The Green City Force Community Meeting

 

Green City Academy and the Community Meeting

It isn’t called Green City Force for nothing. The dictionary says that a “force” is a physical energy or power. Green City Force Corpsmembers show their power through their ability to educate people and make a real difference in how low-income New Yorkers consume energy. They display power by making a real difference in the lives of community members through service projects that range from food distribution at a local soup kitchen to Hurricane Sandy disaster cleanup. Corpsmembers also show power in their commitment to the Green City Force program and to each other. The main vehicle through which they express this commitment is the GCF Community meeting. 

Once a week, Corpsmembers gather for Green City Academy and the Community Meeting. Green City Academy, the classroom component of GCF, involves preparing Corpsmembers for green careers and higher education by helping them brush up on math and literacy skills and teaching them basic job readiness skills. Corpsmembers spend the day completing reading and writing assignments, meeting with career counselors, and working through the Roots of Success eco-literacy curriculum. All Corpsmembers also prepare for the Building Performance Institute certification needed for a career in energy efficiency auditing.

With just one day a week to cover classroom material and help Corpsmembers work towards their AmeriCorps Education Awards, Green City Academy can be very busy. The entire day isn’t spent in front of a whiteboard, however; for about one hour, after the books are put away, all Green City Force Corpsmembers and staff gather for the Community Meeting. The meeting is a chance for people to openly discuss their thoughts about the program and speak candidly about concerns or issues they have.

Everyone does not participate in the same meeting; for instance, the roughly two dozen EmPower Corpsmembers and their Team Leaders meet separately from the rest of the group. The EmPower Community Meeting begins with Announcements and a chance to discuss what the team accomplished over the previous week. This week, several Corpsmembers who had the chance to shadow building efficiency auditors talked about how they got hands on training in plastering, foam insulation installation, and window installation. Other Corpsmembers talk about how they met with the Green City Force Board of Directors earlier in the week.

Later in the meeting, it’s time for the Feedback Session. Corpsmembers and staff speak directly to one another and either give praise, or give positive reinforcement along with a suggestion for improvement. Corpsmembers encourage their peers to stay focused and not lose sight of their goals. They might use this opportunity to publically apologize to someone, to tell a friend that he needs to take the job more seriously, or to let someone know that they’re doing a good job. This open, honest communication allows for stronger bonding and more productive relationships. The Feedback Session also helps remind Corpsmembers why they came to the Corps in the first place; hearing personalized encouragement or concern from a peer might be just the right motivation a Corpsmember needs to get him or herself through the program.

Another section of the Community Meeting offers a chance for people to share their “hopes.” Corpsmembers and staff pass around a tiny potted tree and “water” the plant with their hopes for themselves, fellow crewmembrers, and the program. Corpsmembers that want to share a hope wait for their turn to hold the pot and stand in the middle of the group to speak. The whole process is professional and the hopes people share are insightful and sincere. Some of the hopes are very specific, while some of them apply to the whole group. This week, several Corpsmembers expressed the hope that everyone in the EmPower team would continue to grow and learn. One Corpsmember, who had seen Green City Force alumni warmly welcomed whenever they returned to visit their old supervisors, hoped for a day when he could make a triumphant return to Green City Force. Another Corpsmember who was concerned that he and his peers sometimes lacked motivation, expressed the hope that everyone on the team remain committed to the program and graduate with a sense of accomplishment.

“GCF is like a family. We do training and service and things like that, but at the end of the day we all come together because we’re a force. We’re a force moving towards the same goal,” he said. “We’re supposed to enjoy our time here because we’re here to learn. It’s only six months; it’s not like we’re going to be locked with each other forever. But we came together with a common goal and I feel like sometimes people lose that value. So my hope this week is that we can all appreciate what GCF is intended to give us.”

 

 

Forests, Parks & Gardens: the Many Ways NYRP Keeps New York City Green

Sherman Creek Park, Swindler Cove

It’s 10 a.m. and a group of elementary school students has just arrived at Sherman Creek Park for a nature presentation. The students and their teachers gather at a semi-circle of picnic benches and wait as Shawn Walton and Michelle Mar pass out binoculars.

