2013 Corpsmember of the Year, Sarah Huff

Sarah Huff enrolled at Shasta College in California after she graduated from high school in 2007. She wasn’t sure what kind of career she wanted to pursue and tried to keep an open mind about the future, but she didn’t feel inspired by any of her classes. Sarah completed most of her general course requirements after four semesters, yet she was no closer to declaring a major. It was time to try something new.

Around this time, Sarah came across a brochure advertising the California Conservation Corps (CCC). Across the front of the handout was the Corps’ official motto: “Hard work, low pay, miserable conditions…and more!” Sarah had never imagined herself taking a job that required long hours of exhausting physical labor, but she was looking for a change and the Corps would certainly present many new experiences. Within just two months of attending a CCC information session, Sarah joined the Corps and became a member of the Weaverville CCC expansion crew.

Sarah had always enjoyed being outside and she had recently discovered a love for backpacking, but before becoming a Corpsmember she had only ever worked in a book store and an office. Despite her inexperience, Sarah immediately stood out as a model Corpsmember. She was a quick learner and she willingly took on new responsibilities. Her hard work contributed immensely to the success of the newly-formed Weaverville crew. She endured the sometimes harsh conditions of working in the back country with a positive attitude, swapping jokes and riddles with her fellow Corpsmembers to keep up morale on long hikes and in bad weather.

It wasn’t long before Sarah was promoted to a Crew Leader position. She was so respected by her supervisors that she became one of only nine Corpsmembers statewide selected to represent the CCC in Australia for a two month exchange program with Conservation Volunteers Australia. While abroad, Sarah worked in flood recovery, tree planting and invasive species removal.

“It was a really good experience – I met a lot of neat people. For us it was basically like a paid vacation, but it was really cool to know that we were helping change peoples’ lives,” said Sarah. “They were so grateful to have us. It was less than a year after they’d had these big floods and they were still trying to get back on their feet. So it was really great to not only get to see a new country, but know that you made a difference while you were there.”

When Sarah returned from Australia she was promoted again and became a Crewleader II with the Redding CCC’s Type II Fire Crew. As the only woman on the crew, Sarah at first felt like she needed to prove she was tough and could keep up with the guys. However, she is such a skilled firefighter and leader that it didn’t take much effort for her to quickly earn the respect of the rest of the team.

In addition to her work with the Corps, Sarah volunteered her time at many community events in order to earn her AmeriCorps Education Awards. Sarah spent many hours helping with the Annual Salmon Festival, the local Children’s Festival, and various service learning projects. She went above and beyond the call of duty and even came into work on her days off to help her supervisors buy food and prepare camps for “spike” operations. A “spike” is when a crew camps near a project site and the Corpsmembers work ten hour shifts for eight days in a row, often in remote locations without conveniences like running water, electricity, or cell phone reception. 

As one of Sarah’s supervisors said, “Sarah has a very positive effect on her peers. She is a great role model who ‘leads by example’ and shows others what they are capable of.” Sarah became known for her ability to motivate other Corpsmembers and for the way she relentlessly encouraged her peers to volunteer, work towards their Class B Driver’s licenses, and apply for jobs. During her term of service Sarah herself was able to earn her Class B license, move out of her parents’ house, and finally find a direction for her future. 

Sarah was offered a number of jobs with the CCC, but after over two years of hard work she decided she was ready to go back to school. With the help of her AmeriCorps scholarship money, Sarah became a full-time student at American River College in January 2013. Her goal is to earn an associate’s degree in Environmental Conservation and then transfer to a school in the California State University system to complete a bachelor’s degree. Sarah is thankful that her time in the Corps helped her realize a passion for working outdoors. She hopes to eventually find a job in which she can use the skills she gained in the Corps. She has been researching positions with Corps and with agencies like the Park Service and the Forest Service.

“While in the CCC I’ve been a trail worker, a cook, a firefighter, a Crew Leader, a student and a teacher. I’ve done landscaping, fuel reduction, fence repair, habitat restoration and rock work. I’ve worked harder than I thought I could and been more exhausted than I thought possible. I’ve watched people come and go and made some great friends. Most importantly, I’ve made a difference.” 

2013 Corpsmember of the Year, Alex Hreha

Alex Hreha admits that during middle school and high school he was “a below average student at an above average weight.” He lacked self-confidence and didn’t have much motivation for school or any kind of physical activity.

Near the end of his junior year of high school, Alex started looking ahead to another uneventful summer of mowing his grandparents’ lawn. Then a friend told him about how she spent the previous summer as a member of an environmental conservation program for youth. She talked about how she got paid to work outdoors in beautiful natural settings, but she described the work as back-breaking and exhausting. Nonetheless, Alex was intrigued by the idea of having a real job. He filled out an application and was soon officially a member of the Sedona Youth Conservation Corps, a program operated by Coconino Rural Environment Corps (CREC).

Alex was initially apprehensive about what would be required of him as a Corpsmember. He was understandably concerned about spending long hours doing physical labor in the Arizona heat. Alex didn’t have to speculate about the Corps experience for long, however; they put him right to work.  It was 105 degrees on his first day and his crew was assigned to smash cement blocks that were buried in the ground next to an asphalt parking lot. Alex says he woke up the next morning with “blisters growing out of blisters,” but it felt good to come home tired after a day of productive work. He quickly discovered that he had a passion for conservation. He thrived during the next six weeks of the program, which involved doing trail maintenance, rock work, and fence construction.

