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Dear Friends and Colleagues,

According to the legend, when young George Washington was asked if he chopped down a cherry tree, he confessed by saying, “I cannot tell a lie.” The rest is history … until you check the story out with the folks at President Washington’s home in Mount Vernon, Va. According to their website that’s more of a myth. (Womp womp.)

Well, we cannot tell a lie – we have lot of national service news to share this week.

First and foremost, AmeriCorps Disaster Response Team members are on the scene in California to help displaced residents at evacuation centers following damage to the Oroville Spillway that threatened 200,000 people living downstream.

Our Social Innovation Fund will celebrate #SIFWeek to highlight the impact of its evidence-based programs are having an impact on communities across the nation.

It’s tax season and we wanted you to know that national service participants help thousands with their income tax returns – last year they helped 280,000 file their forms for free. 

We’re also sharing two video stories – one from Senior Corps Foster Grandparents and another from YouthBuild AmeriCorps – that have a lesson that could also apply to the first President’s life.

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

In service,

CNCS Office of External Affairs

P.S. Have a great photo or story to share? Send it to us at pressoffice@cns.gov and it could appear in a future edition of National Service News.

National Service Assists Oroville Spillway Evacuees: AmeriCorps Disaster Response Team members – including AmeriCorps NCCC and California Conservation Corps – are assisting at evacuation centers for displaced residents of Oroville, Calif., and the surrounding area following damage to a spillway attached to the nation’s tallest dam. AmeriCorps NCCC is supporting the Red Cross with evacuation centers in Chico. California Conservation Corps (CCC) crews are staffing and managing evacuation centers in Sacramento and the Yolo County Fairgrounds. Learn more.

Someone on Your Side: Senior Corps Foster Grandparents are more than mentors to young children – many of them work with teenagers, too. We think you will enjoy this video featuring recently retired Baltimore Foster Grandparent Robert Wood. The program worked with the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services to place 70 Foster Grandparent volunteers to be positive role models, tutors, and mentors to at-risk youth. The primary focus is education, but the mentors build relationships that are just as important to the kids. “I know I got a least one person on my side that believes that I can be successful in life,” says Mr. Wood’s mentee Derek in the video. Watch the video here.

#SIFWeek Begins: Social Innovation Fund (SIF) Week starts on Monday, and we look forward to sharing program highlights that have improved the lives of more Americans. The SIF will share how it advances the use of evidence in decision making and grows the impact of innovative programs that work. Keep an eye on our blogs and social media channels as we help the SIF spread the word. And follow @SIFund—and its grantees and subgrantees—on Twitter for highlights, tagged by #SIFund, #SIFWeek, and #SIFundWorks. 

The Taxman Cometh but We’re Here to Help: No one likes doing taxes, so imagine what kind of person you would have to be to volunteer to do someone else’s – for free! Each year thousands of specially trained AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers around the nation are helping qualifying low- and middle-income families with this task. Last year, this service helped 280,000 people file with the IRS, and recover millions in tax refunds and tax credits. “We get a lot of hugs and feedback from the clients,” said JoAnna Van Gerpen, an AARP/RSVP district coordinator. “It might be a small (tax) refund, but we just know these refunds mean a lot to these people.” Read more from The Courier News. 

Building Better Opportunities for Youth: Nilka was a high school dropout and teen mom who envisioned better things for her life but needed a path to succeed. She was able to achieve that vision when she connected to the YouthBuild AmeriCorps program sponsored by the Commission on Economic Opportunity in Troy, NY. YouthBuild offers 16-24 year olds who are not in school or employed the chance to complete their studies while learning construction and workplace skills that can change their lives for the better. Take a few minutes to watch Nilka’s story and be inspired. Watch the story here. 

National Service in the News

AmeriCorps

Native American group spreads kindness at school
The Daily Tribune (WI), February 10, 2017
Kameo Fehrenbach and her Native American Youth Leadership group at East Junior High try to live out this motto. Kameo is a Tribal AmeriCorps member who works for the Wisconsin Rapids School District as a Title VII Youth Counselor. The group focuses on substance abuse prevention, homework completion, volunteering in the community, promoting healthy choices, and Native American education. “This group isn’t just for Native American students, but it’s open to everyone. Why not educate everyone?” said Kameo. Kameo wanted the group to get involved in volunteering so she encouraged the students to want to help others.

