The National Council of Young Leaders: On the Need to Expand Private Internships


National Council of Young Leaders banner, painted by council member Francisco Garcia
 

Created in July 2012 in response to a recommendation from the White House Council on Community Solutions, the National Council of Young Leaders is tasked with informing policymakers, business leaders and funders about the issues faced by America’s young people. The 14 founding council members, ranging in age from 18 to 34, come from diverse upbringings in urban and rural low-income communities across the nation. They represent our country’s Opportunity Youth: the 6.7 million young Americans who are neither in school nor working, but who pose enormous potential for our economy and our future if they are provided the opportunity to get on track and get ahead. Though each council member has overcome different kinds of obstacles, they all share in common their participation in transformative youth programs that helped them become the successful young adults they are today.

In the fall of 2012, the Council released its first publication – Recommendations to Increase Opportunity and Decrease Poverty in America. The report outlines specific actions that could help Opportunity Youth and their communities. One of highlights of the publication is the Council’s Six Recommendations for Immediate Public Action: 1) Expand effective comprehensive programs; 2) Expand National Service; 3)Expand Private Internships; 4) Increase All Forms of Mentoring; 5) Protect and Expand Pathways to Higher Education; and 6) Reform the Criminal Justice System.

We wanted to hear the Council Members describe in their own words why these specific Recommendations are important to them and important to the success of America’s young people. Below, find out why council member Philan Tree is passionate about Recommendation #3…

Expand Private Internships:
Support internships that offer paid employment experience with private corporations that provide appropriate supports to the interns and potential for long-term hiring. Establish a corporate tax credit of up to $4,000 for each six-month paid internship offered to low-income young adults that results in employment. Some of us have experienced amazing internships in the private sector through Year Up, coupled with college prep and a supportive community. [Recommendations to Increase Opportunity and Decrease Poverty in America, p. 8]

(Parts of Philan‘s bio and her photo are from the YouthBuild website)

Philandrian Tree is a member of the Towering House Clan of the Navajo Nation. Her knowledge of the Navajo language and traditions allows her to help build relationships between tribal leadership and local governments. As an AmeriCorps mentor with Coconino Rural Environment Corps (CREC) – a member of The Corps Network based out of Flagstaff, AZ – Philan was able to secure two memoranda of understanding between Coconino County and the Navajo’s Leupp and Tonalea Chapters. This accomplishment made it possible for homeowners from all local Navajo chapters to receive much-needed Coconino County weatherization retrofits. The collaboration also allowed CREC to employ Navajo AmeriCorps members to work directly with their chapters to install energy efficiency measures in homes throughout underserved Native American communities.

In addition to her work with Coconino County, Philan serves as the chair of the Native American Parent Advisory Committee for Flagstaff Unified School District, where she works with families and the District to support and enhance the quality of education for 2,500 Native American K-12 students.
 

Why is this Recommendation important to youth in general, or to you specifically?

Internships are really good for a lot of youth. It’s not only the job experience; they’re working in a field that they either want to study in or they have studied in. They can realize long-term what their next step in the field might be. Without private internships, a lot of youth would miss an opportunity that they wouldn’t see otherwise.

Why do you think it’s especially important to make sure internship opportunities are available to opportunity youth in particular?

Well generally, if you look at the communities that low-income youth come from, a lot of them don’t have these types of opportunities and a lot of them lack basic resources – even just infrastructure and technology. So for young people to be able to have internships it would be a huge step up in being able to see a different side of the workforce that they wouldn’t normally experience. If you look at the overall population of youth right now, you’re going to really see a trend that we want to offset in the future, as far as youth from low-income communities not being job ready. Internships are a way to give them the working skills that they’ll need to be successful in their future careers.

Can you talk a little bit about your own experience with internships and how you might have benefitted from them?

(Philan interns with a local elected official)
A lot of it has been about the exposure. With the person I’m interning with, it’s not so much a single focus; it’s a really broad focus on everything. Also, there’s a lot of one-on-one guidance that allows for insight and input. With private internships you get a lot of experience as far as how to go about resolving issues, or even just looking at issues more critically. You get different viewpoints. It teaches you to really be open because you have to listen to a lot of suggestions and a lot of recommendations. It’s been very useful.

