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Caitlin Bueller
Apr 23, 2014, 1:29:46 PM4/23/14
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Hi all!
I got this in my work email today and wanted to share this first story about the impact of Habitat AmeriCorps with you guys! I hope you're all doing really well wherever you are.
:) Caitlin
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From: Corporation for National & Community Service <cn...@delivery.nationalservice.gov>
Date: Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 11:02 AM
Subject: Corporation for National & Community Service Tumblr Blog | NationalService.Tumblr.com Update
To: cbue...@usaconservation.org
From: Corporation for National & Community Service <cn...@delivery.nationalservice.gov>
Date: Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 11:02 AM
Subject: Corporation for National & Community Service Tumblr Blog | NationalService.Tumblr.com Update
To: cbue...@usaconservation.org
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You are subscribed to Tumblr Blog | NationalService.Tumblr.com for Corporation for National & Community Service. This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
04/22/2014 06:25 PM EDT
By Liz Blake
 The Serve America Act, five years later: Thousands of home built, millions of lives touched.
43,824 – that is the number of hours in five years.
4,446,900 – that is the number of hours of service that AmeriCorps members working with Habitat for Humanity have performed in the past five years.
On this fifth anniversary of the Serve America Act, a significant law that was the largest expansion of national service since the Great Depression, Habitat for Humanity decided to crunch some numbers on our AmeriCorps program. What were the results? We are more grateful than ever for the members who have helped build or rehabilitate 11,434 Habitat homes and engage more than 1 million of our volunteers since the act’s passage in 2009.
The timing of the passage of this law could not have been better; when many nonprofit organizations bore the brunt of the economic downturn, Habitat’s AmeriCorps members raised nearly $20 million. Further, in an era of increasing disasters due to extreme weather, Habitat’s ability to facilitate the placement of AmeriCorps members over the past five years in disaster recovery efforts has ensured their work impacts communities in greatest need.
As one of the original organizations to partner with the Corporation for National and Community Service 20 years ago, our organization recognizes how AmeriCorps members increase our capacity to serve more families in the United States. Serving in 37 states and the District of Columbia, our AmeriCorps members are key to several programs, including Veterans Build, our Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative and ReStores, Habitat’s nonprofit home improvement stores and donation centers. In the 2012-2013 service year alone, Habitat AmeriCorps members served more than 3,400 families, nearly one-third of Habitat’s 9,874 U.S. partner families that year.
The cost-effective AmeriCorps program that the Serve America Act expanded helps not only Habitat affiliates nationwide and the communities they serve – it benefits the service members themselves. In addition to developing leadership skills and providing hands-on experience, the Serve America Act provides AmeriCorps members funding to further their education – a benefit that increases along with the Pell Grant allocations. Also, for those AmeriCorps members who are serving beyond the age of 55, that education award is transferrable.
For Charles R. Castle Jr., joining AmeriCorps – a term that didn’t mean much to him in 2009 – not only eased his transition into retirement but also allowed him to use his training in sustainable building to serve his Oregon community. Four years and six builds later, Castle is giving his education award under the Serve America Act to his daughter, who will graduate as a registered nurse this June. The ability to transfer this award is part of the many improvements the Serve America Act made to the AmeriCorps program.
Our AmeriCorps partners join us from all walks of life and experiences. Young or old, male or female, construction experts or novices, our AmeriCorps members are future leaders in the affordable housing movement. In the words of Neal Pointer, a Vietnam veteran who joined our Dallas Area affiliate as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in order to serve fellow veterans and their families, “AmeriCorps has given me the opportunity to serve my country again.”
Serving under the Serve America Act, Pointer developed a sustainable program to recruit veterans as homeowners and volunteers, including partnerships with other organizations to ensure a continuum of care for veterans.
On this anniversary of the Serve America Act, we celebrate the critical role of our service members in mobilizing volunteers, helping communities recover after a disaster, engaging families and veterans and encouraging financial support for our operations.
While the Serve America Act has strengthened several aspects of the AmeriCorps program, the full potential of the act has yet to be realized. Provisions in the Serve America Act have supported the 2,443 AmeriCorps members who have joined Habitat since 2009 in our mission to end poverty housing in the United States and around the world.
However, as national service has not been expanded to the degree the act set forth, the United States is missing out on additional service opportunities for interested Americans across the country. As we celebrate this anniversary and look toward the next five years, Habitat for Humanity will continue to be a strong voice in the national service movement and support the goals of the Serve America Act so that many more AmeriCorps members can benefit from this impactful law.
Liz Blake is the Senior Vice President, Advocacy, Government Affairs and General Counsel for Habitat for Humanity International.
04/23/2014 11:04 AM EDT
By Stefan Reinold
 I served in AmeriCorps NCCC during Class 3 (member/leader) in Charleston, SC, and Class 4 (team leader) in Denver, CO. With an educational background in biology and a focus on ecology, I was most interested in AmeriCorps NCCC’s environmental projects.