Shawn and Michelle are both AmeriCorps members with New York Restoration Project; a non-profit dedicated to bringing green spaces to underserved communities in New York City’s five boroughs. Shawn and Michelle, who both started at NYRP in January 2013, are environmental educators. Along with Mya Jenkins, the NYRP Education Manager, Shawn and Michelle work to develop educational activities and lead students on nature walks through Sherman Creek Park, located along the Harlem River.

Though the first couple months of their AmeriCorps service were spent planning activities and creating informational materials, Shawn and Michelle now spend their days in the park with visiting students. They usually teach two classes a day, three to four times a week.

Each class begins with Mya, Shawn and Michelle welcoming students to the park and showing them several thought provoking items, like preserved insects or dried fungus. Then the binoculars are distributed and the nature walk begins. Sherman Creek Park is full of flowers and budding trees this time of year, but Swindler Cove hasn’t always looked this way. In fact, those who are familiar with the region’s history know it’s quite extraordinary that a park can now exist here.


The pond in Sherman Creek Park

Back in the 1990s, NYRP helped develop a garden at P.S. 5, an elementary school located on what is now the edge of Sherman Creek Park. At the time, the area that eventually became the park was used as an illegal dump. The ground was heaped with trash, car parts, and tangled masses of invasive vines. The waterfront was lined with collapsed boathouses and debris. NYRP saw potential in this forgotten part of Harlem and began the process of transforming the dump into a useable green space.

From about 1996 to 1999, NYRP hauled away trash and removed the thick cover of vines. The next few years were spent restoring the land and the waterfront to their natural beauty by reintroducing native plants. The five-acre park now includes an urban forest, wetlands, a vegetable garden, a freshwater pond, and a boathouse – all connected by a wide, well-maintained trail. NYRP is now expanding the reclamation efforts by improving a longer stretch of the shoreline. One of their bigger projects involved planting 200 flowering cherry trees between the river and Harlem River Drive.

Back with the class, Mya leads the students to the park’s freshwater pond and quizzes them about the difference between shallow water and deep water. She encourages the students to look for the tadpoles and pumpkin seed fish swimming in the sunny parts of the pond. Then Michelle takes over and asks the students to identify other kinds of animals that might like living in the pond: Squirrels? Turtles? Ants? 

The class works its way through the park, pausing at the waterfront to look at the ducks and cormorants. They stroll through the urban forest to see what’s in bloom and to look for birds. They stop in the garden and gather around the 18 raised beds to learn about where fruits and vegetables come from. Shawn and Michelle love seeing how excited the kids get when they see one of the park’s resident Red-tailed Hawks, or when they watch the snapping turtle swimming in the pond, or when they see food they recognize from the grocery store growing right out of the ground.

In the process of teaching classes, developing activities for visiting students, and helping maintain the park, both Shawn and Michelle say they’ve learned a great deal. Shawn learned that the Harlem River is technically an estuary, not a river. Michelle has picked up gardening tips and learned how to identify many new birds. She hopes to one day have her own vegetable garden.

The nature walk ends back at the picnic benches where Shawn has set up a collection of preserved insects and spiders under magnifying glasses. As the class troops back up to the tables, Michelle stops to get a better look at a large water bird she’s just noticed bobbing in the river.

“What is that?…I’m always looking things up in this job. I’m always learning new things.”

 

Highbridge Park

It’s fair to say that most people think of the Brooklyn Bridge when they hear about New York City’s oldest bridge. Not many people know that High Bridge, crossing the Harlem River to connect the Bronx to Upper Manhattan, was completed in 1848 – over twenty years before construction on the Brooklyn Bridge even began.

Probably part of the reason why High Bridge is often forgotten is because it’s a footbridge. Part of the reason is because it fell into disrepair and has been closed to traffic since the 1970s. From the ‘70s to the ‘90s, the bridge went neglected because its western end was the derelict Highbridge Park.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Highbridge provided upper middle-class New Yorkers with a place to go horseback riding and rowing. However, with the development of Washington Heights and the construction of the Harlem River Drive, Highbridge became dirty and less accessible. The forgotten park soon became a place for illegal activity. Squatters constructed shacks and people came to deal in drugs and prostitution. Highbridge’s 119 acres were soon littered with trash and the remnants of stolen cars. The park’s grass, plantings, and many of its trees died as uncontrolled vines overtook them.

