North to Alaska! Corps Helping with Flood Relief Efforts in Remote Village

Editor’s Note: Over the summer, numerous Corps and partners have been assisting with flood relief efforts in the remote village of Galena, Alaska as part of a FEMA – AmeriCorps mission assignment. To date, among The Corps Network’s membership, Washington Conservation Corps, Conservation Corps Minnesota and Iowa, and American YouthWorks have sent crews. In addition to the excellent story below that we are republishing courtesy of AmeriCorps and the National Service Blog, FEMA has an excellent resource page that includes items like a pair of striking before and after satellite images that show the rapid extent of flooding. There is also a Yukon AmeriCorps response Facebook page that includes photos and regular updates. As usual, we are proud of our members and partners for their excellent work to help out in a time of need, no matter how challenging the logistics or how far the distance!

By Paula Katrina Drago

On June 25, President Obama made a federal disaster declaration for parts of Alaska along the Yukon River due to ice jam-related flooding from May 17 to June 11. On cue, a team of AmeriCorps members soon arrived in the remote village of Galena to help people there begin to recover.

Flooding affected villages along a 1,200-mile stretch of the Yukon in the United States – a distance roughly the length of the Mississippi River from Minneapolis, MN, to Vicksburg, MS. The ice blockage sent water flowing into Galena and other villages along the river, flooding homes, schools, and other critical infrastructure.

Response efforts to Galena were unlike any other flood response as the town is only accessible by plane and barge (and only plane once the river freezes up in early fall). The logistics of moving people and resources in and out of the village poses some unique challenges, and any work that isn’t complete by the time winter arrives in late September won’t be resumed until May.

AmeriCorps members arrived in Galena on July 13, two weeks after FEMA made the official federal disaster declaration. Within an hour of landing, they were in the field beginning the critical work of repairing the community. Since their arrival, AmeriCorps members have:

Gathered more than 100 homeowner work-order requests for volunteer assistance and established a collaborative work order and dispatch process for the Galena area.
Completed more than 70 work orders.
Collected and distributed 500+ pounds of food, 40+ pounds of clothes, and 5,600+ pounds of other supplies.
Provided direct volunteer management support to over 30 volunteers.

AmeriCorps members are supporting shelter operations and helping residents muck and gut, remove debris, and repair their homes, but that’s only a snapshot of the national service response. For a more detailed picture of what AmeriCorps is doing in Galena, watch the video below and read a member’s account of her team’s experience.

Going to the Dogs

AmeriCorps has also played a critical role in addressing the impact of the flood on animals there because Galena’s dogs are more than pets—they’re integral to survival.

Dogs help residents find their way home in poor weather conditions, and they alert owners to predators and other dangers. Many are part of dog sled teams that are an important form of transportation – especially when temperatures fall below the point where fuel freezes and render motorized vehicles useless – in a town that is also a stop for the famous Iditarod race.

Compared to many of the disasters AmeriCorps members have responded to in the last two years, Galena, Alaska, is small in size. Yet whether a disaster impacts millions, thousands, or hundreds, each family receives the same response whenever their world gets turned upside down.

When the work orders arrive, our teams don’t refer to them by a number or even a last name. They see instead that “Allison’s sister” needs some trees removed or that “John’s father” needs his home mucked and gutted. By connecting on this intimate level, AmeriCorps is able to do an even-better job with what we do best: getting things done.

To view the original version of this story and see additional photos and the short video, please click here to journey to the National Service blog.

EarthCorps Featured in Seattle Times by “Fit for Life” Columnist

Benjamin Benschneider / The Seattle Times

Excerpted from the Seattle Times

Corps work: Get good exercise for the good Earth

Fit for Life columnist Nicole Tsong is all in for working hard and doing good for the planet by volunteering with EarthCorps, the nonprofit Seattle-based organization dedicated to environmental restoration and developing community leaders.

By Nicole Tsong

Special to The Seattle Times

BURIED DEEP in a thicket of sword ferns in Lincoln Park in West Seattle, wrestling with vine after vine of English ivy, I wished I had worn a heart monitor. Crouching in a forest and pulling out English ivy by the roots isn’t easy; I wanted to know exactly how hard I was working.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think ahead. So I relied on the fact that I was doing something good for the environment, and also the feelings in my legs, lower back and shoulders that told me weeding a forest for three hours or so is plain hard work.

Plenty of studies tell us that working out keeps us strong and elevates our mood, which can only be good for people around us. Most of us work out for the endorphins, to build strength, to get fit. Still, I don’t count going to the gym as public service.

Then there is EarthCorps. The nonprofit Seattle-based organization is dedicated to environmental restoration and developing community leaders, and its volunteer work requires physical effort for improving not only Lincoln Park but Magnuson Park in the North End and others scattered around Puget Sound. Working hard and doing good for the planet? Count me in.