Once in the NCCC program, I was able to complete the wildland firefighting training through cooperation with the Frances Marion National Forest in South Carolina. Over my two years in NCCC, I was able to work on some prescribed fires while also getting out on some initial response to small wildfires. Toward the end of my second year I led a crew of NCCC members to fight the large fires that occurred in Florida in 1998.
It is through these operations that I really got interested in forest management concepts. I learned that prescribed fires were an important tool of forest management. I also learned that many of the catastrophic wildfires stemmed from mismanagement of our forests and land at the turn of the 19th century.
While serving in NCCC, I also completed work removing noxious weeds and invasive species on many projects. Again I learned a lot about the interactions of species and the importance of ecosystem management. Many invasive species can easily overrun an area since there are no natural predators or controls available.
After AmeriCorps, I continued my love for the outdoors by working for Rocky Mountain National Park completing trail work (skills learned in AmeriCorps) while also maintaining my red-card certification. I had the opportunity to respond as part of a National Park Service crew on wildfires in Texas. At this point I knew that I wanted to work in the field of forestry. I decided to go back to school and get a Master’s degree in Forest Management. After school I worked as a research associate at Colorado State University, as a Seasonal Forester with Colorado State Forest Service, and as a Conservation Forester with the Jefferson Conservation District.
Currently, I run my own consulting firm working with private landowners. Instead of working on the wildland firefighting end, I decided that good forest management was just as important. Through good forest management the impact of devastating wildfires can be minimized. I educate my clients on how to complete forest management activities that will help improve the health of their forests while also decreasing the risks of loss of property from catastrophic wildfires. I educate my clients on developing defensible space for their homes to decrease risk of loss during wildfires. I also complete a lot of work for Colorado State Parks, helping them to identify locations to complete management activities.
AmeriCorps NCCC gave me the ability to explore my interest to work in the outdoors through Environmental Stewardship. It allowed me to learn new skills and abilities, to learn how to work well with a team, and how to complete various natural resource projects. I highly recommend this program to others, and if you don’t find a career in NCCC, maybe you will find a spouse. I was lucky enough to find both.
Stefan Reinold is a Certified Forester with Colorado Forest Management, LLC. As part of the AmeriCorps 20th anniversary, The Corporation for National and Community Service is celebrating Environmental Stewardship Month in April. Check out our blog for 20 Ways AmeriCorps Helps the Earth and other posts on AmeriCorps important work in environmental stewardship.
04/23/2014 12:52 PM EDT
By Jessica Berry
 Members serving in mining community affected by environmental degradation
The Western Hardrock Watershed Team (WHWT) is a coalition of community and watershed improvement groups that confronts the challenges that remain from historic mining in the West. We address environmental degradation and community impoverishment and provide rural mining communities with the skills and capacity they need to make their neighborhoods and watersheds better places to live and work.
Since 2007, the Watershed Team has worked in partnership with the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and the AmeriCorps VISTA program to place full-time members in communities impoverished by environmental degradation. These members help build the capacities of their sites by assisting with strategic long-term organizational planning, the preparation and submission of grant proposals, the facilitation of local and regional partnerships, and the recruitment and training of volunteers. In their work, AmeriCorps VISTA members strive to create sustainable programs that help communities in the long-run.
The partnership between AmeriCorps VISTA and the Office of Surface Mining promotes environmental stewardship and healthy futures in at-risk ecosystems by supporting watershed research and clean water initiatives. The Watershed Team aims to link the importance of water quality and sustainable land and water practices with the growing need for community supported agriculture, access to nutritious and affordable food access, and health and nutrition education.
The mining booms of the 19th and early 20th centuries left behind a mixed heritage: families proud of their contribution to the West’s expansion and our national prosperity, as well as thousands of acres of land and water contaminated by mining and processing of raw materials.
Today, these communities endure poverty, small populations, long commutes to viable jobs, and an irregular economy. However, they remain proud of their assets, heritage, and natural resources. Faced with a multitude of both opportunities and challenges, community/watershed organizations bring new hope, renewed civic engagement, and economic opportunity to communities.
 Watershed groups work to educate the general population, partner with government agencies and staff to heighten citizen empowerment and transparency, and increase communication and understanding from project implementation to citizen support. These groups educate and mobilize their community members, pooling resources to be more sustainable and effective in improving local environments and public health into the future. Still, community/watershed groups face an uphill battle. Often citizen and volunteer led organizations, they are underfunded and understaffed and draw from a limited group of volunteers in their small communities that fill large roles.
The Watershed Team partners with several agencies and the AmeriCorps VISTA program to provide full-time support to help community organizations develop programs that bring low-income communities out of poverty. Our partners are located throughout Colorado and New Mexico, and we continuously seek expansion in regions of both states to better encompass the full and equitable scope of work being done by grassroots groups and organizations.
Jessica Berry is an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving with the Western Hardrock Watershed Team. The Corporation for National and Community Service is celebrating the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps and highlighting the theme of environmental stewardship during the month of April. For more information about the 20th anniversary, please visit the AmeriCorps 20th Anniversary Resource Center.
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Caitlin Bueller
AmeriCorps Program Manager
American Conservation Experience
1055 East 2100 South, Suite 206
Salt Lake City, Utah 84106
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