In the mid to late 1990s, New York Restoration Project (NYRP) reclaimed the Swindler Cove waterfront and created Sherman Creek Park. As development of Sherman Creek progressed, NYRP expanded their reclamation efforts to include the northern end of Highbridge, located just on the other side of the Harlem River Drive. When NYRP started work in Highbridge, it was so overgrown and littered that most of the pathways were buried and needed to be excavated. NYRP removed nearly 500 tons of trash from the park in 1996 alone.

After clearing the trash and the shells of stolen cars, NYRP then worked with the New York City Parks Department to begin restoration of Highbridge by beautifying the northern entrances. Bit by bit, they then removed the invasive vines and helped plant native trees, flowers, and shrubs. Jason Smith, the NYRP Campus Regional Director who oversees Highbridge, estimates that some 3,000 to 4,000 trees have been planted in the park since the late 1990s. The reintroduction of these native plants was excellent for wildlife; the park is now home to hawks, field mice, snakes, squirrels, and many different bird species. NYRP staff members who have seen Highbridge through its transformation agree that every year they see more and different kinds of birds.


Stages of restoration at Highbridge Park. In the background is an area of vines that NYRP staff and Corpsmembers have not yet had a chance to remove. These parts of the park represent what the entire area used to look like before NYRP’s intervention. 

Work on the northern end of the park continues to this day. With the help of volunteers, a group of AmeriCorps members and NYRP staff members maintain what’s already been reclaimed and continue to pull out invasives. Tony Lewis, NYRP’s Highbridge Area Supervisor, generally oversees two AmeriCorps members in the winter and three members in the Spring. At any given time, there are about 20 NYRP AmeriCorps members up in Northern Manhattan. Tony started at NYRP as a Corpsmember after he was inspired by the before-and-after pictures of Highbridge. He says that many of the park’s current volunteers come for a similar reason.

“We started just by prettying up the edges to invite people in,” said Tony. “Now they see how we’ve cleaned up the area and they’ve become interested. They’ve become very dedicated, helping us pull out vines and invasives.”

Some parts of the northern end of the park have what Tony likes to refer to as “DVS”: Dead Vine Syndrome. Many native trees still struggle to survive under the gnarled dead branches of porcelain berry and other fast-growing vines. This is where the attention of AmeriCorps members is essential to the park’s success.

“If you couldn’t tell, I’m very dedicated to my AmeriCorps members,” said Tony.


A restored area of the Harlem River along Sherman Creek Park

Tony not only remembers the names of every AmeriCorps member that’s served under him at Highbridge; he remembers which specific plants they added to the park’s landscape. He fondly refers to certain plants as “so-and-so’s rose bush” or “so-and-so’s ferns.”

Kennedy is one of the AmeriCorps members who currently serves as part of the Highbridge-Sherman Creek Park urban forest crew. He used to work as a security guard at the Con Edison building located opposite Sherman Creek Park on the Harlem River. Ken was so intrigued by the restoration work happening in the park that he went down and spoke with someone from NYRP who was collecting litter along the water’s edge. He liked the idea of working outside and eventually applied to the program. These days, Ken is Tony’s “right hand man.” He’s been taking classes at the New York Botanical Garden and hopes to eventually pursue a career in horticulture.

In addition to gardening and forestry work, AmeriCorps members and NYRP staff help manage the park’s volunteers. In Sherman Creek, many volunteers help with the children’s garden or with the park’s compositing effort, which involves recycling food waste from a local farmers’ market.

“The composting is just part of our main goal to show what sustainable, environmentally friendly land management can look like in a low-income community,” said Jason Smith.

One of NYRP’s biggest goals right now is to improve the forest cover in Highbridge. Many branches and several large, old trees came down last year during Hurricane Sandy and preceding storms. The organization plans to plant several hundred new trees this fall. Within the past year they planted about 2,500 trees as part of the development of the Highbridge Park Mountain Bike Trail, the only one of its kind in Manhattan. Though NYRP did not build the trail, they have worked with the local volunteers and BMX riders who did in order to protect and promote the growth of the new trees planted on the trail’s eastern edge.

Mountain bike riders are certainly a new addition to the park, but most of Highbridge’s patrons are newcomers, too. Jason, who has worked at Highbridge and Sherman Creek long enough to remember when the park was too dangerous for recreational use, has seen enormous, positive changes in park patronage.