Senator Max Baucus Volunteers with Montana Conservation Corps

Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake

On Thursday last week, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) joined Montana Conservation Corps for some trailbuilding fun in the Flathead National Forest. After being damaged by a fire in 2001, the Corps has been working with the U.S. Forest Service for the past two years to restore and maintain the 15 mile Glacier View Mountain Trail. NBC Montana and ABC Fox Montana both covered the story with videos.

According to ABC Fox, Senator Baucus said “What drives all of us, I think, is beauty, the naturalness of our state, connecting with the land, the water, the air. Not only for ourselves, but for our kids, our grandkids, and that’s a powerful force.”

NBC Montana also quoted Montana Conservation Corps Executive Director, Jono McKinney: “Though we do a lot of conservation work our mission is about developing young people. Helping them learn job skills, learn to work together in teams, a lot of leadership and communication development…[On the trail project:] When you’ve finished the work, what you have created is something that will last. So people really have a sense that the work they’re doing really has a purpose, a meaning, and made a difference. And that’s very rewarding.”

Utah Conservation Corps’ Bike Program Receives Federal Funding, Featured on Public Radio

Credit Matt Jensen – Aggie Blue Bikes ‘wrench lady’ Katie Harker works on a bicycle at the campus shop.

Editor’s Note: Aggie Blue Bikes is a program of the Utah Conservation Corps

From utahpublicradio.org – by Matt Jensen

Aggie Blue Bikes – the campus shop famous for its Aggie-Blue colored bicycles –will receive nearly $90,000 for a major remodel scheduled for later this year. Program coordinator Stephanie Tomlin says the project will open the shop up for additional space, meaning more work benches, additional student tool boards and more bike storage.

Aggie Blue Bikes offers those in the USU community free bike rentals, access to tools and advice and cycling education. Team members here say each bike goes through a rigorous inspection to make sure they’re fit for the road. A typical safety check starts with a look at the paint, then the seat, then…

“Headset, handlebars, shifters, brake levers, grips, cables, bottom bracket, pedals, chain cassette, hubs, wheel trueness, brakes, tire pressure, stem and reflectors,” says Ryan Keepers with a deep breath. “It’s a very comprehensive checkup.”

Keepers and Katie Harker are two staff members at Aggie Blue Bikes who help keep the bikes in top shape.

At its core, the Blue Bikes program advocates cycling as a viable form of transportation on campus and around town. Program coordinator Stephanie Tomlin:

“We’re always looking to get more people on more bikes more often,” she said. “That’s kind of our catchphrase. And we do so through lending, education and advocacy.”

Students and faculty can rent bikes for 24 hours, or for up to three months. Last year, Aggie Blue Bikes checked out more than 600 three-month rental bikes, 900 24-hour rentals and helped 3,000 USU community members with personal bicycle repair and advice.

“Any opportunity we have to further that movement toward opening streets to be more cycling and pedestrian friendly, we’re in support of that,” she added. “And we can’t forget that our roots are entrenched in improving the air quality here.”

The money for the remodel comes from the federal government’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program. Tomlin says the money will be used to improve on-site bike storage as well as updating the facility with a credit card reader and better software to streamline the check-out process. Long-term bike rentals are so popular at Aggie Blue Bikes, Tomlin says it’s difficult to keep up in the crowded facility.

“The three-month rentals are really the bread and butter of Blue Bikes,” said Tomlin. “We have over 260 bikes in that fleet. They’re extremely popular. The idea behind them is to get people on a bike as a sustainable form of transportation. It’s a little more involved than just taking a quick trip somewhere – we want people to commit to it.”

By removing the barriers to cycling, Tomlin and her staff say the program can help reduce vehicle miles traveled by USU community members.

I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” – An Inspirational Corpsmember Speech from the Green City Force Graduation

Shella Hair, GCF Graduate and Corps Member speaker (Photo credit Anthony Clark)

A speech delivered by Corpsmember Shella Hair at the Green City Force Winter 2013 graduation ceremony

I would like to start by saying thank you to the Team Leaders, administration and staff of Green City Force. I would like to give special thanks to Lisbeth Shepherd for all she has done with GCF to make each cohort better.

Because of your support and encouragement, we are all here today celebrating this special day together. Also, I cannot forget this awesome group of Corps Members sitting in front of me. It has been a great pleasure to represent this Cohort; I couldn’t ask for a better group of people with whom to start a promising future!

Before this program I was living in a world guided by fear and failure; a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside of each of us; a world that sets us up for failure by giving us an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, work that does not need to be done, and enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. After High School they kick us out and say the future is ours with no manual instructions, not even a What’s Next After High School for Dummies book. Not every student is prepared for college and not every student is walking into a job. Most of us are just happy to graduate from High School. They say the choice is ours, yet the truth is we have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, which is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.