Internships can really help youth get involved in their communities on a larger level. They can understand how they’re part of the bigger picture. They can see what it would take for them to work at a higher level – maybe not immediately, but definitely in the near future. And then also, they can get their peers involved. They can spread the word about how this is what we need to be doing, this is what needs to get done. That’s especially important for the future generation.

My internship has definitely helped me feel like I’m entering a field that I am interested in, but I’ve also learned that there are other areas that I would like to be more knowledgeable about. There’ve been a lot of personal development opportunities. I want to be involved with the community, so this has given me a really strong foundation to build off of.

What do you think needs to happen to put this Recommendation into practice and make the suggestions a reality?

To get it done, I think there needs to be a strong legislative support that listens to the youth voice that says ‘private internships have positive affects for us and we need to expand current programs that support this such as Public Allies.’ We need partnerships between local governments, NGOs and nonprofits and the business sector as well. There’s a need for better partnering within communities to support youth. 

Something that we’ve done locally [Philan works with a local youth workforce investment board] – you can see what types of businesses are willing to offer opportunities for youth. We went around and talked with local businesses to see if they’d be willing to hire local youth, maybe just for a summer internship. And then we made an inventory of those businesses; who would be willing to and who wouldn’t be willing to. And we didn’t shut out the businesses that said they weren’t willing to. We went back and approached them about it and asked why they wouldn’t be interested. A lot of them said it was because sometimes youth interns are not that experienced; sometimes it’s a training issue, sometimes it was just that employer’s perception of youth. So we sat down and thought, ‘if we’re going to work with those businesses, what if we could create some kind of orientation or training for youth throughout a semester, or something along those lines, so they’re prepared when they get to the internship?’ We can address some of these issues that are creating this cautiousness about hiring youth. A lot of businesses have been open to this idea. So it’s about creating that dialogue at various levels to see what would benefit the youth and the businesses. Internships can benefit the corporations because they will have a viable workforce to choose from in the future. They’ll know where the youth were trained and know they have this background of experience. In our Recommendations we support the establishment of a corporate tax credit of up to $4,000 for each six-month paid internship offered to low-income young adults that results in employment. As youth this is something we take seriously and would like all sectors of our communities benefit from.

Do you think it matters what kind of business or organization a young person interns with? The Recommendations talks about ‘private internships’…

So if you open up to private internships then you’re really opening up to a wide variety of employment opportunities. It’s not just going to be just one corporation that we’re working with, or just one nonprofit. Not all companies offer the same program, so you have to take into consideration that aspect. Also, knowing that a lot of youth are not all going to have the same interest and they’re not all going to have the same background and they’re not all going to want to pursue the same kinds of things. If you open up to more businesses then youth will have a choice about what they’re interested in. And if they find something they’re interested in there will be a higher success rate because they’re going to be a lot more motivated. They’re going to be able to learn a lot a more and they’re going to be more interested in advancing in the field. As long as there’s a strong support established, youth interns will be positively impacted.

 

 

Partnership for the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Launches

Rhea Suh, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Budget and Management at the Department of Interior (DOI) talks about the vision for the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps.

Yesterday in Washington, D.C. the Partnership for the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps launched with a meeting attended by over 50 people from numerous federal agencies, nonprofits, and youth policy groups. The Partnership is an effort to support the development and implementation of the 21CSC to reach its goal of engaging 100,000 young people and veterans per year in conservation service.

More specifically, the Partnership provides an interface for private partners to regularly interface with members of the National Council established earlier this year by 8 federal agencies to guide the implementation of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps, following the completion of work by a Federal Advisory Committee that provided recommendations on how to structure, organize, and implement a program of this kind.

At the meeting Rhea Suh, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Budget and Management at the Department of Interior (DOI), spoke about the work that had occured so far to establish a 21CSC. Suh said that despite sequestration cuts and a general lack of new funding, that DOI plans to continue the momentum toward the large vision that the Federal Advisory Committee for the 21CSC mapped out. Another key theme throughout the discussion focused upon how Corps can help federal agencies, cities, and other partners to accomplish essential work during this era of limited budgets with a high degree of professionalism and low cost. Getting this message communicated to potential partners would be essential.