AmeriCorps NCCC

AmeriCorps NCCC Team helps restore Great Smokey Mountains National Park and Wildlife
The Knoxville Daily Sun (TN), February 15, 2017
An AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) team, River 3, is serving with Great Smoky Mountains National Park until Thursday, March 9. The NCCC team of 10 members from the Southern Region campus in Vicksburg, Miss., is working to maintain and rehabilitate trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The team is also assisting with environmental recovery in response to the wildfire in Gatlinburg. The members are hiking out to work to clear drains, clear debris from the wildfire, and perform routine maintenance. The team is also treating for invasive species in the park to protect the Eastern Hemlock Trees. Each day, River 3 is hiking to their worksite on either the North Carolina or Tennessee side of the park to leave their mark.

AmeriCorps VISTA

Keep Phoenix Beautiful starts a new chapter of PHX Renews
The Paradise Valley Independent (AZ), February 14, 2017
Keep Phoenix Beautiful starts a new chapter of PHX Renews with a groundbreaking ceremony for the community garden’s new site at 1822 W. Pierson Street in downtown Phoenix. On Monday, Feb. 6, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Keep Phoenix Beautiful board members, AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers, and Councilwoman Laura Pastor attended the groundbreaking ceremony. Mayor Stanton said the city is providing a flatbed trailer and forklift to help transport water tanks, picnic tables, shade structures and benches, plus roll-off boxes to collect soil to take to the new garden, according to a press release. “We had an amazing run at this site during the past six years,” says Keep Phoenix Beautiful President and CEO Tom Waldeck in a prepared statement. 

Senior Corps

Foster grandparents ‘paid in hugs’
The White Bear Press (MN), February 15, 2017
“Grandma!” is a common exclamation heard from children at several local elementary schools. Delores Dunston, of Maplewood, is currently a foster grandparent at Willow Lane Elementary in White Bear Lake, where she tutors kindergarten through third-grade students three days a week. “Being with the kids is a pleasure — they are comical,” Dunston said. “I am sure I will be coming as long as I am able.” Dunston has been tutoring at Willow Lane through the Lutheran Social Service (LSS) foster grandparent program for two years. The program is part of the National Senior Corps program under the Corporation for National and Community Service. Senior Corps is like AmeriCorps but is made up of senior volunteers. The Foster Grandparent program is sponsored by LSS in Minnesota.

Social Innovation Fund

Pay for Success?
The Blue Review (ID), February 13, 2017
On an annual basis, the United States spends approximately $800 billion on social issues. However, one and a half decades into the 21st century, the country continues to suffer from numerous social challenges, many of which haven’t seen improvement since the 1970s. For example: K-12 reading and math achievement rates have been stagnant despite 90% increase in public spending per student, the U.S. poverty rate has remained around 15%, and average yearly income of bottom 40% of U.S. households has changed little. As a result, across the country, communities from Boise to Boston are faced with tremendous cost burdens related to persistent social issues like homelessness, lack of school readiness, and recidivism in the criminal justice system.

National Service Blog

AmeriCorps Assists Oroville Spillway Evacuees in CA
NationalService.Tumblr.com, February 16, 2017
AmeriCorps Disaster Response Team members - including AmeriCorps NCCC and California Conservation Corps - are on the ground assisting at evacuation centers for displaced residents of Oroville, Calif., and the surrounding area. On Feb. 7, California Department of Water Resources issued public notices about damage to a spillway attached to the nation’s tallest dam in Oroville, Calif. On Feb. 12, the situation elevated and nearly 200,000 people living downstream were ordered to evacuate after it was determined an auxiliary spillway was in danger of imminent failure. Since then, officials have been mitigating the spillways and monitoring the status. As of Feb. 14, the water level is slowly lowering but a severe threat still remains.