“Families use the park now. You see children and people walking dogs,” said Jason. “When I started, you would have never seen that happen.”

 

Northern Manhattan Community Gardens

Maggie’s Garden

Some of the parks managed by NYRP range over 100 acres. But there are many NYRP-managed properties that cover just a couple thousand square feet. These are the NYRP Community Gardens. There are 11 gardens in Upper Manhattan, nine of them located in East Harlem.   

Some of the gardens are so small and shaded by trees that they could go unnoticed by someone unfamiliar with the neighborhood. To those who live in the community, however, the gardens serve as safe, welcoming places to enjoy some fresh air and meet with friends and family. Many of the gardens have seating areas, gazebos, and grills, making them perfect places for celebrations and summertime barbeques.

No two gardens are exactly alike. Barry Elmore, NYRP’s Manhattan Zone Gardener, points out that many of the gardens were established community gathering places well before NYRP assumed management responsibility. In the late 1990s, over 100 community gardens throughout New York City were scheduled for auction. To save these green spaces from development, NYRP took title to 52 of the gardens and established the New York Garden Trust. The Trust for Public Land took control of most of the remaining gardens. NYRP now partners with community gardeners to ensure that these precious plots remain useable green spaces for everyone in the neighborhood to enjoy.

Some of the Upper Manhattan gardens have raised beds for community members to grow their own produce. Some of the well-shaded gardens are almost entirely paved and act more as courtyards than places to grow fruits and vegetables. It is the job of NYRP staff members and AmeriCorps members to make sure the gardens stay clean, the paths stay clear, and the plantings stay healthy and free of weeds. Barry noted that some of the gardens have been looked after by dedicated community members for many years. NYRP works with these caretakers to make sure the gardens get the appropriate attention and resources.


Rodale Garden

For Barry and the AmeriCorps members who help in the gardens, Monday and Friday are generally days for picking up litter and maintaining greenhouse plants. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are when they can give the gardens more specialized attention: they prune shrubs and trees, plant donated flora, use the bag-snagging device to remove plastic bags from trees, and work with partnering organizations to build raised planting beds and help with events.

A few of the Upper Manhattan gardens are sponsored by major companies or reflect certain themes. The103rd Street Garden, sponsored by Disney, includes a basketball court and playground. The tiny Wicked Garden, based off the Broadway musical, features a yellow brick road and other Oz-inspired fixtures. The Family Garden, commonly known as the Tiffany Garden because of its sponsorship by the iconic American jewelry company, features a shaded front courtyard gated by a wrought iron fence.

One small sign of how the community has invested in the Tiffany Garden and others is how people will sometimes hide cat food under the bushes for the neighborhood strays. At the Tiffany Garden, located just around the corner from Raos, a famous Italian restaurant, Barry says the cats sometimes eat like kings, receiving leftover calamari and whole chickens.

Communities are obviously invested in the gardens in many other ways as well. The Los Amigos Garden, located in the heart of Spanish Harlem, was recognized by the New York State Council on the Arts for its importance to the local Latino population. Though it was constructed in the early 1980s, NYRP worked with community members to redesign the space to better suit their needs. The garden reopened in 2010 with a newly constructed casita where people from the neighborhood come to play cards, relax, and host traditional meals.                                                                                        

“Each garden is a little different based on the community’s needs,” said Barry. “The biggest thing is to try and get the community involved.”

 

Improving Building Efficiency One Day…Tearing Buildings Down the Next

 

It’s windy and the weather is colder than the forecast predicted, but it’s easy to stay warm when you’re bundled in a head-to-toe Tyvek suit. Along with respirators, gloves and safety goggles, the suits are part of the uniform worn by the Green City Force Corpsmembers tasked with salvaging homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

It’s been almost six months since Sandy struck, but for some New Yorkers the storm might as well have just hit yesterday. Down in Sheepshead Bay, a neighborhood of Southern Brooklyn located along the Rockaway Inlet, many homes were completely inundated by storm surges. Even now, home interiors are still filled with mud-coated furniture. The walls are still covered in moldy sheetrock and wet insulation. Most families are simply not capable of addressing the storm damage on their own. This is where Green City Force comes in.