However failure became my best friend and fear was right around every corner I turned. I say failure became my best friend because it gave me an inner security that I had never attained from passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could not have learned any other way. I discovered that I had a strong will and more discipline than I had suspected. The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger after setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself or the strength of your relationships until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for if it is painfully won, it is worth more than any qualification I ever earned. So during those times failure came to my door, I embraced it with both arms opened wide.

We are all very special; every human on this planet. YES, each and every one of you. So aren’t we all deserving of something better? Using our minds for innovation rather than memorization, for creativity rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? On February 4, 2013 I became a Corps Member of Green City Force and my entire life and outlook on life changed. I was given hope. I am no longer ashamed to say I am from NYCHA. In addition, after being a member of the Urban Farm Corps I found myself and discovered what I want to do with my life, my calling, and my passion: Urban Agriculture. There’s something about taking vacant lots and fields and turning them into gardens and farms that provide fresh produce to the residents of that community. I love educating people of all ages on the importance of healthy eating, working with people to make a difference in their lives, and beautifying NYC with flowers, herbs, and vegetables! I was so inspired, I actually started a garden in my own development in the South Bronx.

The saddest part is that the majority of young adults do not have the opportunity to reflect as I did, experience the things I’ve done, or meet the people I’ve met. They weren’t given a second chance as I was. I will never be able to turn back these 23 years. I cannot run away to another country and start over. That part of my life is over, and going forward I want to make sure that no other young adult from public housing will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. Every young adult that lives in NYCHA from age 18 to 24 should be given the opportunity to be a part of Green City Force. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be – but only if we support one another rather than hold one another down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.

So, here I stand. I am not standing here because I am the best Corps Member, or because I am better than any of you. Truth is I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn’t have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, but at the base my backbone. In that way, we are all winners and we will all be successful.

Shella Hair, GCF Graduate Speaker (Photo credit Anthony Clark)

Looking around, we do not see the same people we saw on the first day of Green City Force. Some have left and others have given up, but we did not! We used GCF to move forward. Before GCF, many of us were against all odds. Growing up in NYCHA made me feel worthless and useless; I became a product of my drug-infested, crime-ridden broken-down environment. I felt trapped. We all had challenges to face, but look at us now. We became AmeriCorps Service Members of Green City Force. When the world labeled us and tried to break us down, we challenged it with our longevity to finish the program, beat them with our perseverance, and became a Force that is unstoppable.

I am now supposed to say farewell to Green City Force, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me. I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later,” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. In the long run I think it would be safe to say, leave behind what is not helpful and instead bring forward with you the lessons that will be the working parts of your greatest invention ever: Your life! Your future! Congratulations to us, Winter Cohort of 2013!

The Poets of Rocky Mountain Youth Corps – Haikus from the Trail

Nature’s beauty serves as the inspiration for many great works of art — including these haikus from the Corpsmembers of Rocky Mountian Youth Corps in Colorado.
Well…maybe these poems weren’t exactly inspired by nature’s beauty. Being out on the trail for days at a time can make you appreciate some of the more subtle “joys” of nature.

Haiku from Trail 4
Originally posted on RMYC: The Conservation Chronicles

Mosquitoes are out

Buzzing in my ear won’t stop

Die die die die die

Bacon grease for days

Chillin in the cup holder

My hair has more grease

In the hills with nerds

Showing off our Magic skills

Where is the walmart?

Sawing back and forth

Woodchips flying in my face

Help! It’s stuck in place

Building a turnpike

Giant rocks won’t move themselves

Bra-a-a-a-d

Rendezvous cook off

For your sweet tooth and meat tooth

Deep fried bacon balls

Digging a cathole

Out in nature feels so nice

Uh-oh, have to wipe

Not oatmeal again

Maybe I’ll add more sugar

Nope, still tastes nasty

Squatting in the woods

Found a nice secluded spot

Oh hey, a hiker

Been out in the woods

Starting to lose sanity

Refrigerator

Hikers can’t make jokes

Building an escalator?

Heard that one before

Hiking 14ers

Why did I sign up for this

That’s not the summit?

Morning before work

Troy’s hair looks magnificent

What is his secret?

We all need our meds

Haven’t seen Nathan in weeks
Mail is like Christmas

California Conservation Corps Crews Sent to Silver Fire and Six Other Fires

More than 300 members of the California Conservation Corps — including 100 on Riverside County’s Silver Fire — have been dispatched to assist Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Services on fires throughout the state.

On Southern California’s Silver Fire near Banning, there are eight CCC crews, providing both firefighting assistance and logistical support at the fire camp. The corpsmembers are working under the direction of Cal Fire.

