National Service News: Is Your Hometown a Top AmeriCorps Contributor?

Maybe it's time for a parade ... [] Having trouble viewing this email? [View it as a Web page](. [Coming soon... 2018 AmeriCities and AmeriStates, the areas that produce the most AmeriCorps members!] Is Your Hometown a Top AmeriCorps Contributor? Civic pride is a beautiful thing. Whenever a city can claim it is the best at something, it brings people together. And often, there will be a parade. For the last few years, the [Corporation for National and Community Service]( has studied our [AmeriCorps]( program to determine which areas of the country contribute the most members per capita. We have looked at the 2018 class and tabulated the results ... but you will have to wait until next week to learn which places came out on top. In the business, we call this a tease. Most of us are ready to stand up for the city, county, or state we call home, and take pride in knowing that the place has a special quality that sets it apart from thousands of others across this great land of ours. For example, when the Washington Capitals won the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup in June, people who had no previous connection other than geography bonded through shared experiences during the championship season. Yes, in Washington, D.C. And, there was a parade. We would love to see the day when communities throw a parade to celebrate and honor the generosity of its people. Someday, it will happen ... someday. Come back next week as we reveal the 2018 list of AmeriCities and AmeriStates. In Service, CNCS Office of External Affairs P.S. Due to a technical issue, many of our National Service News subscribers did not receive our email last week. ([You can read the full email here]( This week's edition contains some of the articles featured in last week's message in case you missed them. We apologize for any inconvenience this problem may have caused. --------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's note: By clicking the links below, you may be connecting to websites created by parties other than the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The CNCS Office of External Affairs provides links to these stories because they contain information that may be useful or interesting to the national service and volunteering community. These links are for reference only, and CNCS does not endorse the individuals or organizations associated with these links, and cannot attest to the accuracy of the information provided by websites outside of our control. --------------------------------------------------------------- The Impact of National Service [California Conservation Corps AmeriCorps members hike steep terrain where they built a break to help contain the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite.]( California Conservation [Corpsmembers Respond to Wildfires Across State (AmeriCorps)]( The California Conservation Corps is committing nearly every fire-trained Corpsmember to help partnering agencies bring the current onslaught of fires under control. Additionally, more than 100 Corpsmembers are stationed at six different fires where they are assisting with keeping basecamps clean, organized, and supplies distributed to firefighters. (Editor's note: Our Disaster Services team reports that currently 36 California Conservation Corps crews with approximately 430 members and 45 staff are serving across the state.) [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Ted Horton-Billard, who is deaf, did not let his disability stop him from joining AmeriCorps through the American Red Cross in Los Angeles.]( [Ted Horton-Billard: Deaf and Determined (AmeriCorps)]( Growing up, I’ve always wanted to join the military. I come from a military family. Due to physical limitations, my deafness, I couldn’t join. I couldn’t become a police officer. I couldn’t even become a firefighter. It was all because of my disability, and it was a lost cause for me. For a long time, I’ve always wanted to do something to help—it’s just in my blood. When I saw the AmeriCorps opportunity with American Red Cross, I knew it would be a win-win. Even though each organization has its own mission, both believe in helping people. I decided to join the Red Cross in Los Angeles as an AmeriCorps Member because it is a (united) movement and I want to make positive changes. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [LaDonna Pegram grabs a pack of pencils as she helps fill backpacks for a giveaway in Hutchinson, KS. (Photo by Travis Morisse/HutchNews)]( [First Call’s Free Backpack Program Moving to Mall Next Week (Senior Corps)]( A vacant retail space in the Hutchinson Mall is filling with bins of student supplies and an array of colorful backpacks. It will be an open-and-close day of business for the storefront next week, when First Call for Help conducts its annual school backpack giveaway program Wednesday for Reno County schoolchildren. Through the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, First Call found volunteers to begin preparing the mall site Monday. They are filling backpacks with grade-appropriate supplies and children will be able to pick their backpack next Wednesday. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Green Iowa AmeriCorps was one of the groups that participated in Transform Week in Cedar Rapids to repair homes in the community.]