The Partnership next plans to focus the efforts of working groups upon key tasks such as finding funding with the government and from private sources for building the program, developing essential branding and marketing messages, sharing how-to-guides for facilitating partnerships, and planning simultaneous 21CSC launch events for the Fall.

Greater Miami Service Corps and The Corps Network Meet with U.S. Representative Frederica Wilson

Greater Miami Service Corps along with Mary Ellen Ardouny and Tyler Wilson from the Corps Network were happy to be able to meet with U.S. Representative Frederica Wilson at her Miami District Office recently.

During the meeting Representative Wilson learned about the great work Corps are doing in Miami and nationwide to engage youth and how that can be replicated through The Youth Corps Act. We also learned of Rep. Wilson’s passion for youth development and the non-profit she started called the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project.

New Research About the Perceived Benefits of Service in a Corps: a Corpsmember Perspective


Photo taken from the Urban Corps of San Diego Facebook page.
 

Jayne Smith, the former director of Urban Corps of San Diego’s Counseling Clinic, recently completed her doctoral dissertation on the kinds of outcomes Corpsmembers report experiencing after their service in a Corps program (specifically, Urban Corps of San Diego – UCO). Overall, Jayne found that the Corpsmembers in her study had very positive experiences; among other things, they largely reported having learned important skills, learned about themselves, and gained newfound confidence during their service in UCO. 

For her study, Jayne used a qualitative research approach and interviewed 15 former Urban Corps members who graduated between the fall of 2009 and the fall of 2010. This time range was selected to overlap with the time period during which Jayne was employed by UCO, and to allow Corpsmembers a period of time after their graduation to pursue jobs or educational opportunities and reflect on the Corps experience.

As Jayne states, the goal of her study “…was to better understand the Corpsmember process of change and long-term outcomes from the perspective of UCO graduates.” Through collecting over 13 hours of interviews with the 15 graduates, Jayne developed a picture of what Corpsmembers thought about their service in UCO and what they perceived as the personal benefits of such service. Her research also looks at the factors that could potentially affect whether a Corpsmember reported having a positive Corps experience and positive outcomes. The study includes suggestion for ways to develop Corps programs that better serve Corpsmembers and help them attain these favorable results.

Click here to read the full Executive Summary of her dissertation, “A Consensual Qualitative Research Study of the Transformation from High School Dropout to Graduate: Corpsmember Outcomes and Influencing Factors.”

Here are a few of the study’s key findings:   

  • 100% reported learning academic and professional skills, with 14 out of the 15 participants reporting having used such skills post program
  • 93.33% reported “positive attitudinal and behavioral changes across time”
  • 80% reported being employed in at least temporary/part-time jobs
  • 14 out of 15 former Corpsmembers stated that they learned how to be more serious
  • 86.67% reported that they learned not to be afraid to try new things
  • Over 93.33% stated that the Corps staff, teachers and environment were “positive, supportive and caring”
  • “Issues with family, gangs, education, money, personal, education and specific academic organizationswere reported at a decreased frequency while Corpsmembers were in the program.”
  • Participants who compared their experience with UCO with their experience in traditional high schools all reported having more favorable experiences with UCO

In their own words: Members of the National Council of Young Leaders Discuss their Recommendations for Public Action


Members of the National Council of Young Leaders meet with Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education

Created in July 2012 in response to a recommendation from the White House Council on Community Solutions, the National Council of Young Leaders is tasked with informing policymakers, business leaders and funders about the issues faced by America’s young people. The 14 founding council members, ranging in age from 18 to 34, come from diverse upbringings in urban and rural low-income communities across the nation. They represent our country’s Opportunity Youth: the 6.7 million young Americans who are neither in school nor working, but who pose enormous potential for our economy and our future if they are provided the opportunity to get on track and get ahead. Though each council member has overcome different kinds of obstacles, they all share in common their participation in transformative youth programs that helped them become the successful young adults they are today.