By the time school started again, Alex had lost over 25 pounds and gained a completely new outlook on life. Though he had never been a stellar student before, Alex produced excellent grades throughout his senior year. He also started an exercise routine and continued to lose weight. By graduation he had lost over 50 pounds and participated in five half-marathons. He decided to continue this positive lifestyle by joining a six-month-long CREC adult program. 

Alex was the youngest person on the adult crew, but he stood out as an excellent leader. The next six months simply reinforced his desire to work in conservation. Alex loved having the opportunity to travel throughout the state and help protect the natural beauty of such places as Walnut Canyon, Aravaipa Canyon, The Coronado Mountain Range, and the Sedona and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.

“One of my most memorable moments of the six-month term was during an intense surprise thunder storm. We were cutting trail tread into the dirt on an exposed ridge as the rain became heavier and heavier. Pretty soon it was like trying to walk in chocolate pudding, and the lightning was getting closer,” said Alex. “We continued our work and were counting the seconds between each lightning strike, when, all of a sudden, we were blinded and deafened by a massive lightning strike. A pine tree about 100 feet away took a powerful hit; it felt as if someone had shined a flashlight in my eyes and screamed in my ears. Countless moments like these engrave my memory, and my love for conservation work continues to grow.”

During a project at Walnut Canyon, Alex wandered into the visitor center and came across a black and white photograph from the 1930s that pictured the Civilian Conservation Corps members who built the stone staircases that encircle the canyon.

“I felt a deep connection inside myself and realized all the strenuous work I had completed would remain for centuries,” said Alex.

At the end of the term, Alex used his hard-earned money to move to Prescott, AZ. He enrolled in a community college with the help of his AmeriCorps Education Awards and soon received his Emergency Medical Technician certificate. During the semester, he also completed his first full marathon. Alex was staying active and learning new things, but he missed the outdoors. Shortly after receiving his EMT certification, Alex was accepted for a position as a CREC Youth Conservation Corps Mentor.

Alex had hoped to receive such a position ever since his service in CREC’s Sedona Youth Conservation Corps. He wanted the opportunity to lead new Corpsmembers and hopefully help them realize the same benefits he gained from his experience with a youth crew. Looking after a group of teenagers was a new challenge for Alex, but the two months of the program were ultimately very rewarding. There were a number of occasions throughout the summer when Alex was able to put his EMT training to use. At one point he was able to help a Corpsmember with a scratched cornea, and on another occasion he diagnosed and assisted a Corpsmember who was suffering from hyponatremia; a condition of excess heat, too much water, and not enough electrolytes.

“These terrifying moments challenged me and strengthened my overall character, and after a very successful summer I felt I had a very positive impact on my young crew,” said Alex.

Even after a summer of leading Corpsmembers through desert monsoons, working in 110 degree heat, and volunteering at an animal shelter walking 150 pound pit bulls, Alex was not done with his service at CREC. He was hired as Assistant Crew Leader of the Verde Watershed Restoration Coalition; a new invasive species removal crew. Alex was eight years younger than some of the adults on the crew, but he jumped at the opportunity to continue building his leadership skills. The three-month-long program gave Alex a chance to also learn new skills in forestry; on his fourth day of chainsaw orientation he was able to cut down a 100 foot tall Ponderosa Pine.

After the end of the program in December 2012, Alex took another 3-month-long position with CREC so he could continue to gain experience. He plans to apply for an additional 3 months of service in March 2013, and then lead another Youth Conservation Corps crew during the summer. His goal is to eventually use the rest of his AmeriCorps Education Awards to go back to school and get the credentials he needs to pursue a career in emergency medical response.

“My story would not exist without The Corps Network, and all the outstanding people involved in making programs like CREC possible. CREC and all the other wonderful corps programs provide great opportunities and memories for people across the country, and it is an amazing honor to represent all their hard work and effort. Theodore Roosevelt once said ‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.’ I feel a great sense of pride knowing there are tens of thousands of Corpmembers like me across the country putting all their effort into great causes. Together we make a positive impact.”

 

 

2013 Corpsmember of the Year, Luis Gaeta

Luis Gaeta admits that there was a time when he had trouble prioritizing and could barely stomach the idea of having to finish all four years of high school. He rarely went to class during his junior year and subsequently dropped out. Though the prospect of no longer attending classes initially came as a relief, it didn’t take long for Luis to discover that the working world can be a harsh place for a young man without marketable skills or a high school diploma. He worked in retail, had a job as a referee at a paintball facility, and also worked as a security guard, but he still struggled to make ends meet. Additionally, his housing situation was unstable and his car constantly broke down. Maintaining such a hectic pace was difficult, but Luis had to keep up; he and his girlfriend were expecting a child.

“With all of the different schedules and expectations, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed and discouraged,” said Luis.

Luis knew his lack of a diploma held him back from a more comfortable lifestyle. He started to attend adult school in the evenings, but then his girlfriend’s uncle mentioned something about EOC/Fresno Local Conservation Corps (LCC): a program that, as it was explained to him, would teach him construction skills and basically pay him to finish up his graduation requirements. Luis couldn’t pass up the opportunity. He applied for a Corpsmember position and impressed staff members when, during his intake interview, he said he wanted to be the kind of Corpsmember that steps forward and looks out for the crew. Luis was accepted to the program and soon proved that he is a man of his word.