( [18 Projects for Transform Week in Cedar Rapids (AmeriCorps)]( Nearly 300 volunteers came together to help their neighbors June 25-29 for Matthew 25’s Transform Week. The week focused on homeowners in the Taylor Neighborhood who needed a little support. The 18 projects undertaken by the volunteers included house painting, replacing flooring, repairing plumbing and electrical systems, rebuilding stairs and porches, replacing windows and doors, roof repair, landscaping, and more. Now that most of the work is finished, Matthew 25, with the help of Green Iowa AmeriCorps, is measuring the impact. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Former TCU safety Tejay Johnson found his passion for teaching and coaching after serving as an AmeriCorps member with Teach For America.]( [The Eldest of 11 Children, This Former TCU Safety has Found Calling as Teacher, Coach (AmeriCorps)]( Tejay Johnson was always a coach, even if it took him a while to realize it. The former Texas Christian University safety who capped his four-year Horned Frogs career with a Rose Bowl win on Jan. 1, 2011, went undrafted and decided to focus on his long-term future instead of chasing a playing career. “I wasn’t thinking about coaching when I was in school but it definitely helped with my love for teaching,” Johnson said. “I never really thought about being a teacher but joining the Teach For America program really opened my eyes to the profession. The longer I did it, I fell in love with it. The whole coaching aspect … I didn’t know I was good at it until I started doing it.” [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Share It: AmeriCorps Aids Wheelchair Games [AmeriCorps NCCC members are lending a hand this week at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Orlando, FL.]( ]( Each week, we provide a social media shareable to use on your networks. This week we are highlighting AmeriCorps NCCC members who are serving at the [National Veterans Wheelchair Games]( in Orlando, FL. With the [Americans with Disabilities Act]( marking its 28th anniversary in July, we are reminded that this is just one way national service programs support disability inclusion. (You can learn more at our [Disability Inclusion Resources portal]( Help us spread the word by using the Facebook and Twitter buttons above to share this story on your social media networks. --------------------------------------------------------------- National Service in the News [Staying Power: Why Six Alums of City Year and Teach for America Now Call Tulsa Home (AmeriCorps)]( Tulsa People, Oklahoma Teach for America and City Year, noted AmeriCorps national service programs, send recent high school and college graduates to Tulsa’s underserved schools, either as teachers or in-class tutors and mentors. Although Tulsa is one of the least-requested cities by applicants, many of whom long for big cities like Washington, D.C., and New York City, its retention rate for both programs is one of the highest. So far, 300 Teach For America and 95 City Year alumni have decided to call Tulsa home. “The number of people who stay exceeds everyone’s expectation,” says Leslie Daugherty, executive director of Teach for America-Greater Tulsa. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Compassion and Caring are in Common Practice (Senior Corps)]( The Hays Daily News, Kansas The Senior Companion Program is a perfect example of people helping people. Volunteers age 55 and over are connected with adults who need help to remain independent. The volunteers help with chores, provide transportation, monitor medication, provide respite care and keep people in contact with the broader community. “Companions,” says the program’s statement of purpose, “help aging Americans maintain their dignity and quality of life while enriching their own lives through service.” FHSU supports 108 Senior Companion volunteers who serve 370 frail, disabled or homebound adults in a 14-county service area of western Kansas. Sponsored by Fort Hays State University since 1974, this program was the first in the nation to be sponsored by an institution of higher education. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [AmeriCorps NCCC Works to Protect Environment in Central Wisconsin]( Stevens Point News, Wisconsin An AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) team is serving with the Central Wisconsin Windshed Partnership (CWWP), the White River Flowage Lake Management District, and the Waushara County Parks from July 16 until August 5. The team is helping with a variety of environmental conservation-focused tasks, including the removal of invasive plant species and maintenance of the CWWP’s windbreaks in the Central Sands area of Wisconsin. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [RSVP Ramp Crew Builds New Ramp for Family in Need (Senior Corps)]( Albany Herald, Georgia Even though the Retired Senior Volunteer Program’s Ramp Crew is on a summer break due to the Georgia heat, when crew members heard the Westbrook family’s story they decided this was a project that could not wait. On Tuesday, the RSVP crew headed to the Westbrooks’ Fourth Avenue household early in the morning to build a ramp for Carol Westbrook, who is a cancer patient and survivor. Westbrook needs the ramp due to weaknesses sustained from her illness, and to aid her 11-year-old daughter, who suffers from cerebral palsy. Jim Hill, the ramp coordinator for RSVP, said with the Dougherty County School System starting back soon, it was necessary to get this ramp done quickly. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [We're Gearing Up to Make Sure Every Delaware Student Knows How to Read (AmeriCorps)]( The News Journal, Delaware Just a few days ago, in my second week at Reading Assist Institute (RAI), a principal from an elementary school in New Castle told me a story about how one of our RAI Corps members serving inside her school had changed the course of a young girl’s life. The student, a child the principal knew well, had struggled ever since her classmates had started to read. After working with our RAI Corps members through our Reading Assist Intervention Program, she was heading into the fourth grade able to keep up with her peers.This school year, we will increase the number of RAI Corps members in Delaware by 75 percent. AmeriCorps members are now preparing to come to Delaware from all across the country, and they will be placed in nine elementary schools. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Volunteers Needed as Foster Grandparents (Senior Corps)]( KLKN-TV, Nebraska Dancing and singing children's songs is how Grandma Joyce spends her days now, but that wasn't always the case. "Nothing to do, so I decided to do this, and I like it," Grandma Joyce said. After retiring from her job, Grandma Joyce found herself with a lot of time on her hands. She started volunteering with Community Action Partnership in their Head Start program as a Foster Grandparent. The program works with at-risk children, teaching them skills they will need to go into kindergarten. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [College Success Foundation: Building a Pathway for Underserved Students in Spokane (AmeriCorps)]( Spokane Journal of Business, Washington The College Success Foundation, a Bellevue, Wash.-based nonprofit organization, has elevated its Inland Northwest presence and established a strong philanthropic base of support here since opening a Spokane-area office in 2014. The foundation provides an integrated system of supports and scholarships to help inspire underserved and low-income students to finish high school, graduate from college, and succeed in life. At the middle school level, the nonprofit is served by six college and career coaches—three here and three in Yakima—but they technically are employed through the national AmeriCorps program, rather than by the foundation, Nielsen says. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [St. Mary’s Hospital Senior Corps Volunteers Honored]( KJCT-TV, Colorado St. Mary’s Hospital celebrated their 92 volunteers Friday at their annual luncheon.Those aged 55 and older can either participate in their Foster a Grandparent program, which helps mentor at-risk youth, or their Senior Companion program, offering a friend for those with little to no mobility, run errands and provide some company. The volunteers put in a combined 90,000 hours every year. [Watch and read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Feeding—and Healing—the Hood (AmeriCorps)]( The New Mexico Political Report, New Mexico Not far from the airport, Project Feed the Hood turned an empty lot into a garden. Stefany Olivas is wrapping up her time as a Food Corps AmeriCorps member with SWOP. She explains this is the ninth growing season at the Ilsa and Rey Garduño Community Garden, which is named for the former Albuquerque city councilor and his wife. “Previously it was an emergency landing strip,” Olivas says. “All this land you see is city aviation department land, and so we worked with them and many of our local representatives to use this particular plot for growing food.” [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Morehead State RSVP Receives $125,000 CNCS Grant to Combat Childhood Obesity, Opioid Abuse (Senior Corps)]( The Lane Report, Kentucky Morehead State’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) was recently awarded a federal grant for $125,000 to expand the program’s efforts to combat childhood obesity and the opioid epidemic. The grant was provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service and funds a three-year project aimed at combating childhood obesity and opioid abuse education and prevention efforts. RSVP is starting its second year of the program. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Richmond Wins Cities of Service National Competition to Revitalize Neighborhoods (AmeriCorps)]( The Church Hill People's News, Virginia Cities of Service today announced Richmond as a winner of its Cities of Service City Hall AmeriCorps VISTA Love Your Block competition. Love Your Block enables local governments to engage communities in neighborhood revitalization efforts benefiting low-income communities. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Retired Vet, Volunteer Honored for Community Assistance (Senior Corps)]( 50 Plus Life, Pennsylvania The RSVP Lebanon Volunteer of the Month is Carl Sellers, of Cornwall. He serves as an RSVP Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) tax preparer, where he has volunteered for the past 10 years. His duties include training new volunteers and quality review of completed tax returns, and he served as site coordinator in the 2015 tax year. A Vietnam veteran, Sellers grew up in South Annville Township, where his parents operated a dairy farm. Sellers served 30 years in the Air Force as a C130 aircraft loadmaster, obtaining the rank of chief master sergeant. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [AmeriCorps]( | [Senior Corps]( | [Volunteer Generation Fund]( [NationalService.gov]( | [Manage Preferences]( [twitter link]( link]( link]( link]( link]( link]( link]( --------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to {EMAIL} using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Corporation for National & Community Service · 250 E. Street SW · Washington, DC 20525 · (202) 606- 5000 · (800) 833-3722 [GovDelivery logo](