In the fall of 2012, the Council released its first publication – Recommendations to Increase Opportunity and Decrease Poverty in America. The report outlines specific actions that could help Opportunity Youth and their communities. One of highlights of the publication is the Council’s Six Recommendations for Immediate Public Action, which are as follows:

1) Expand effective comprehensive programs
2) Expand National Service
3) Expand Private Internships
4) Increase All Forms of Mentoring
5) Protect and Expand Pathways to Higher Education
6) Reform the Criminal Justice System

We wanted to hear the Council Members describe in their own words why these specific Recommendations are important to them and important to the success of America’s young people.

 

Read why Recommendation #4 – Increase All Forms of Mentoring – is important to Council Member Francisco Garcia 
Read why Recommendation #5 – Protect and Expand Pathways to Higher Education – is important to Council Member Adam Strong 
Read why Recommendation #3 – Expand Private Internships – is important to Council Member Philan Tree
Read why Recommendation #6 – Reform the Criminal Justice System – is important to Council Member Christopher Prado
Read why Recommendation #4 – Increase All Forms of Mentoring – is important to Council Member Ramean Clowney
Read why Recommendation #4 – Increase All Forms of Mentoring – is important to Council Member Shawnice Jackson

 

The National Council of Young Leaders: On the Need to Make Higher Education more Attainable


National Council of Young Leaders banner, painted by council member Francisco Garcia

Created in July 2012 in response to a recommendation from the White House Council on Community Solutions, the National Council of Young Leaders is tasked with informing policymakers, business leaders and funders about the issues faced by America’s young people. The 14 founding council members, ranging in age from 18 to 34, come from diverse upbringings in urban and rural low-income communities across the nation. They represent our country’s Opportunity Youth: the 6.7 million young Americans who are neither in school nor working, but who pose enormous potential for our economy and our future if they are provided the opportunity to get on track and get ahead. Though each council member has overcome different kinds of obstacles, they all share in common their participation in transformative youth programs that helped them become the successful young adults they are today.

In the fall of 2012, the Council released its first publication – Recommendations to Increase Opportunity and Decrease Poverty in America. The report outlines specific actions that could help Opportunity Youth and their communities. One of highlights of the publication is the Council’s Six Recommendations for Immediate Public Action: 1) Expand effective comprehensive programs; 2) Expand National Service; 3)Expand Private Internships; 4) Increase All Forms of Mentoring; 5) Protect and Expand Pathways to Higher Education; and 6) Reform the Criminal Justice System.

We wanted to hear the Council Members describe in their own words why these specific Recommendations are important to them and important to the success of America’s young people. Below, find out why council member Adam Strong is passionate about Recommendation #5…

Protect and Expand Pathways to Higher Education:
Make sure that college and registered apprenticeships are affordable and attainable for low-income students. Education awards, scholarships, low-cost community and state colleges, loans that are not predatory or excessively burdensome, and Pell Grants for nontraditional students must be protected and expanded, barriers to obtaining them reduced, and pathways to college strengthened. We understand that higher education is one key to lifelong success. [Recommendations to Increase Opportunity and Decrease Poverty in America, p. 8]

(Parts of Adam’s bio and his photo are from the YouthBuild website)

Adam Strong was raised by his father in the Appalachian community of Jackson, KY. After high school, he enrolled at the local community college and took a position as a security guard at a mine. Unfortunately, this job didn’t last long; the mine was in decline and Adam soon found himself unemployed. A friend from high school referred him to the YouthBuild program. 

At YouthBuild, Adam took part in community service and outreach projects, while receiving a stipend. He gained construction skills, and had the opportunity to tutor through YouthBuild as a fulltime AmeriCorps member. The experience helped introduce him to new possibilities and a new perspective on life. 

Adam currently lives in Hazard, KY where he is a student at University of Kentucky. He expects to graduate in December 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory science. He plans to get a job as a medical lab technician.

As a member of the National Council of Young Leaders, Adam has been active in informing policymakers about the issues faced by rural and low-income young people.

Why is this recommendation important to youth in general or to you specifically?

This recommendation is important to me specifically because I go to a four-year university right now and it’s pretty expensive. I actually started out at a community college – one of the main reasons why was just because the cost is a lot cheaper. I’ve been the recipient of a couple AmeriCorps Education Awards, which have helped me out a lot in paying for college. If it wasn’t for them I otherwise would’ve had to take out loans, so I’d be even more in debt.