Luis completed 14 credits towards his high school diploma within just two weeks with the Corps. He knew he was finally in the right place and doing the right thing for his future. It wasn’t long before he earned his diploma, having already earned two Student of the Month Awards and an honor roll award along the way.

In addition to gaining high school credits with LCC, Luis gained practical job skills in a variety of fields. He ultimately received training in all five of LCC’s programs: Construction, grounds maintenance, recycling, green building maintenance, and fatherhood preparedness. Among other accomplishments, he earned his class C driver’s license, first aid/CPR certification, and forklift operation certification.

“Along with my academic failures, I hadn’t had much work experience outside of the retail and customer service field,” said Luis. “I came into the program hoping to learn some construction skills. I was willing to take anything that was given to me…To my surprise, my first day out I was already on the roof installing the sheeting with my peers. This just blew my mind because I am the type of guy that has a passion for this kind of hands on labor. It came to the point that I, above the rest, showed an interest to learn any and all new things.”

After serving as a Corpsmember for a little over a year, Luis was offered a position as an LCC Senior Corpsmember. In this role, Luis – who now has a baby girl – became a peer mentor with the Corps’ Proving Our Parenting Skills (POPS) program. POPS helps fathers, ranging in age from 16 to 30, learn how to become confident parents and responsible figures in the lives of their children and partners. Participants in POPS must complete a comprehensive fatherhood curriculum, anger management classes, and relationship-building classes with their child’s mother. The fathers can also take advantage of POPS family activities, such as “Daddy Days,” that provide opportunities for children and fathers to interact through Zumba classes, reading nights, cooking classes, and other family-friendly activities. POPS Participants also have access to free diapers, children’s clothing, and picture books. Luis’s job as a Senior Corpsmember mainly involved handling the POPS outreach and social media efforts, but he also had the responsibility of acting as a role model for fellow young fathers working their way through the program.

“I enjoyed trying to help these young guys want to be fathers. They already wanted [to be, so that made it enjoyable],” said Luis. “It was in this program that I was exposed to the media for my role as a father. I started doing interviews on the KSEE 24 news station. Then I went on to being interviewed for a few other channels and an article.”

While assisting with the POPS program, Luis also helped facilitate LCC’s seven-week Emergency Preparedness certification course. He worked alongside Josh Christopherson, a fellow with Mission Continues; a program that helps veterans extend their service into civilian life. Josh and Luis ultimately led over sixty Corpsmembers through the Preparedness course.

 “Luis was my right hand man,” said Josh. “He did an excellent job as a role model and leader throughout the summer.”

Luis had a wide range of experiences during his time with the Corps, but he particularly appreciated receiving exposure to the construction trades. Through building Habitat for Humanity homes and completing vocational coursework through LCC, Luis found he was drawn to electrical occupations. The LCC staff took notice and encouraged this interest.

“My supervisor, Craig Henry, saw this and pushed my knowledge beyond its limits,” said Luis. “While most other Corpsmembers were outside shoveling dirt or leveling the ground, I was inside installing outlets, luminaries, and switches. I loved learning about all the electrical components of construction.”

Building off his interest in the electrical trades, Luis is using the AmeriCorps Education Awards he earned through his service with LCC to attend Fresno City College in pursuit of an associate’s degree in electronic systems technology. Even with his parenting responsibilities and a full-time job with the Corps, Luis maintained a 3.67 GPA during his first semester. He hopes to eventually transfer to California State University, Fresno to receive his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. 

“Although I had many obstacles thrown at me, I had a will power that couldn’t be overcome by any complications. I have a drive to get somewhere and be something big. I allowed my weaknesses to become the reasons why I became strong. Having all these obstacles gave me the desire for something better in my life [and the lives of my family members],” said Luis. “…I would like to mentor the future generations with my knowledge and experiences. I want to give back to the Corps what they gave to me. If this doesn’t work out, I am looking forward to getting an entry-level job in the electrical industry. I would like to get into a company that will take me from the bottom and build up my foundation of electrical knowledge to the most it can be…I know with the skills and experiences I’ve accumulated at the Corps, I will be there in no time.”

 

New laws will help revive the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps

 

Some of the latest bills signed into Michigan law aim to modernize and expand the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps (MCCC). Senate Bills 1261 through 1265 will broaden the scope of the Corps and facilitate the growth of partnerships that could lead to an increase in the number of Corpsmembers.

The new legislation will require the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to reach out to state colleges and universities that offer natural, cultural, and natural resource-focused curricula. The goal is to create university-based programs that provide college credit for students who participate in Corps, or that recognize student participation in Corps as field experience or internship experience. These measures would hopefully encourage college graduates to stay in Michigan and work for the MCCC.

Among other things, the Bills define the work that Corpsmembers will do (such as tree planting, waterway restoration, and trail development), and also define who can be considered eligible for Corpsmember positions (people no younger than 17 years old and no older than 27 years old on the day of their application). The legislation also gives the Department of Natural Resources the flexibility to purchase or rent property and equipment, and hire instructors, mentors, and other personnel necessary for implementation of the act. 

A former Corpsmember starts his own conservation group

 

Where are they now? – Catching up with 2005 Corpsmember of the Year,
Diony Gamoso


Diony working on Peralta Creek

Diony Gamoso, formerly of Marin Conservation Corps (now Conservation Corps North Bay), won Corpsmember of the Year in 2005 for his commitment to service. Read below to find out what he’s been up to since accepting his award, or find out more about Diony and his Corps experience by reading his bio from our 2005 National Conference.

