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Dear
Friends and Colleagues,
This
week, AmeriCorps members were honored for their service in Los Angeles (see
below notes from the Red Carpet) and getting their hands dirty in Flint.
Our
Social Innovation Fund took important steps to help cities, states, and
nonprofits strengthen their ability to help their communities.
We
also remembered the terrible disasters in Joplin and Alabama five years ago.
And we honored a young life dedicated to service, lost just last month in
Orlando.
Their
service may come in many forms, but AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members across
the country are united in a mission to Get Things Done.
Read
on and see how we're doing just that.
 Ted
Miller
Chief of External Affairs
Corporation for National and Community Service
 AmeriCorps Gets To Work in Flint: A local news crew from ABC12 Michigan caught up with a recently deployed AmeriCorps NCCC crew this week as they got to work, helping to restore a blighted Flint community. Last month, we announced a $1.3 million investment that will allow AmeriCorps members to support state and local efforts addressing the water emergency, blight, and public safety in Flint, building on previous deployments of national service members to response operations in the area. Now on the ground, AmeriCorps NCCC Team Leader, Caitlin Minton observed, "They're so resilient, people here, and they just have all rallied together to help each other."
 Honoring a Life Spent in Service: On Wednesday, AmeriCorps VISTA Director, Max Finberg penned an open letter to the AmeriCorps Family on the death of one of our own, Gino Nicolas. Gino’s life was claimed in a drive-by shooting the night of April 16th. Just five months prior, Gino had been sworn-in as an AmeriCorps VISTA member coordinating the White House’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative for the City of Orlando. He was bringing President Obama’s vision of helping open opportunities for all kids, especially young men and boys of color, to his city and community. Max called Gino “the embodiment of the values we cherish in our AmeriCorps VISTA members.” We will honor his memory each day as our AmeriCorps VISTA members continue to serve where most needed.
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$6.1 Million to Support Pay for Success: On Tuesday, we announced the winners of the second Social Innovation Fund (SIF) Pay for Success grant competition. More than $6.1 million in investments will advance and evaluate emerging models that align payment for social services with verified social outcomes. Launched in 2014, the SIF Pay for Success (PFS) program is designed to help cities, states, and nonprofits develop Pay for Success projects, which tie funding for an intervention to its true impact in the community. The new SIF Pay for Success grantees include the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School, in partnership with Social Finance, Inc. Within the next few months, all of the PFS grantees will hold open competitions to select communities in need of services.
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The Stars Come Out To Celebrate National Service: Sony Studios’ Commissary Lawn was transformed into a high-energy and interactive all-ages party Saturday night for City Year Los Angeles’ sixth annual Spring Break: Destination Education event. Octavia Spencer, a City Year LA board member and six-year supporter of the AmeriCorps program, hosted the event, with Aaron Paul, Michael B. Jordan, Sophia Bush, Allison Janney, Angela Bassett, Julianne Hough, Derek Hough, Ian Harding, Keegan-Michael Key, Miranda Cosgrove, Blake Anderson, Lamorne Morris and Max Greenfield also showing up to support the cause.
AmeriCorps
Habitat for Humanity Helps Build Homes for Single Moms in Edgewater
The Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL), May 8, 2016
It was sunny and 70 degrees as Edgewater mothers Dixie Herrera, Lisa Kenney and Courtney Williams worked together sawing wood and putting up siding on what will soon be Herrera's new home. The three women will be the first to move into their new homes with their children later this year after Habitat for Humanity bought 21 lots to build homes for local families who can't afford the rising rents elsewhere in the county. Twenty-two-year-old Austin Falter has been helping serve with Habitat in Southeast Volusia this past year as an AmeriCorps team leader, and he was also helping out at the build on Friday. "It's a rewarding experience," Falter said. "It's good to hear their story and hear how it's going to impact their lives."
AmeriCorps NCCC
AmeriCorps NCCC Restores Trails with Bear Yuba Land Trust
The Union (CA), May 6, 2016
AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps team Green Two is serving with the
Bear Yuba Land Trust until May 24 to help with trail restoration, invasive
species removal, and special events. The Bear Yuba Land Trust was established
in 1990 and works to promote conservation of the area’s natural lands as well
as make it accessible for recreational use by community members. BYLT regularly
partners with AmeriCorps members, local volunteers, and conservation
organizations to provide learning opportunities, to build trails, and to save
land for the next generation to enjoy.
AmeriCorps VISTA
College Will Get New Mentor Network
The Camarillo Acorn (CA), May 6, 2016
The Ventura County STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Network has been named a US2020 City Network coalition partner. Announced at this year’s White House Science Fair, this designation is given to 11 U.S. regions in which members have shown exceptional commitment to increasing STEM mentoring for students from preschool through college. US2020 City Network partners also place emphasis on students who wouldn’t ordinarily get the opportunity to consider a STEM career, such as those from low-income families or who are students of color. This new designation means US2020 will place a STEM Americorps VISTA member in Ventura County to help enhance STEM education.
Senior Corps
From 8 to 80: Volunteerism Takes Many Forms in the Midlands
The Cola Daily (SC), May 11, 2016
Inez Speaks spends the better part of her week stringing beads, sewing quilt squares and knitting yarn — but she’s not at home in her recliner. Instead, Speaks can be found at Heyward Career and Technology Center in Columbia about 20 hours a week. The 80-year-old is at the school making crafts with special-needs students and assisting their classroom teacher with light tasks as a “Foster Grandparent,” a program of Senior Resources.
Social Innovation Fund
Social Innovation Fund & AARP Provide Tutoring Grant to Read to Succeed
WBFO-FM (NY), May 6, 2016
Some Buffalo Public School students will soon be benefiting from reading tutors. The AARP Foundation delivered a $200,000 Reading Intervention Grant to Read to Succeed Buffalo. A rigorous study from Washington University, involving 23 urban schools in three cities, found students who work with experienced core tutors, for a single school year, experienced more than 60-percent greater gains in critical literacy skills. “We are incredibly excited and humbled to receive this significant support from AARP Foundation and the Social Innovation Fund,” said.Read to Succeed Buffalo Executive Director Anne Ryan.
National Service Blog
Gratitude Abounds: Joplin 5 Years Later
NationalService.Tumblr.com, May 11, 2016
This Spring marks the 5th anniversary of the Joplin EF-5 Tornado. More than 350 AmeriCorps members from seven states arrived in Joplin, providing vital services and coordinating more than 75,000 volunteers who were essential to the city’s recovery. AmeriCorps members supported missing person inquiries, provided homeowner assistance and casework, operated donation and distribution warehouses, coordinated donations, removed thousands of pounds of debris, and managed a large-scale volunteer operation. We – AmeriCorps, Senior Corps National Service – are just one small part of a much larger community response. It is a part we are honored to play.
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