My whole thing is that even though college is a direct ladder out of poverty or can help people who just want to find success or make more money, you have to go into something that there’s a ready market for. We need better advisors. There are a lot of college graduates that are unemployed right now. I believe that right now there should be more of a focus on professional programs. There are jobs readily available and there are a lot of people that, like I said, are unemployed or they’re just not satisfied after they get their college degree…So I think there’s an informational gap right now and it needs to be closed so that people know the right programs to go into. End game, you don’t want to graduate from college and you have a bunch of debt and you’re not able to put that degree towards a job. So I believe the pathways to education need to be strengthened and I believe there needs to be a strengthening of the information provided to students so that people not only can go to college and pay for college, but also do well and succeed after they get their degree.

That’s my overall feel because a lot of people in my program already got degrees and already have a lot invested in college, so they’re not really getting a payoff at this point. But college is for sure the best way to better yourself or better your situation. It’s what you should do, but at the same time I think you need to be able to make informed decisions all along the different steps of the process.

What do you think are ways we can make higher education more accessible and attainable?

I think education awards – AmeriCorps awards –  they’re a great thing and I think that’s one thing that needs to be strengthened just so more people can go on to higher education. Maybe more people need to be informed about the ways they can access these different service awards just because they offset costs for college a whole lot…Knowledge about them needs to be more available to the public.

Another thing – I know they do this at a lot of med schools – but more schools could have a tuition guarantee. You come in as a freshman and each year that you stay in college and meet the requirements, you get a guarantee that the tuition won’t go up. Because I know at my school – University of Kentucky – they raise the tuition just about every year. But if you stay in the program, it would be nice if tuition guarantee was more widespread. Just a lock-in. It wouldn’t save you a whole lot, but I’d think it could save you couple hundred or even a few thousand dollars over the four or five years it takes you to get your bachelor’s degree.

The Recommendation says higher education should be made more affordable and attainable for low-income students. A lot of the points in the recommendation focus on ways to make college more affordable, but aside from economic factors, do you believe there are certain barriers that make college unattainable for low-income students?

Just in general, if you’re a low-income student then your personal affairs or your personal lifestyle might affect whether you can go to college. There are different types of poverty; it might be money, it might be resources or a lot of other things. If you’re coming from a low-income family, they may not be able to provide you with a vehicle. If you don’t have a vehicle that means you’re going to have to live on campus. But if you live on campus and you don’t have a vehicle, you might need to find a new job. Because you need a job since your family’s not going to be able to give you money throughout college every week…So it’s really just your situation in general – not just being low-income. It’s just your lifestyle or maybe you have family ties and you have to go to a community college, or maybe you have a kid. Low-income people tend to have a lower amount of resources, like information resources. Maybe they tend not to know where to find help to pay for college or all the different programs. There are a lot of different things that can dissuade you from going to school outside just the cost of college. All those are different barriers. For a lot of people have, I wouldn’t say it’s easier, but just because of their situation it might be easier for them to go to college. 

Another thing is that, I know this is true for some of my friends, they make just enough money where they don’t actually qualify for financial aid. When you fill out your FAFSA, you have to put down your ESC – your Estimated Family Contribution. Well, I mean, if you make $50,000 or $55,000 and your mom makes $30,000 – and that’s even if you live in a dual-income household, because as you can see the trend now is a single parent raising two or three kids. In those cases, you’re only getting one resource of money and you’ve got a couple kids, so even if you make $50,000 or $60,000 you might not actually have that money to contribute towards your child’s education. In most cases, I’m not saying families that are well-off, but might be better off than say…well we’ll say in general, my dad is unemployed so I get the full amount of financial aid. But for instance, I can think of two or three specific friends of mine who actually want to go to college, but they make too much money. So they don’t actually qualify for financial aid. If they were to go to college it would be all on academic merit and loans, or just all on loans depending on what kinds of scholarships they qualify for or anything like that. Just being at a certain scale, your family doesn’t really have the money to give you access to college, but at the same time, you’re in the middle. That can kind of dissuade you, too.