The CCC is also assigned to the Aspen Fire (Fresno County); Butler Fire (Humboldt County); Dance Fire (Humboldt County); Falls Fire (Riverside County); Power Fire (Tuolumne County); and the Salmon River Complex (Siskiyou County). These crews are working under the direction of the U.S. Forest Service.

The crews are from 15 different CCC locations: Camarillo, Chico, Fortuna, Fresno, Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, Pomona, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Stockton,Ukiah, Watsonville and Yreka.

This has been a busy fire season for the CCC, with corpsmembers providing more than 40,000 hours of assistance during July.

Corpsmember Health Insurance Plan

Arranged by

IMPORTANT UPDATES RE. TCN’S HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN
August 1, 2013

The Corps Network’s Health Insurance Plan is designed for AmeriCorps programs with full time members. Click here for the full Plan Overview.

Update from Chris Rooney at Willis:

The 2012-2013 policy for The Corps Network Plan has been extended through December 2013. The current rates and benefits will apply until January 1, 2014. In the meantime, we are seeking designation for the plan as Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) through HHS for coverage beyond January 1. We will continue to provide updates as developments occur.

Health care reform has created confusion around coverage for AmeriCorps members and we are aware that at least one insurance plan has communicated its intent to cease providing benefits beyond December 2013. We’ve been attempting to provide education regarding the issues and available options to state commissions and programs, most recently through webinars hosted by America’s Service Commissions. We’ve also presented on program director calls to spread the message more directly. If you are interested in scheduling a similar call or have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me or my colleague Julie Nelson at 1-800-456-1415.

A webinar hosted by America’s Service Commissions is available here.

Update from Carol Huls, TCN’s Member Relations Manager:
September 2013

In order to participate in The Corps Network’s Health Insurance Program you need to be a Member of The Corps Network. Our member categories include Service and Conservation Corps, Affiliate members and AmeriCorps Basic members.

For the Health Insurance only – you would want the AmeriCorps Basic membership level. Here is the current form: AmeriCorps Basic Membership FY14

Once you have sent the membership form to me, contact Wills directly for complete information on the plan (including enrollment materials). Contact Chris Rooney (chris.rooney@willis.com) or Julie Nelson (Julie.nelson@willis.com). 1-800-456-1415.

NOTE: If your State Commission is an Affiliate member of The Corps Network, their membership will extend such that the AmeriCorps members in your state may join The Corps Network as an AmeriCorps Basic Member with no membership dues.

Check Here to see if your State Commission is already a member.

If you are a representative of a State Commission who is not yet an Affiliate member, please contact me (chuls@corpsnetwork.org) for more information.

70% of DC Green Corps Graduates Find Employment

Left to right: Travis Marcus Freeman, Turrell Antonio Smith, Carl Jackson Jr., RonDell Pooler

Congratulations to Travis Freeman, Carl Jackson, and Turrell Smith – the graduating members of Washington Parks and People’s DC Green Corps Cohort #5. The graduates were honored at a ceremony held on Thursday, July 18, 2013 at the Riverside Center, Washington Parks and People’s location in Northeast Washington, DC. The ceremony included remarks from the trainees, as well as from Washington Parks and People staff, grantors and partners.

The three graduates of Cohort #5 each received a certificate acknowledging their completion of DC Green Corps’ 12 week training program. Over the course of the program, Corpsmembers are instructed in tree planting and maintenance; invasive species removal; stream restoration strategies; storm water mitigation techniques; and urban agriculture. The graduates – all of whom are DC residents – leave the program with job readiness skills and a working of understanding of landscaping and urban forestry.

More specifically, the members of Cohort #5 planted 11 native trees at Brookland Manor, in Northeast, DC; and they planted 10 native trees at Kimball Elementary School, in Southeast. They also constructed 24 raised garden beds and completed extensive invasive plant removal at Marvin Gaye Park, in Northeast, and Walter Pierce Park, in Northwest, DC.

According to RonDell Pooler, a Washington Parks and People Field Coordinator, about 70 percent of the 128 trainees that have graduated from DC Green Corps found employment upon completion of the Green Corps training program. Pooler says the graduates have migrated into a wide range of career fields.

“Some are in child care, retail, security, landscaping, maintenance, and a few have started small businesses. Some have even continued their education through college or other vocational training.”

Of the three graduates from Cohort #5, Travis Freeman is enrolled in another training program; Turrell Smith is working as a freelance artist; and Carl Jackson has three part-time jobs, including a position as a host at the Josephine Butler Parks Center, Washington Parks and People’s headquarters. The Cohort started with nine members, but two found employment before the end of the program. All graduating members were unemployed at the start of the program.

The Corps Network’s Carol Huls with the graduates and RonDell Pooler, WPP employee