The goal of Green City Force, a Brooklyn-based Service Corps that enrolls residents of New York City Housing Authority buildings, is to end the cycle of poverty and protect the environment by training low-income young adults for “green collar” careers. The Corpsmembers, who range in age from 18 to 24, spend six months getting hands on training and learning about fields related to the clean energy economy, including energy efficiency, weatherization, urban agriculture, and improving community environmental health. Corpsmembers also participate in community service projects; but lately many of their additional service projects have focused on Sandy recovery.  

Today, a cloudy Thursday in mid-April, marks the third time that this team of Green City Force Corpsmembers has helped with the Sheepshead Bay cleanup efforts, building on the work of last Fall’s Corpsmembers. Using prepaid MetroCards issued by Green City Force, many Corpsmembers have traveled well over an hour to get here. Their first stop is a trailer run by Occupy Sandy; a coalition of Occupy Wall Street members working to distribute volunteers and resources in storm-damaged neighborhoods. Green City Force and Occupy Sandy are not officially affiliated, but the Corps has arranged to spend the day volunteering in whatever homes Occupy Sandy has scheduled for cleanup.


 

At the trailer, about 10 Corpsmembers from the Green City Force EmPower Team and their Crew Leader, Kenta Darley-Usmar, gather protective gear, trash bags and crowbars. Their first job today will involve taking down the sheetrock and fiberglass insulation from the interior of a damaged storage room. The walls and insulation – wet, muddy, and covered in mold – crumble easily, necessitating the use of respirators. Corpsmembers use hammers and crowbars to break holes in the walls, then use their hands to pull down the sheetrock. Other Corpsmembers collect the debris in trash bags and take it to the curb.

After a pizza lunch provided by the grateful owners of the storage room, the EmPower team heads off to another house. This second home has already had the sheetrock and insulation removed, so Corpsmembers get to work pulling out moldy kitchen cabinets, doors and door frames. Some Corpsmembers wait outside and use hammers to remove nails and staples from the wood. Though they admit there’s something therapeutic about being able to tear things down, the Corpsmembers are solemn and very respectful of the property.


 

“It feels good to help families. This is a lot of work so you know there’s no way they could’ve done it on their own. But we get it done,” said Angie Lacy, a Corpsmember with the EmPower team.

Angie and a fellow Corpsmember, Angela Almonte, commented on how helping muck out damaged homes is in many ways easier than the outreach work they do as members of the EmPower team. Except for on service days like this one, the EmPower team normally spends four days a week doing environmental education in low-income neighborhoods. Their main job is to inform eligible residents about a state program through which they can receive energy efficient appliances for free. Corpsmembers then help with the application process and follow-up work. The team also distributes CFL light bulbs and information about ways people can reduce their utility bills. Eventually the Corpsmembers will become certified to actually do energy efficiency audits and install aerators and eco-friendly appliances. As Angela points out, helping muck out damaged homes is actually very applicable to the program’s main goal because it allows Corpsmembers the opportunity to learn about building safety and see the skeletal structure of buildings.

Angela discusses how the EmPower team’s outreach work can often be challenging because it involves having to get the attention of sometimes reluctant residents and then gain their trust. Whereas tearing down a wall is pretty straightforward, outreach work can be unpredictable. When they can, the team tries to set up their table in front of an apartment building that has a looped driveway so that residents can see there are multiple Corpsmembers all working together.

“Sometimes people kind of don’t feel like they’re being helped,” said Angela. “But it’s a really good feeling when you see that they know they’re being helped and they really appreciate it.”

Angela and Angie are both very dedicated to completing the six months of GCF and continuing on to college. Angela hopes to study architecture, while Angie wants to pursue a degree in biology. Both young women have an interest in science that brought them to Green City Force in the first place — Angela attended the Gateway Academy for Environmental Research and Technology; a public high school where she had the chance to take classes in biotechnology and robotics. Angie took botany in school and excelled in environmental science. When Angela heard about GCF from her mother, and Angie saw a flyer for the program in her apartment building, they were both intrigued by the prospect of gaining green industry job experience.

“I’ve learned a lot while I’ve been here. It’s opened my eyes to a lot of things, like how the earth really is warming up, and how we’re running out of resources,” said Angie. “We’ve been to a lot of places and we’ve experienced a lot of things – things I definitely wouldn’t have experienced on my own. Our resumes are going to look great by the end of this.” 