Diony Gamoso has always loved nature and animals. He studied wildlife biology in college and spent the first four or five years after graduation working as a wildlife field biologist. He then accepted a 3-month-long internship doing habitat restoration in San Francisco through the San Francisco Natural Areas program. Around this time, Diony was also working intermittently for the Student Conservation Association. A friend took notice of Diony’s interest in environmental preservation and suggested he might find value in working for the Marin Conservation Corps (now Conservation Corps North Bay, CCNB). Diony checked online and noticed that the Corps was hiring Crew Leaders. He decided to give the program a try.

“I thought I’d be there for maybe a year or even just six months so I could get some valuable experience under my belt and then move on,” said Diony. “I was thinking at the time that this would just be a steppingstone. But then I ended up staying there for about three years.”

During his first year with CCNB, Diony worked in the field doing flood control, fire fuel reduction, irrigation, and various other land management projects. He made it clear to his supervisors from the very beginning that his main interests were in habitat restoration and environmental education. To give Diony some teaching experience, the Corps offered him a position with Project Regeneration; CCNB’s summer youth program for Marin County high school kids. Diony organized educational field trips and led program participants in service learning projects. Diony went back to being a Crew Leader at the end of the summer, but his supervisors wanted to help him in fulfilling his ambition to become a teacher. He was soon promoted to Education Department Assistant.

“I felt like the culture of the Corps was to find opportunities for people. Any time there was a new project that came along, or a new position they thought I might be interested in, the Corps would say, ‘Hey, you should apply to this!’” said Diony. “Basically they just kept on opening up new opportunities for me within the Corps and I really felt useful and needed, so I stuck around.”

Diony spent the rest of his time with the Corps in the Education Department. As a field teacher he taught CCNB crews about watershed, habitats, fire ecology – basically any of the science related to their field work. Diony also helped in the classroom teaching English as a Second Language to Latino students and tutoring Corpsmembers in math, science, and reading. During his last six months with CCNB, Diony was simultaneously enrolled at Dominican University to get his California teaching credential in secondary school science. He left the Corps in 2006 to focus on his studies. After receiving his teaching credential, Diony spent a little over a year teaching physical science and biology at Berkeley High School. However, he soon decided that as much as he valued education, he was happiest in the field.

For the past three years, Diony has worked seasonally as a biological science technician doing habitat restoration in the Presidio park of San Francisco. He took the job because he felt it would give him more experience in conservation while also providing plenty of time for him to pursue other projects. Diony has taken advantage of this extra time to reestablish a creek group in his neighborhood in Oakland. The group was established about a decade ago, but interest soon faded. Diony can take credit for reviving Friends of Peralta Creek and turning it into the growing organization that it is today. Friends of Peralta Creek has organized field trips for over 300 youth and has engaged between 50 – 100 adult volunteers in events and creek restoration projects.

“The focus is on bringing native plants back to the Peralta Creek watershed. But combined with that is education about watersheds in general and how we can protect the creeks from being polluted, and how we’re connected to the ocean through the creek,” said Diony. “…I became interested in this kind of education as I worked in the environmental field. I think I realized just how disconnected so many people are from the nature that’s around them. So I guess I had a desire to make a difference and get kids involved in learning about all this nature that’s right there.”          

Diony says the skills he learned at CCNB are definitely still relevant to his work in the Presidio and with Friends of Peralta Creek. It was at CCNB that he learned how to build willow walls and brush mattresses. Diony still teaches youth and volunteers about these erosion control mechanisms and still uses them in his work today. Diony was recently offered a year-round, fulltime job doing habitat restoration in the Presidio for the next two years.    

Diony is confident he would’ve found his way into conservation even if he had never found CCNB, but he says he is grateful that the Corps helped expand his horizons and gave him a place to get hands-on experience in the work he now does for a living.          

“The Corps changed my perspective a lot about people with different backgrounds…it helped me connect with a lot of people who I might not normally associate with in my regular social circles,” said Diony. “I loved the sense of community there. I would say there was a certain kind of love in the Corps – not necessarily like a warm and fuzzy kind of love, but in the sense that everyone really cared for each other and went the extra mile to help each other out.”

To youth considering joining a Corps, Diony says:     

“a) Good idea! I got so much out of it and I think that practical work experience is so important….I felt that the Corps was a great place for getting some solid job skills. It’s just very good, practical experience…and b) My words of wisdom would be that you should let people know what it is that you hope to get out of your Corps experience and where you’re trying to go next. My experience with the Corps was that as soon as they found out what my goals were, every opportunity that arose that was related to what I was interested in, they would offer it to me. I was very thankful for that.”

 

 

“A desire to do things that benefit more than just me” — Patricia Bohnwagner’s Corps Experience

Where are they now? – Catching up with 2005 Corpsmember of the Year,
Patricia Bohnwagner

Patricia Bohnwagner, formerly of Urban Corps of San Diego, won Corpsmember of the Year in 2005 for her commitment to service. Read below to find out what she’s been up to since accepting her award, or find out more about Patricia and her Corps experience by reading her bio from our 2005 National Conference.

Patricia Bohnwagner learned about Urban Corps of San Diego from an advertisement she found in the PennySaver. The ad included a long list of skills that a young person could gain by becoming a Corpsmember. Patricia had her high school diploma, but she was unsure what she wanted to do with her future. Maybe working for Urban Corps would give her some direction. Patricia started at Urban Corps in November 2002…and she ended up staying there for the next seven years.

