CNCS Welcomes New Chief Executive Officer Barbara Stewart

Barbara Stewart has taken the helm as the new CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) following her unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate earlier this month and nomination by President Donald Trump in November 2017. 

"It is a privilege and honor to represent national service programs and the millions of volunteers that make up the backbone of this nation as CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service,” said Stewart. 

“After decades of volunteering and leading a small foundation, I recognize the importance and extraordinary impact of nonprofits and volunteers to make a difference in the lives of Americans," Stewart added. "Our small but mighty agency has an important responsibility to support the success of the American people, and I am excited to be at CNCS to help strengthen service and volunteerism throughout our country."

Watch this video to learn more about Barbara, and you can read the press release about her arrival in our newsroom. 

In Service, 

CNCS Office of External Affairs

The Impact of National Service

Senior Corps Joins DOJ in Elder Justice Initiative

After working to reap the rewards of retirement, our nation’s seniors are targets for those who would prey on the vulnerabilities that often come with aging. To combat this problem, Senior Corps is partnering with the Department of Justice to support the Elder Justice Initiative to prevent elder abuse. The initiative combines the use of federal resources, law enforcement, and state and local officials to protect seniors from financial, emotional, and physical threats to their well-being.

You can learn more about the Elder Justice Initiative at the Department of Justice website. And you can discover how Senior Corps supports Elder Justice issues at our resource portal. 

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Local Pets for Patriots Program Off and Running (AmeriCorps) Blue Mountain Humane Society, AmeriCorps, and Blue Mountain Action Council have teamed up to help military veterans in the Walla Walla area find four-legged friends. Pets for Patriots is a national program that has been active in Walla Walla for about a month now. It’s a non-profit effort that the three local organizations have joined to help veterans adopt abandoned dogs and cats. Read more

AmeriCorps Youths Help Enchanted Hills Recover from Napa Fires  Thirteen young adults from across the nation are spending three months amid the charred Mount Veeder landscape helping a camp for the blind heal from the Nuns Fire. These AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps team members are becoming disaster recovery pros. They previously spent time stripping flood-drenched homes in Texas down to the studs in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Read more

Building Service: A Look into CNCS Research Program Grants Last year, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) awarded 2017 AmeriCorps State and National Evidence-based Planning Grants to seven worthy organizations. The goal? To help these organizations develop their own national service programs with a focus on evidence and evaluation. Evidence-based programming underscores the mission of CNCS’s Office of Research & Evaluation. We see program development as an iterative process, using evaluation and research as indicators for improving programs, impacting more lives, and building stronger communities.  Read more

Share It: Senior Corps Supports Elder Justice

Each week, we provide a social media shareable to use on your networks. This week our Senior Corps volunteers are in the spotlight for their service educating and protecting their friends and neighbors from elder fraud and abuse. This issue affects 1-in-10 seniors each year, with criminals damaging the financial, emotional, and physical well being of our elders. You can learn more about the ways Senior Corps programs are protecting their fellow seniors in this National Service Blog post. Check it out and help spread the word by sharing it on your social media networks.

National Service in the News

What's Working: Feeling Good and Giving Back with Volunteer Mississippi (AmeriCorps)

WJTV-TV, Mississippi

Mississippi is traditionally the most charitable state in America. In addition to money, many of us donate our time. Volunteer Mississippi is your state agency on volunteerism. Its mission is as simple as it is noble, Volunteer Mississippi works to engage and support Mississippians of all ages and backgrounds in service to their communities. For every person who needs help in our state, there is usually someone willing to give it. Volunteer Mississippi is committed to bringing those folks together. 

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Burlington County Volunteer Program Connects Seniors with Their Community (Senior Corps)

The Burlington County Times, New Jersey

For some people, retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That was certainly the case for Kathleen Farren, after she ended her 25-year career as an administrative assistant at Moorestown High School. The once-busy working professional didn’t know how to fill the days that stretched before her. “I was at loose ends, and I didn’t know what to do,” Farren said. But when the Delran resident heard about Rowan College at Burlington County’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), she knew she’d found her calling.

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Free Legal Service Available for Veterans at LBCC (AmeriCorps)

The Grunion, California

A legal clinic will be available for veterans twice a month at Long Beach City College Liberal Arts Campus thanks to Mental Health Advocacy Services (MHAS), a nonprofit organization that provides free legal services to people with mental disabilities in Los Angeles County. The free service, which started on Valentine's Day, is possible through MHAS's Behavioral Health-Legal Partnership Upholding Veterans’ Progress Project, which aims to improve veterans’ ability to thrive by helping them overcome barriers to housing stability, employment, and self-sufficiency. 

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United Way of Porter County Takes Community and Solution-Minded Approach to Opioid Crisis (AmeriCorps)

Valpolife.com, Indiana

As we have seen in news stories throughout the country, a class of drugs called opioids have wreaked havoc on countless lives, including right here in Porter County. In response to this overwhelming crisis and a desire to impact change, United Against Opioid Abuse was created. This statewide United Way initiative leverages AmeriCorps members, a national service program, to assess the opioid crisis on a local level. United Way of Porter County is one of 10 United Ways in the program. In 2016, 784 Hoosiers died of opioid related overdoses, which includes both legal prescription painkillers and illicit drugs like heroin. 

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United Way RSVP’s Betty Mulligan Honored with Champion of Service (Senior Corps)

The Treasure Coast Palm, Florida

On Jan. 18, at the State Capitol Building in Tallahassee, Governor Rick Scott presented Betty Mulligan, a volunteer at Caring Children Clothing Children, with the Champion of Service Award for outstanding volunteer service. After retiring from a 35-year teaching career in New York, Mulligan rekindled her passion for teaching by creating and managing a literacy program that is helping hundreds of Martin County children enhance their reading skills. She was nominated by United Way’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program Director Kathleen Stacey.

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Eastern Maine Development Corporation Receives $72,058 National AmeriCorps Grant

The Bangor Daily News, Maine

Eastern Maine Development Corporation has received a $72,058 AmeriCorps grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service to support 20 AmeriCorps members who will assist their nonprofit host sites to provide job skills enhancements and training sessions to economically disadvantaged individuals. This training will lead to individuals entering into employment, increased wages, higher education, national service, or military service. These AmeriCorps members will leverage volunteers who will be working with our partners to complete their missions of providing job skills enhancements and trainings.

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AmeriCorps Does Service Projects for President's Day

WJTV-TV, Mississippi

More than 220 AmeriCorps members participated in service projects in the Metro in honor of President's Day. FEMA Corps members were divided into teams to participate in the various projects on Monday. Some went to the Golden West Cemetery on Rodney Road in Port Gibson. Others went to the Grove Park Golf Course on Walter Dutch Welch Drive in Jackson. Two other groups went to Vicksburg to the Mountain of Faith Ministries and the Beulah Cemetery. 

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AmeriCorps NCCC Lends Helping Hands to Coolidge 

The Coolidge Examiner, Arizona

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘what are you doing for others?’” Sun Seven, an AmeriCorps National Civil Community Corps team which stopped in Coolidge Thursday, is working to meet the needs of communities all over the nation when it comes to the service of others. “Our mission statement is strengthen community and develop leaders,” Walter Gilles, Team Leader, said. “Our goal is to enter a community and address community-identified needs. By doing that through our service, hopefully we’ll develop leaders in ourselves as well.”

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