Finding a New Beginning in Your Own Community – the NYC Justice Corps

 

Finding a steady job can be difficult for anyone who’s been involved with the court system, but it can be especially hard for a young offender. A jail sentence can disrupt a teen’s educational path and prevent the development of basic job skills and work experience most young adults gain in their early twenties. Without a resume, a high school diploma, or job market savvy, many young offenders are left with few options and return to the bad habits that landed them in trouble. Fortunately, there are programs like NYC Justice Corps to help these youth stay off the streets and improve their educational and employment outcomes.

The mission of NYC Justice Corps is straightforward, but the organization’s comprehensive programming touches many people in the communities the Corps serves. Participants in the Corps learn work readiness skills, gain hands-on job experience, can earn their GED or trade certification, and receive personal counseling and support. Corpsmembers acquire their hands-on experience by completing volunteer projects that benefit local churches, daycare centers, senior care facilities and other organizations in need of assistance. Essentially, Corpsmembers benefit from having a second chance to build a future, and other members of the community benefit from their service. 

To be eligible to join the Corps, participants must be between the ages of 18 and 24 and must live within one of nearly 20 zip codes in Harlem and the Bronx. They also must be on probation or parole, have been released from jail or prison within the last year, or have participated in an alternative-to-incarceration program within the past year. Though some Corpsmembers once participated in illegal activities that hurt the South Bronx, the Justice Corps offers them a chance to give back to the community and show people that they’ve changed.  

“A lot of these Corpsmembers are natural leaders, and it’s just all about how they funnel their energy. There are a lot of people out there who will follow you, so why not have them follow you to do something good?” said Juan Gonzalez, a Senior Site Supervisor at the Corps’s Fulton Avenue location in the South Bronx. “A lot of these kids could be counselors. They could be social workers. They could have active, positive lives instead of going around doing things they shouldn’t be doing. Everybody has something they shouldn’t be doing, but there’s always a point in your life when everything clicks and you realize ‘I need to stop doing this. I need to move forward.’ I’m hoping that our Corpsmembers who haven’t heard that click yet can get in tune with it. We can’t force them to change, but we can help.”

Juan is new to NYC Justice Corps, but he has worked in youth development for over 25 years. He has a great deal of experience working with homeless, runaway, and LGBT youth and has developed a passion for helping young people find their way. He likes how the model of the Justice Corps helps its young participants get on their feet through structured service projects that help the whole community. He hopes that these service projects help Corpsmembers build a connection with the neighborhood that leads them to want to stay, build a family, and continue to help local organizations grow and thrive.


 

Recently, Corpsmembers have helped manage the food pantry at a church that supplies food distribution efforts at other churches throughout the Bronx. On Mondays, Corpsmember pack over 200 grocery bags. On Tuesday mornings they help distribute the bags to people in the community. Wednesdays and Thursdays are when they unload food delivery trucks and prepare it to be picked up by representatives from some 80 other congregations. On Tuesdays, there is usually a long line, wrapped around the corner, of people in need of food assistance.

“This kind of giving involves working hand-in-hand with the community. You might even see someone who you know,” said Juan. “When our guys see that line around the corner, I hope something clicks and they think, how could you hurt a community that’s already hurting so much?”

Service projects, which might range from food distribution to mural painting and lawn maintenance, are only one aspect of the Justice Corps’ program. After Corpsmembers are recruited and enrolled, they have about one month of orientation and training. They then must complete about 10 – 14 weeks of community service projects. The final step of the six month process is a roughly two-month-long internship with an outside organization. Partway through the community service portion of the program, Corpsmembers undergo OSHA training that allows them to perform light construction work. They might help paint and plaster the exterior of a church, or put up new sheetrock walls in a daycare center.

“We just want to be visible in the community, through our work and through word of mouth from the organizations we work with. Just through word of mouth we get referred a lot and we’re pretty well known in the South Bronx,” said Andrew McKee, a former Corpsmember and current Site Supervisor who won a 2011 Corpsmember of the Year Award.

In his position as Senior Site Supervisor, one of Juan’s responsibilities is to do outreach and find more organizations in the Bronx that might benefit from the services of Corpsmembers. He knows there are plenty of churches and community centers that would love to have a few helping hands – it’s now just a matter of making sure they’re aware of the program. Juan also envisions a future in which more young people know about the Justice Corps, too. Right now, many Corpsmembers are mandated to join the program or hear about it from a counselor. Elizabeth Murrell and Phillip Crosby are two examples of Corpsmembers who came to the program on a counselor or parole officer’s recommendation.