The Council states in Recommendation Five, “We understand that higher education is one key to lifelong success.” What does that mean? College is important, but it’s not the only key to success?

Higher education can be a key just because, like I was saying, it in itself is probably the best –but maybe not easiest – way to propel yourself forward. If you want to provide for your family or just do something more, you should probably go to college. Really college just opens up opportunities for you to do other things, make more money, or have different jobs. But it’s only one key because some people, even if they don’t go to college they’ll still be successful just because of some of the qualities they have. It’s not just about working hard, but investing in yourself. I know this is kind of weird but I’ll get on YouTube every once in a while and I’ll listen to Jim Rohn, he’s a motivational speaker, just because he has good things to say. I think there are a lot of different factors for success. When we [the Council] went to the Opportunity Nation Summit, one of the speakers actually talked about the different factors of success. A lot of them were just about doing extracurricular activities and being active in your community. Just being active and looking for opportunities and not being afraid to ask for help when you need it or ask for information – those are all factors. Just being open in itself will create more opportunities. And that’s not just in college – having the mindset of not being afraid and not being discouraged will help propel you forward in whatever you want to do.

Why should we be particularly concerned about college accessibility right now? Do you think college is becoming less accessible?

Well you kind of just have to think about the economic factors right now. At the one end of the spectrum you have all these people saying there are no jobs and they can’t find a job. And then at the other end of the spectrum, the government is saying there are all kinds of jobs that need to be filled. So there are a lot of potential jobs opening up, but they all require some sort of skill. They may not require a four-year degree – you might just need some level of technical education – but it’s really hard now to just go into a new city and find a job. Maybe you can in certain places, but the job outlook isn’t real good right now. So the focus has been shifting more towards college.

The cost of living is going up, the cost of education has gone up dramatically. So there just aren’t a lot of resources. A lot of people are unemployed right now. Like I said before, my father, he’s unemployed. People who want to go to college are having to rely more on themselves, but it’s not just that – the cost of college keeps going up so it’s much more of an investment than it was 10 or 15 years ago. So just the way I see it, in general, it’s harder to find a job, there’s less money for your family to put in, and the overall cost of living and cost of college are going up, so a lot of people don’t want to invest in something if it’s not a for-sure thing. I have two friends who kind of want to go to college but they don’t really qualify for any financial aid so they don’t really want to potentially end up with a lot of debt and not come out with a degree that will guarantee that they get high-paying jobs that would feasibly allow them to pay off their loans. So just out of shear cost.

Also, there’s the cost of the technology that’s required for classes. If you go into anything science related you have to pay an extra fee for labs. So there are a lot of other costs that come with tuition – whether its books, or a computer. Honesty, a computer is almost mandatory now. It’s not technically mandatory, but you really do need a laptop for college. So that’s a huge cost right there. So there are a lot more barriers than just the tuition.

Tuition is one of the biggest barriers to college, don’t get me wrong, but there are a lot of other fees too. I almost feel like tuition is the number two barrier. This is just my personal thing, it’s not something the Council discussed, but I feel like number one is just your situation; your family circumstances just because maybe you don’t have a strong support network – everyone needs one of those to be successful because college is a huge commitment. You need to have a good support network. I just feel like your circumstances in general can be a barrier. 

200 Jobs to be Created Through the “National Parks of New York Harbor Conservation and Resiliency Corps”


Secretary Jewell Announces Youth Corps to Help Restore New York, New Jersey Parks After Hurricane Sandy 

Taken from a Department of the Interior press release – May 30, 2013 (click here, or scroll down for full press release) 
 

On Thursday, May 30, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the launch of the “National Parks of New York Harbor Conservation and Resiliency Corps.” This program, created through a partnership between the City of New York and the Student Conservation Association (SCA), will create about 200 jobs for young people to participate in Hurricane Sandy clean-up and restoration efforts. The Corps will initially focus on Gateway National Recreation Area and neighboring city parklands in Jamaica Bay, Queens. Their goal is to assist in recovery and damage mitigation throughout national park sites in New York City and New Jersey. These Corpsmembers will serve as role models for President Obama’s ongoing efforts to build a 21st Century Service Conservation Corps (21 CSC), based off President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s successful Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s.