Patricia was a Corpsmember when she first joined Urban Corps, but she was eventually promoted to Supervisor. She ended up working in nearly every department at the Corps. She led a crew in repainting walls and buildings for the Graffiti 

Department. She helped find new clients for the Corps’ Recycling Department. Patricia also planted trees in the Urban Forestry Department, and she helped find employment for Corpsmembers as a Supervisor for the Corps’ internship program. At one point, as Supervisor for the Corps’ educational program, Patricia taught elementary school children about power line safety and the benefits of trees. This experience helped her overcome a fear of public speaking. Looking back at her years with the Corps, she was hard-pressed to come up with a favorite project or assignment. “Really, everything I did there seemed to make a positive difference in some way,” said Patricia. “…I still drive by areas where I have helped plant trees, worked during a community clean up event, or removed graffiti and I feel proud of what I’ve done.”

It was Patricia’s positive experience with Urban Corps that helped her make the decision to stay in San Diego for as long as she has. She is originally from Massachusetts, but she moved to California to live with her sister and help take care of her nephew. Both her sister and brother-in-law were in the Navy; Patricia first came to California when her brother-in-law was deployed and her sister was left to care for her nephew alone.

As Patricia says, she and her sister “had a rollercoaster of a relationship” when they were younger. Patricia was at one point kicked out of the house for six months. It was only with the help of friends that she was able to avoid homelessness. When her sister decided to leave the Navy and move back east, Patricia stayed in California to see where her job with the Corps could take her. She had to sleep on friends’ couches after her sister moved, but she saved enough money to eventually get a shared apartment and buy her first car.

 “Thank goodness I’ve always had a great support system of friends,” said Patricia.

Now that it’s been over three years since she worked for the Corps, Patricia can look back at the experience and say that it helped change her outlook. It helped her decide what she wanted to do with her life.

“One thing that has stuck with me through the years is a desire to do things that benefit more than just me. A sense of serving and doing what I can to make the community better, or doing what I can to help other people,” she said. “I also gained so much knowledge about the environment and basic work skills that have helped me immeasurably through the years. It was hard work, but the skills, knowledge and experience I gained during my time at Urban Corps have undoubtedly had a major, positive influence on where I am in life today.”

That sense of wanting to give back helped inspire Patricia to become an EMT. She currently serves as a medic in the California Army National Guard (CAARNG). Her primary job is as a United States Postal Carrier. As part of the Guard, Patricia teaches a Combat Lifesaver course for troops preparing to deploy. She herself served as a medic in Iraq for a year.

Patricia is in the process of switching over to the Army Reserves. She will soon have the opportunity to be sent to a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) program in Texas. After completing the program, she hopes to return to California and get her associate’s degree as a Registered Nurse. She currently has over 30 college credits, but it’s been difficult for her to maintain a regular school schedule with her long work hours and the deployment to Iraq. After earning her associate’s degree, Patricia should only be three or four semesters away from a bachelor’s degree. Patricia’s goal is to complete her bachelor’s degree and find employment as a nurse within the next six years.

Patricia saved enough money during her deployment to move her mom out to California and furnish a new apartment for the two of them. She is currently living comfortably with her mom and a recently adopted shelter dog. She is fairly confident that her time in the Corps played a big part in getting her where she is today.

“[If I hadn’t joined the Corps] I can’t say I’d be on a horrible path or anything, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have had as many successes as I have. I would probably be working at a meaningless job and perhaps wouldn’t have joined the military,” said Patricia. “I would for sure be a lot further from my goals than I am now, and wouldn’t have realized all this potential in myself, since that was due to my time in the Corps and the great staff that worked there.”

To young people thinking about joining a Corps, Patricia says:

“With anything in life, you get out of it what you put into it. Only you can make the choice to either better yourself and your situation, or just accept what comes your way. BE PROACTIVE! Do your best at everything you do and do the right thing, and you won’t have as many regrets or disappointments. And don’t be too hard on yourself if things don’t go the way you want or as quickly as you want. Life happens and it’s hard to move up, but it can be done. Stick to it and never give up. Stay positive and don’t let anyone bring you down or tell you that you can’t do something.”

 

 

Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) hears about Youth Corps successes


Karla Cordova, 18, tells the Great Outdoors Colorado Board of Directors about her experience on a chainsaw crew with Weld County’s GOCO Youth Corps. The GOCO Board held its quarterly meeting in Fort Morgan last week. From The Fort Morgan Times.

From The Fort Morgan Times – by Jenni Grubbs

The Great Outdoors Colorado Board of Directors heard about many issues at its quarterly meeting last week in Fort Morgan, including the Colorado Youth Corps and the upcoming state legislative session.

The Youth Corps program is something GOCO invested $1 million in during fiscal 2011. The funding was for a partnership between GOCO and the Colorado Youth Corps Association.

“The purpose of the funding was to both complete conservation service projects of interest to GOCO and provide employment, training and education opportunities to youth and young adults in Colorado,” according to a staff memo to the GOCO Board.

Twnety-two projects received money from this $1 million grant, and 72 weeks worth of work were done in 20 counties.

At least 233 young people received employment in 2011-12 through the Youth Corps because of the GOCO grant, and 134 earned AmeriCorps Education Awards totaling $247,468.