“When I came out of jail I was looking for something to do — something I could do with my time that would help me stay out of trouble, stay off the streets. And then I found out they were paying here. I can get my money and do something with myself, and possibly get something in the end. So it was perfect,” said Elizabeth. “I never actually had a job before, so being here and getting some experience has been really helpful. They taught me how to organize and how to dress and how to act in the business world.”


Computers in the former NYC Justice Corps alumni center. Corpsmembers can use the Computers on Fridays or during downtime. The Site Supervisors hope to install software on the computers that can help Corpsmember learn basic office skills. 
 

Elizabeth and Phillip are part of the same cohort, but they participate in slightly different programming. Elizabeth spends some of her days in the field working on service projects and some of her days in the classroom working towards her GED. Phillip, who came into the Corps with a bachelor’s degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, spends every day on the work site. Just as Elizabeth is studying for her GED, other Corpsmembers spend some of their days at Bronx Community College where they work to become certified plumbers or electricians. On Fridays, all Corpsmembers work with counselors to prepare their resumes and plan their next steps. Fridays are also when they participate in mock interviews, receive job training, and have a chance to meet with a psychiatrist.

At the end of the six month program, Elizabeth hopes to have her GED and be able to pursue a hands-on career in construction. Phillip hopes to pursue a trade, but he has yet to decide which specific field he wants to enter.

“Before the end of the six months even comes, we’re supposed to already have our foot in the door at an internship or a job. Basically they help us throughout the six months so that before we graduate we’re supposed to already know what we’re going to do. They help us, but it’s on us to make the initial steps,” said Phillip. “This whole program prepares you for an actual job, for the real world. What you’re doing here, you could be doing the same exact thing in a job.”

Both Elizabeth and Phillip say they’ve learned a great deal in the past couple months. Elizabeth says she’s brushed up on her math skills and has improved her communications skills. Phillip says he’s learned how to interview better and says he was surprised to learn about how organized and complex the church’s food distribution system is. Both Corpsmembers say they would recommend the program to other young people looking for a fresh start.

“It’s not a waste,” said Elizabeth. “You actually do something with your time while you’re here and you can benefit from it in the long run.”

Senate Holds Hearing on Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2013

Yesterday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Public Lands Subcommittee held a hearing on the Public Lands Service Corps of Act of 2013.  Subcommittee Chairman Manchin (WV) presided over the legislative hearing on 20 public lands bills.

Senators Reid and Baucus each testified in support of public land bills specific to Nevada and Montana. The administration provided two witnesses for the hearing; Jim Pena, Associate Deputy Chief, National Forrest System, USFS, and Jamie Connell, Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management, DOI. The administration’s testimony included strong support S. 360 which they explained “will help fulfill their commitment to build a 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC).” The Public Lands Service Coalition Director of Government Relations, Joe Gersen, submitted written testimony in support of the legislation. The legislation will next move to be marked up by the committee and the Public Lands Service Coalition expects that to happen in late May.

There is still time for you to reach out to your Senators and Representative and ask them to support the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2013. The Sierra Club, a key ally and member of the Public Lands Service Coalition, has setup a fast way to send your Members of Congress an email showing support for the Public Lands Service Corps Act. This tool is a great way for your board members, alums, and friends of your organization to express their support of the Public Lands Service Corps Act.  It only take a few minutes to send a message in three easy steps, click “take action” below to get started. Please share with your networks.  Please take action today!

Sierra Club Currents: News and Action Center
Take Action: Employ Youth to Protect Our Natural HeritageTake Action: Employ Youth to Protect Our Natural Heritage

Our public lands are facing a backlog of $25 billion worth of essential maintenance projects. At the same time, the youth unemployment rate hovers at 13 percent. The Public Lands Service Corps Act would authorize the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior to administer conservation corps activities on our public lands.

Take Action
Tell Congress to put young Americans to work protecting and restoring our public lands. Pass the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2013.