2013 will serve as a pilot year of what is expected to be a multi-year program. The Corps was created through a public-private partnership, with funding from Hurricane Sandy Restoration and Recovery funds and matching SCA funds. American Eagle Outfitters is sponsoring 25 of the 200 corps members.

“President Obama has made Hurricane Sandy response efforts a top priority for his Administration,” said Jewell. “This youth corps will not only strengthen recovery and mitigation efforts in our National Parks throughout the region, but it will also serve as a model for the power of public-private partnerships to boost youth employment and connect young people to the great outdoors.”

 

The “National Parks of New York Harbor Conservation & Resiliency Corps” expected to create 200 jobs for youth in the region

QUEENS, NY — As part of President Obama’s commitment to expand employment opportunities for youth, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today launched the “National Parks of New York Harbor Conservation and Resiliency Corps,” a partnership with the City of New York and the Student Conservation Association (SCA) that will provide approximately 200 jobs for young people in 2013 to participate in Hurricane Sandy recovery and clean-up efforts.

2013 will serve as a pilot year for what is expected to be a multi-year program for youth and young adults from around the region to assist in the response, recovery and mitigation of Hurricane Sandy damage within the national park units and their partner sites in New York City and New Jersey. The Corps will initially focus on Gateway National Recreation Area and adjoining city parklands at Jamaica Bay. Secretary Jewell’s announcement followed a Tuesday visit by President Obama to the New Jersey Shore, where he viewed rebuilding and recovery efforts underway.

“President Obama has made Hurricane Sandy response efforts a top priority for his Administration,” said Jewell. “This youth corps will not only strengthen recovery and mitigation efforts in our National Parks throughout the region, but it will also serve as a model for the power of public-private partnerships to boost youth employment and connect young people to the great outdoors.”

“America’s national parks are unrivaled inspirational assets and the passion of America’s youth is our most powerful resource,” stated Dale Penny, President & CEO of SCA, which is managing the resiliency corps. “Local students are telling us they are ready to do whatever it takes to help heal their community, and that pride and resiliency will prove stronger than any hurricane.” Youth interested in applying to the program can do so here.

The program is a public-private partnership, with funding from Hurricane Sandy Restoration and Recovery funds and matching SCA funds. American Eagle Outfitters is sponsoring 25 of the 200 corps members.

These 200 members of the new parks resiliency corps are in addition to the approximately 200 workers that New York City Parks Commissioner Veronica M. White announced on May 13 as part of the “Jamaica Bay/Rockaway Parks Restoration Corps,” which was funded by an emergency grant from the U.S. and New York departments of labor.

“We are proud to partner with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to ensure our region’s recovery from the damages inflicted by Hurricane Sandy,” said White. “The creation of this new National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy and Resiliency Corps, combined with our Jamaica Bay/Rockaway Parks Restoration Corps, is putting hundreds of New Yorkers to work while preserving some of our city’s richest ecological open spaces.”

“In addition to cleaning up damage from the hurricane, the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservation and Resiliency Corps will be restoring habitat, rebuilding trails and other projects,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said. “These efforts not only help the parks recover from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, but also begin to mitigate the effects of future storms and sea level rise.”

In July 2012, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and then-Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed an agreement between the city and the National Park Service for cooperative management of parklands. The partnership enables New York City parks and the National Park Service to work on each other’s lands, co-mingle resources and undertake joint planning efforts.

When Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast on October 29, 2012, the storm affected nearly 70 national park sites. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the country’s various conservation corps have played a vital role in efforts on-the-ground in the disaster-affected communities.

The newest corps members will serve as role models for the Obama Administration’s ongoing efforts to build a 21st Century Conservation Service Corps, called 21 CSC. Building on the legacy of President Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression in the 1930s, the 21 CSC aims to help young people – including diverse low-income, underserved and at-risk youth, as well as returning veterans – gain valuable training and work experience while accomplishing needed conservation and restoration service on public lands and waters.

Since 2009, when Interior established its Office of Youth in the Great Outdoors, the department and its agencies have built one of the largest and most visible youth programs at the national level, employing more than 84,000 youth through direct hires and partnerships.