During the 22 projects, youths constructed or repaired 21 miles of trails, cleared 6.6 miles of trail corridors, constructed or repaired 6,519 feet of fencing, planted or transplanted 5,673 trees and removed 6,121 trees. More than 22,900 hours of labor were put in by the youths in corps.

One Youth Corps member spoke to the board about her experiences working with the Weld County Youth Conservation Corps.

Karla Cordova was on the chainsaw crew working in Weld County in 2011-12.

“Being able to do service for the community is a pleasure,” she said. “I love to learn and serve.”

After having battled cancer and recovering from multiple surgeries, Cordova said she was looking for something to do with her life. She said she chose to join the Weld County Youth Corps “because there’s always something to learn and do” while working with that group.

During her work with the Youth Corps, she earned certification in using a chainsaw.

She also split wood, planted trees and removed junk from the Poudre River.

“The program helps me to be responsible and learn,” Cordova said. “It’s so awesome.”

Next, Cordova plans to attend Aims Community College in Greeley.

She advocated for the Youth Corps program to the GOCO Board.

“I truly believe our program helps a lot of people who need it,” she said.

GOCO Board President James Smith said he was happy Cordova chose to speak to the board.

“It’s a wonderful thing to hear from the participants that it’s changing their lives and making a difference,” he said.

Jennifer Freeman, Colorado Youth Corps Association executive director, explained to the board that for each job in the Youth Corps, there are nine people like Cordova waiting to fill it.

The board members asked Freeman if more projects could be added and jobs created if the funding were available.

“We don’t have any trouble scaling up,” Freeman said.

She said that the GOCO grant funds jobs for people ages 14-25 as members of the Youth Corps. Those jobs can be trail maintenance, weed and diseased-tree removal, tree planting, fencing, drainage work, river restoration, new trail construction and lots more.

The Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA) is a statewide coalition of 10 accredited youth conservation corps that employ and train youth and young adults on land, water and energy conservation projects. For more information about CYCA or the statewide youth corps coalition, visit CYCA.org

The GOCO board approved continuing to fund the Colorado Youth Corps.

Legislative update

Lobbyist Adam Eichberg, who represents GOCO’s interests at the Capitol, told the board about what he expects to see come up at the legislative session that starts in January.

But first he pointed out that November’s election results “significantly impacted the shape of the legislature,” with Democrats controlling both chambers of the General Assembly and new leaders, including state Sen. Pres. John Morse, whom Eichberg called “a friend of GOCO” and state Senate Majority Leader Morgan Carroll.

In the state House, new Speaker Mark Ferrandino was someone Eichberg said was a “Denver liberal” who “doesn’t quite get what we do,” but that House Majority Leader Dickey Lee Hullinghorst would be “good for GOCO.”

“I think that’s going to be beneficial for us,” Eichberg said. “The funding source will be protected, I think.”

GOCO primarily gets its funding from the Colorado Lottery Funds, which the state legislature could decide to redirect to other state needs during the budget process.

Eichberg also told the board that members of the Joint Budget Committee, which is made up of both state House and state Senate members, would have new members who all likely would be good for GOCO.

They include: Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver; Sen. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton; Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs; Claire Levy, D-Boulder; Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen; and Crisanta Duran, D-Denver.

“We’re in good shape with the JBC,” Eichberg said.

But he added that it was expected that “someone would go after the (GOCO) funding source again. Our hope is again to kill (such bills) in committee.”

He said he was “optimistic” that GOCO lobbyists would be able to do that in 2013.

Eichberg also said the he would be keeping an eye on a bill concerning conservation easement tax credits, as well as other bills concerning open space and caps on donations and tax credits for conservation.

“Every year there is some surprise,” Eichberg said. “I think it will be a very interesting session for John Hickenlooper. The House Democrats are new. They’re in power for the first time in 10 years. I think there will be a good partnership, but there will be some challenges.”

He said that Hickenlooper will have to work hard to avoid the problems former Gov. Bill Ritter had with the priorities of members of his own party in the legislature.

The new legislative session begins on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013.

–Contact Jenni Grubbs at jgrubbs@fmtimes.com.

AmeriCorps NCCC Dedicates New Campus in Baltimore


Ribbion-cutting ceremony at new NCCC campus in Baltimore. From Serve.gov.
 

From the National Service Blog of Serve.gov – written December 17, 2012

Civc Leaders, Community Groups, and elected officials joined the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) today for a dedication of the new AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) Atlantic Region Campus in the former Sacred Heart of Mary School of Baltimore, MD.

AmeriCorps NCCC brings young men and women 18 to 24 years old together with one goal — to serve when and where they’re needed. After completing training on one of five regional campuses, these AmeriCorps members live ans serve together for 10 months to tackle pressing local problems in communities across the country. Their work is wide ranging, from responding to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvements, environmental stewardship and conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development.

“When these young leaders go into a community, they become part of that community. I assure you that Baltimore will be proud of what future AmeriCorps NCCC teams accomplish in Maryland and other states as a result of the training they receive at this new campus,” said CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer.

Spencer was joined at the ribbon-cutting ceremony by U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Archbishop William E. Lori of the Baltimore Archdiocese, AmeriCorps NCCC Director Kate Raftery, and national service alumni, including two members of the original Civilian Conservation Corps established nearly 80 years ago.

