senior Corps
Foster Grandparent program a happy 50th anniversary — this time, we
have a video!
Scroll down to learn more.
Thanks and have a terrific weekend,
 Ted
Miller
Chief of External Affairs
Corporation for National and Community Service
#AmeriDay: During the last 21 years, more than 950,000 men and women have joined
AmeriCorps to make our country stronger. On October 16, we will mark AmeriCorps Opening
Day to welcome 75,000 new AmeriCorps members. This week, we celebrated new AmeriCorps members
in Rhode Island. Visit our blog to learn how AmeriCorps opens doors for Rhode Island Youth.
Making an Impact: By working together, we can provide more opportunities
for young people across the country. This week, PBS spotlighted an AmeriCorps program that helps teachers make an impact. Boston Teacher Residency, an AmeriCorps program that recruits and trains teachers, is being used as a model for training teachers -- and other cities have begun to take notice.
50 Years of Foster Grandparents: For 50 years, Senior Corps Foster Grandparent volunteers have made a difference in classrooms across the country as tutors, mentors, and friends. The program enables elder volunteers to to stay active and engaged in their communities. Watch this video that celebrates their joy, their impact, and the incredible relationships they develop with the young people they serve.
Innovative Health Services: The Social Innovation Fund (SIF) invests in what works. The John A. Hartford Foundation IMPACT program, a SIF grantee, is an evidence-based program for treating depression and improving healthcare access for elders in rural communities. Read more about how this program is improving the overall well-being of families served.
AmeriCorps
$1M going towards environmental advocacy, education
programs
The Glendale Register (NY), October 5, 2015
As New York City Climate Week wrapped up this week, City Council members
announced that $1 million in funding will go towards programs aimed at
encouraging environmental advocacy, education, community service and green-jobs
training throughout the city, called the “Greener NYC” Initiative. Local
elected officials announced the new initiative from Williamsburg’s Green City
Force, an AmeriCorps program in which young adults from low-income areas take
part in environmental service projects.
AmeriCorps NCCC
"Valley of 1,000 Tires" under three-day siege
by cleanup crew
The Charleston Gazette (WV), October 5, 2015
For decades, a short stretch of the Big Coal River beneath the Corridor G
Bridge between Southridge and the Lincoln County line has been a landing zone
for scrap tires flung off the bridge deck by fly-by-night tire shop operators
and other unscrupulous individuals. On Monday, a small army of Coal River Group
volunteers, AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps participants, Department
of Environmental Protection interns and state REAP program workers used an
armada of eight canoes and johnboats to launch a three-day attack on the
streambed eyesore known to Coal River kayakers as the “Valley of 1,000 Tires.”
AmeriCorps VISTA
New program aims to help refugee mothers
The Roanoke Times (VA), October 1, 2015
Immigrant and refugee mothers new to the Roanoke Valley now have a program to
help them adjust to and embrace motherhood in the U.S. Blue Ridge Literacy, in
partnership with the Junior League of Roanoke Valley, has started ENFOLD, which
stands for English for Families from Other Lands. ENFOLD also helps
participants work on employment skills, health, financial literacy, and basic
English reading, writing and conversation, according to Portia Boggs, an
AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer who is serving as resource developer and
relationship manager for Blue Ridge Literacy
Senior Corps
Volunteers serve the community, gain enjoyment
The Meridian Star (MS), October 3, 2015
More than 150 seniors are active in Lauderdale County through the Retired and Senior
Volunteer Program (RSVP), a community impact program of United Way of East
Mississippi since 1974. United Way understands that volunteers can have
critical roles in strengthening our community and helping agencies meet vital
needs. RSVP volunteers allow nearly two dozen partnering agencies to expand
their capacity to provide services to those individuals who need assistance.
Social Innovation Fund
Eastern Florida State College To Help Women 50 and Older
Find Jobs
The Space Coast Daily (FL), October 6, 2015
When it comes to finding a job, women over age 50 have the toughest time
gaining employment. That could change along the Space Coast thanks to a
subgrant of over $456,000 that Eastern Florida State College will match dollar
for dollar with a total investment of over $913,000 to help train women age 50+
with new skills. Through funding from the Social Innovation Fund, AARP
Foundation has awarded Eastern Florida State College a three-year subgrant to
implement the BACK TO WORK 50+: Women’s Economic Stability Initiative, which
will help women age 50 and older find jobs in Brevard County and build the
financial capability to make sound decisions that reduce debt, rebuild savings
and pave the way to greater financial stability.
National Service Blog
Service, Partnership Key to Summer Meals Success
NationalService.Tumblr.com, October 2, 2015
“Sports, games, nutrition, friends and fun!” is how Andrea Wilkinson described
her summer service in Reno, Nev. From June to August, 579 AmeriCorps
VISTA summer associates like Andrea served in 42 states and the District
of Columbia, making the summer meals program more fun and beneficial for
families. I work for the Corporation for National and Community Service,
the federal agency that manages AmeriCorps VISTA. This year I’ve had the
pleasure to watch the service pinpoints on my map grow to their largest number
yet, as eager summer associates signed up to help feed children in America’s
largest cities and smallest towns in collaboration with USDA’s Summer Food
Service Program.
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