 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Hosts 20th Anniversary Benefit for Civic Works, Discusses Green Economy

On Wednesday evening this week, several members of The Corps Network staff were proud to attend Civic Works’ 20th Anniversary Benefit.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. hosted the event and praised Civic Works for their long and successful history of getting young people engaged in addressing critical environmental needs, the green economy, and giving back to their Baltimore communities while helping raise political awareness of a range of issues from environmental stewardship to climate change.

Kennedy’s sister, and Civic Works co-founder Kathleen Kennedy Townsend also spoke (shown above), and thanked the Baltimore community for their many years of support. In an interview with WYPR (Baltimore’s NPR affiliate), Townsend discusses how Civic Works’ director Dana Stein came to her with the idea to create the Corps. You can also listen to segments where 1) Dana talks about how geothermal energy will cool and heat Civic Works’ headquarters at the historic Clifton Mansion in the future and 2) the restoration of the Mansion. 

WBAL 11 also did a segment about the event and Civic Works’ 20 year impact that can be watched here.

Since 1993, Civic Works has:

  • Converted 190 vacant lots into community gardens and green spaces
  • Rehabilitated 55 houses, repaired 253 houses, and weatherized 275 houses for low and moderate income families
  • Made energy efficiency improvements in more than 4,000 households resulting in projected savings of more than $3 million in utility costs
  • Tutored and mentored 33,809 students
  • Provided service opportunities for 2,650 AmeriCorps members
  • Recruited 32,544 volunteers
  • Assisted 157 participants in earning a GED
  • Placed 510 participants in healthcare and green jobs
  • Grown more than 15,000 pounds of fresh, organic produce for sale to local communities
  • Planted 25,477 trees

[Video] Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell Highlights The Corps Network and Student Conservation Association for Volunteer Opportunities in Earth Day Chat

On Monday of this week, our new Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell participated in a special Earth Day webchat.

When asked a question about the Department of Interior partnering with nonprofits and corporations to boost volunteerism on public lands, here’s what Secretary Jewell had to say:

The Climate Change Work of Seattle’s EarthCorps

EarthCorps recently hosted a U.S. Department of State staff member. They work with the State Department to secure visas for EarthCorps’ international participants. Secretary of State John Kerry has a strong interest in climate change, so EarthCorps was asked to provide some information about their work in the context of climate change. 

They’ve put together a nifty handout which highlights the work of three international alumni as well as two EarthCorps initiatives that all focus on climate change.

Download it here. 

American YouthWorks’ Parc Smith Profiled by Austin News Site

American YouthWorks’ Parc Smith builds on a family legacy of fairness

By Michael Barnes
American-Statesman Staff

In rural Erath County, white townsmen in hoods once threatened Parc Smith’s grandfather.

“They demanded: ‘Why are you employing a black man when there’s white men out of work,’” Smith, 41, recounts. “He called them out by name: ‘Billy, Johnny, Bob, I’m going to count to three and start shooting.’ At two, he started shooting. They left and never messed with him again.”

Smith, CEO of a rejuvenated American YouthWorks, which blends education, service and jobs training, learned about social decency from an early age. His father, who joined civil rights protests at the University of Texas during the 1960s, taught at historically black colleges. His mother came from a long line of Texas workers who helped their neighbors in any way that they could.

“I was always taught to be good to all people,” he says. “Race and color, economic status don’t matter.”

Once a prospective forest ranger who served on conservation crews, Smith’s personal search for a way to help others took him outdoors. It’s easy to imagine the relaxed and wholesome-looking Smith, 41, as a happy-go-lucky kid. He camped with the YMCA, which employed his mother in Waco, before heading to the Dublin and Stephenville area.

“My parents were very supportive,” he says. “And pretty hands-off. I was free to do what I wanted.”

Playing football in a small Texas town also gave him something of a free pass from serious trouble. Popular, he was asked by his classmates to speak out against the school district’s dress code. Generally a respectful student, he wore a T-shirt to school that read: “Only a fascist would tell a kid how to wear his hair.”

Continue Reading at Statesman.com 

Cool Map Shows Where AmeriCorps NCCC Crews are Working Nationwide

Each week, AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) updates a map that shows where their crews are deployed nationwide. While there are 5 major training campuses for NCCC, it’s clear from the map that the impact of this residential Corps program stretches far and wide beyond those areas!

Learn more about AmeriCorps NCCC