“AmeriCorps volunteers are unflagging, unflinching and determined to make a difference. They tackle the toughest problems in our communities, responding to emergency and disaster situations like Super-Storm Sandy,” said Sen. Mikulski. “I fought to create AmeriCorps, I fought to strengthen AmeriCorps, and I’m proud to dedicate this new NCCC campus to establish an even stronger AmeriCorps program in Baltimore. By partnering with our faith-based community to bring the NCCC to the Sacred Heart of Mary, we are continuing in a tradition of working together toward a common purpose to meet a compelling human need.”

“We are really very, very pleased that AmeriCorps has found a new home here and will be our neighbor at Sacred Heart of Mary,” Archbishop Lori said. He expressed delight that the school will “continue to serve as a beacon of hope, as a center of education, and an asset to the entire community.”

Mayor Rawlings-Blake welcomed NCCC to its new home, noting that “460 members have given more than 90,000 hours of service since 2009 — and that’s 90,000 hours spent making Baltimore a better, safer, and stronger city. And for that, I’m grateful.”

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley sent a citation commemorating the event that read, “In recognition of your outstanding record of success and achievements in strengthening communities and developing leaders through direct, team-based national and community service … the people of Maryland join together in expressing our gratitude and great respect for your positive contributions to our state and nation.”

The Atlantic Region Campus is moving from its current location in Perryville, MD, which hosts more than 160 AmeriCorps NCCC members each year. CNCS officials anticipate the new facility could house as many as 240 members annually. The campus serves 11 states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, in addition to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Wendy Spencer on Hurricane Sandy Recovery


Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, with an AmeriCorps member. From Serve.gov
 

From the National Service Blog of Serve.gov

As Hurricane Sandy efforts transition from emergency response to long-term recovery, AmeriCorpsmembers are providing vital leadership in communities up and down the East Coast.

AmeriCorps is skilled and experienced in volunteer management and gutting and mucking operations – and our teams are already having a powerful impact helping hundreds of Sandy survivors put their homes and lives back together.

I witnessed their impact first hand on a return visit to New Jersey and New York last week. From Atlantic City to Union Beach to the Rockaways, I was deeply impressed with the resourcefulness and dedication of our members, who are serving long hours in difficult conditions.

With tens of thousands of homes damaged along the East Coast, there is a large need for volunteers to help displaced residents take the steps necessary to move back into their homes. The tasks involved – removing debris, remediating mold, and gutting and mucking – are labor intensive. This work requires skilled crew leaders and an infrastructure to recruit, train, and supervise volunteers. That’s where AmeriCorps comes in.

Ernie Farmer, a crew leader from the Washington Conservation Corps, briefed me on the volunteer operation he leads out of a community center in Brigantine, NJ. Working with state and local officials, an AmeriCorps strike team set up the operation in a matter of days. They reached out to local partners, secured a location, found housing, and established a seven-day-a-week volunteer operation. This includes canvassing door-to-door, creating work order and volunteer tracking systems, securing donated supplies, training volunteers, and sending out crews to gut and muck homes.

One of the crews we met in Atlantic City was led by NECHAMA, the Jewish disaster relief organization. All 11 volunteers were recent graduates of AmeriCorps NCCC – alums eager to get back into the field for hands-on service.

In many sites, AmeriCorps members are both leading volunteers and providing the muscle power for home repair. In Union Beach, NJ, a blue-collar town of 6,200 where nearly a quarter of the homes were lost, I joined AmeriCorps members in ripping out the flooring of a storm-damaged home. Our members bring tools, training, and a supercharged work ethic that rubs off on the volunteers they serve with.

Removing damaged floors and mitigating mold reduces health risks and can save homeowners thousands of dollars – especially important for those who aren’t covered through their insurance or can’t afford contractors. The cost savings are significant. But AmeriCorps members and volunteers provide something else harder to put a dollar figure on but no less important: an enormous emotional lift.

Maureen Gallagher is an 82-year-old widower living a few blocks from the shore in the Belle Harbor neighborhood in Queens. Her home suffered extensive damage and she has been living with her daughter since the storm. When she heard volunteers were at her home, she made a special trip over to say thanks. Emerging from her car, she was overcome with gratitude, with tears streaming down her face as she hugged and thanked the volunteers. Similar scenes are playing out across the affected areas, as volunteers come from near and far to lend a hand.

Maureen is one of hundreds of homeowners assisted through New York Cares, a Points of Light affiliate. We are proud to partner with New York Cares, our state service commissions, and dozens of other organizations in the affected states on this critical mission. It takes partnerships of many kinds to help a community recover and rebuild, especially from a storm as devastating as Hurricane Sandy.

Working with local partners and residents, national service will continue to provide leadership and muscle power to Sandy survivors in their time of need.

Wendy Spencer is CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that engages millions Americans in service through Senior Corps and AmeriCorps, and leads the president’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve.

Volunteering among Americans hits 5-year high

A press release from the Corporation for National and Community Service 

Washington, D.C. – As the holiday season spotlights charitable contributions and acts of kindness, a new national study shows that Americans significantly increased their commitment to volunteering and civic engagement in 2011, with the national volunteer rate reaching a five-year high.

The findings come from Volunteering and Civic Life in America, a report issued by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) in partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC).

The report also finds that parents of school-aged children contributed more than 2.5 billion hours of their time to volunteer efforts in 2011, most of it to school-based projects, underscoring the pivotal role that schools play as hubs for local volunteer efforts.