Last week, Secretary Jewell announced that the Interior Department expects to hire approximately 17,000 young people to work on public lands this year.

Secretary Jewell Kicks Off National Fishing and Boating Week with Earth Conservation Corps

On Monday, June 3, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy Director Rowan Gould at Earth Conservation Corps’s Pump House location on the Anacostia River to kick off a day of recreational and educational activities in recognition of National Fishing and Boating Week. Over 200 students from D.C. metro area elementary and middle schools had the chance to enjoy fishing and boating activities with Secretary Jewell, and learn about fish and wildlife conservation through hands-on activities.

Also participating in the event were Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops, and Bob Nixon, founder of Earth Conservation Corps. The staff of Earth Conservation Corps was on hand to demonstrate the organization’s live “osprey-cam,” and introduce visitors to birds of prey from their Raptor Education Program.

The event was sponsored by 13 local and federal government agencies, businesses, and nonprofits. 
 


Secretary Jewell, holding a bird from Earth Conservation Corps’s Raptor Education Program, pictured with Daryl Wallace, ECC Media Arts Director 


A boat that took students and guests for a ride down the Anacostia


Earth Conservation Corps Staff Daryl Wallace and Kellie Bolinder giving a demonstration


A fire boat on the Anacostia River puts on a demonstration for the event

International Students Benefit by Growing Food with Vermont Youth Conservation Corps [w/ Video]

From Vermont Youth Conservation Corps

Ali Al Jarah glides around the VYCC commercial kitchen like a seasoned chef.  He balances cooking pots and trays being wrapped for overnight storage.  It is like Ali has done this before, but this is new.  Very new.  Ali, a 16 year-old resident of Winooski, moved with his family from Iraq only seven months ago.  He wants to improve his English. “I am working to speak more English, but it is hard.” Ali is not one to give up, that much is clear.

At Winooski High School, over 30 different languages are spoken, and Ali has found a community there.  He’s also joined the VYCC community – Ali is participating in VYCC’s new after school internship for Winooski students.  Friday marked the halfway point in this six-week program, which is funded by the VYCC Annual Fund as well as a Community Based Learning grant from the Partnership for Change Education Reform Initiative.

Each afternoon, after donning VYCC uniforms in the VYCC schoolhouse, Ali and 27 peers eagerly meet outside for a stretch circle or cooperative game and a short group meeting to discuss the goals of the day.  So far, students have planted over 11,000 onions, and kale and cabbage in the fields behind the West Monitor Barn.  In the greenhouse, they have potted celery, peppers, celeriac and tomatoes.  Students also receive tutorial help as needed.

Food is a way to engage students in community-oriented activities and helps them learn more about each other.  This past Friday, students prepared food for a special evening presentation by leaders in the Conservation and Farm programs. In addition to sharing traditional dishes, students gain valuable skills such as communication, teamwork, leadership, and personal responsibility.

Farm Apprentice Caelyn Keenan observes, “Students who didn’t speak to each other a few weeks ago are now comfortable in each other’s company. We may not always have profound conversations, but the ease they have with one another is remarkable. I think hard work and food have a lot to do with this ‘coming together.’”

They are also engaged in the issue of food security in our communities.  On June 7, students will plan and host the Friday Night Food Affair, a free community meal for residents of Richmond and surrounding towns.  To deepen their learning and make a positive impact in their hometown, the students will plan and host their own fall harvest community dinner in Winooski in September.

10 Conservation Corps Receive New Funding from Department of the Interior

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announces new project funding at an event with Northwest Youth Corps.

Last week we previewed an announcement of grants to be made by Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell that she made at an event with Northwest Youth Corps (see more photos here).

Ten conservation corps who are members of The Corps Network were among the recipients of new grants to support youth employment and stewardship on federal lands. They include

Montana Conservation Corps
Student Conservation Association (California)
Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (NM)
Southwest Conservation Corps
Northwest Youth Corps
Nevada Conservation Corps
San Joaquin Regional Conservation Corps
Western Colorado Conservation Corps 
Los Angeles Conservation Corps
Urban Conservation Corps (Southern California Mountains Foundation)

Full descriptions of each project that was funded (including those of the Corps above) can be seen here. We congratulate all of our members on this great success!