Overall, 64.3 million Americans (more than one in four adults) volunteered through a formal organization last year, an increase of 1.5 million from 2010. The 7.9 billion hours these individuals volunteered is valued at $171 billion. Among citizens who volunteered through an organization, the top activities included fundraising or selling items to raise money (26.2%); collecting, preparing, distributing, or serving food (23.6%); engaging in general labor or transportation (20.3%); or tutoring or teaching (18.2%).

In addition to this formal volunteering, two out of three Americans (65.1% or 143.7 million individuals) volunteered informally by doing favors for and helping out their neighbors, an increase of 9.5 percentage points from last year. Among other key findings, almost half of Americans (44.1%) actively participated in civic, religious, and school groups.

“Volunteering and civic engagement are the cornerstone of a strong nation,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS, a federal agency that supports and strengthens volunteering through its AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs, which collectively engaged 3.7 million Americans in volunteering in 2011. “Hurricane Sandy provides a prime example of the importance of people working together, with volunteers throughout the Northeast and elsewhere in the country stepping up to support recovery and relief efforts. When volunteers and residents come together, it has a positive and powerful impact on a community.”

The report shows the volunteer rate among parents is seven percentage points higher than the national average (33.7% compared to 26.8%). Nearly half of parents in their late forties with school-aged children volunteer, despite time-consuming child-rearing responsibilities. Among working mothers, the volunteer rate is nearly 40 percent.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the findings reinforce how community participation is an essential factor in school success.

“CNCS’s report crystallizes that our schools are essential hubs for volunteering and civic activity,” said Secretary Duncan. “Every day, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members help more than three million disadvantaged youth by serving as teachers, tutors, mentors, and counselors.” Duncan added that, “In America, education must be the great equalizer—and robust engagement from communities, families, mentors, tutors, and other volunteers is absolutely vital to achieving that core American ideal. As a nation, we are so much stronger working together collaboratively to advance student learning than working in isolation.”

The report also ranks all 50 states and the nation’s largest cities and metropolitan areas for their volunteering and engagement rates. It has become a useful tool for elected officials, civic leaders, and nonprofit executives who recognize the economic impact of an engaged community.

“Volunteering and Civic Life in America helps tell the story of the quiet civic reawakening we see happening around the country—a story about people helping communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy; serving on the PTA; connecting with friends through social media; and advocating for their favorite causes,” said Ilir Zherka, Executive Director of NCoC. “We believe this data shines a light on this reawakening, and is essential to inspiring all sectors of our society to work together to bolster it.”

The full report is available at volunteeringinamerica.gov.
 

Key Findings: States and Metropolitan Areas

  • The top five states for volunteering are Utah (40.9%), Idaho (38.8%), Iowa (38.4%), Minnesota (38.0%), and South Dakota (36.8%).
  • The five states with the greatest percentage point increase in volunteering from last year are Delaware (+5.3%), Oregon (+5.0%), Alaska (+4.4%), Georgia (+3.7%), and Idaho (+3.7%). The survey results indicate that some gains for Delaware and Oregon were due to increases in collecting/distributing food when volunteering (+1.0% Delaware; +2.3% Oregon).
  • The top five metro areas for volunteering are Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (37%), Rochester, NY (34.8%), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (33.4%), Salt Lake City, UT (33.2%), and Jacksonville, FL (32.2%).
  • The five metro areas with the greatest gains in volunteering are San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA (+7.2%), Louisville, KY (+7.1%), Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA (+6.3%), Austin-Round Rock, TX (+5.6%), and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (+5.4%).

Key Findings: Parents

Please note that this survey defines parents as people who have children under 18 at home.

  • The parent volunteering rate in 2011 was 33.7 percent nationwide, which is a 0.1 percentage point increase from the prior year. This translates to 22.7 million parents volunteering with a formal organization for approximately 2.5 billion hours, which is valued at $54 billion.
  • Parents between the ages of 26 and 50 with school-aged children volunteered at a significantly higher rate than non-parents in this age range, with volunteering rates for parents peaking at nearly 1 in 2 parents (46%) in their late 40s.
  • Working mothers are a key segment of volunteering parents, as nearly four in 10 (38%) volunteered.
  • The top five states for parent volunteering rates are Utah (52.0%); South Dakota (46.2%); Iowa (45.9%); Minnesota (45.0%); and Wisconsin (44.3%).
  • Schools and other youth service organizations are the most popular places for parents to volunteer. More than 40 percent (43.1%) of parents volunteered at one of these places.
  • Parents also expressed some or a great deal of confidence in the public schools their children attend, with nine out of 10 parents (90.4%) in 2011 feeling this way

 

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), an independent federal agency, plays a vital role in supporting the American culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility and is a leading grantmaker in support of service and volunteering. Through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund, and other programs and initiatives, CNCS provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and address critical needs. To learn more, visit nationalservice.gov.

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) believes that everyone has the power to make a difference in how their community and country thrive. NCoC is a dynamic, non-partisan nonprofit working at the forefront of our nation’s civic life. Through events, research, and reports, NCoC expands our nation’s contemporary understanding of what it means to be a citizen. More information is available at www.ncoc.net.

The data for this report were collected through two supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS): the Volunteer Supplement and the Civic Engagement Supplement. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households (approximately 100,000 adults), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau on behalf of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The selected supplements collect data on the volunteering, voting, and civic activities of adults age 16 and older for volunteering and 18 and older for the civic supplement. Volunteers are considered individuals who performed unpaid volunteer activities through or for an organization at any point during the 12-month period (from September 1st of the prior year through the survey week in September of the survey year).