AmeriCorps

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• AmeriCorps
• Member
• Orientation
• 2006 - 2007

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WELCOME!

• AMERICORPS
• in
• NEVADA

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Its your world Its your chance to make it better

• How wonderful that no
• one need wait a single
• moment to improve
• the world.
• -Anne Frank

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AmeriCorps is National Service

• Created by President Clinton in 1994
• the American Peace Corps
• 75,000 AmeriCorps members in all 50 states,
  Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa
• AmeriCorps funding comes from Congress through
  the Corporation for National Community Service
  in Washington, DC.

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The National Service Movement

• The Corporation for National and Community
  Service
• Mission Statement

The Corporations mission is to provide
opportunities for Americans of all ages and
backgrounds to engage in service that addresses
the nations educational, environmental, homeland
security, other human needs and public safety to
achieve direct and demonstrable results and to
encourage all Americans to engage in such
service. In doing so, the Corporation will
foster civic responsibility, strengthen the ties
that bind us together as a people, and provide
educational opportunity for those who make a
substantial commitment to service.
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The Corporation for National Community Service
and the 5 Different Kinds of National Service
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5 Kinds of National Service

• AmeriCorps State and National
• AmeriCorps members are
• at least 17 years old
• involved in direct service in five key areas
  education, environment, homeland security, other
  human needs and public safety
• usually part of a larger program that has at
  least ten AmeriCorps members
• Full time member serve 40 hours/week for a total
  of 1700 hours
• Part time members serve 20 hours/week for a
  total of 900 hours
• Summer members serve 40 hours/week for a total of
  450 hours
• Members can have part time jobs or go to school
  as long as they are able to complete the required
  service hours

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Kinds of National Service

• AmeriCorpsVISTA
• VISTA members are
• at least 18 years old
• community organizers/strengtheners rather than
  direct service providers
• focus on community development activities to
  combat poverty
• on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so they
  are not able to have a job or go to school while
  serving

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Kinds of National Service

• AmeriCorpsNCCC
• National Civilian Community Corps members
• are 18 to 24 years old
• Serve full time for one year and live together in
  camps, traveling as a team to perform service in
  specific areas of the country for several weeks
  at a time
• Implement special community service projects and
  provide disaster relief services
• .

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Kinds of National Service

• Senior Corps
• Senior Corps participants are
• volunteers ages 55 and older who serve through
  local programs
• Foster Grandparents, RSVP and Senior Companion
  Programs

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Kinds of National Service

• Service-learning combines service to the
  community with student learning in a way that
  improves both the student and the community.
• students learn and develop through active
  participation in organized service conducted in
  and meeting the needs of local communities.
• coordinated with an elementary school, secondary
  school, institution of higher education, or
  community service program and the community
• fosters civic responsibility and provides
  structured time for reflection

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Nevadas AmeriCorps Programs

• Local funding for Nevadas AmeriCorps programs
  comes from grants awarded by
• Nevada Volunteers Community Service
• Nevada has 186 AmeriCorps members statewide

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Getting Things Done in Nevada

• Nevada has 5 AmeriCorps Programs
• Great Basin Institutes
• Nevada Conservation Corps
• Nevada Outdoor School
• Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation
• U.S. Vets-Las Vegas
• Collaboration for Homeless People
• United Way of Southern Nevada

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Getting Things Done in Nevada
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Its your worldIts your chance to make it better
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How is National Service different from a Job?

• Its an Adventure
• AmeriCorps helps people of all ages
• live up to their dreams
• help create solutions
• get things done
• help meet Nevadas unmet education, human and
  environmental needs

There are opportunities in AmeriCorps for anyone
whos willing to do something special, something
unique or something exciting.
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AmeriCorps is Experience.

• AmeriCorps
• is a real-life
• Education
• and work experience
• wrapped into one.
• AmeriCorps members learn
• teamwork
• civic engagement
• responsibility
• and other essential skills that will help them
  for the rest of their lives

You gain the personal satisfaction of taking on
a challenge and seeing results
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Benefits for AmeriCorps Members

• AmeriCorps members receive
• a small living allowance
• full time members are eligible for health
  insurance
• childcare benefits for those who qualify
• student loan forbearance
• training
• upon successful completion of national service,
  an education award to help pay for college, grad
  school, vocational training or repay student
  loans
• significant and meaningful experience that looks
  great on a resume
• the chance to really make a difference and to
  give back

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AmeriCorps Grant Performance Measures

• Each program is funded by a federal grant that
  has specific goals used to
• measure accomplishments and the impact in your
  community.
• Goals are outcome oriented in 3 main focus areas
  
• Unmet Needs and Service Activities - Getting
  Things Done
• Member Training and Development
• Strengthening Communities Volunteer Recruitment
  
• What are the outcomes for your AmeriCorps
  program?

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Unmet Needs and Service Activities

• Each AmeriCorps program has a set of direct
  service activities focusing in one or more of the
  five priority areas

• Education
• Environment
• Homeland Security
• Human Needs
• Public Safety

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EDUCATION
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ENVIRONMENT
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HOMELAND SECURITY
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HUMAN NEEDS
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PUBLIC SAFETY
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1. Unmet Needs and Service Activities

• AmeriCorps is Getting Things Done in Nevada
• tutoring at risk children
• outreach to homeless adults youth in Las Vegas
  and Henderson
• protecting Nevadas environment statewide
• mentoring young adults with disabilities from
  school to work
• distributing food and clothing
• recycling
• mentoring kids
• conserving fragile desert wildlife
• providing social services to Spanish-speaking
  persons
• supporting families affected by domestic violence
• building the capacity of faith-based communities
• funding environmental research internships
• preschool and kindergarten readiness programs
• service learning programs

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2. Member Training and Development

• All AmeriCorps members participate in
• PreService Orientation
• Program Kick Off and Swearing in Ceremony
• Initial service training
• Ongoing service training, supervision and staff
  meetings
• Mid term and final performance evaluations
• Active Citizens 101 Training
• Team building experiences
• Nevada Volunteers National Service Days

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3. Strengthening Communities

• In addition to addressing needs and services and
  participating in training and development,
• AmeriCorps members strive to make communities
  stronger.
• By engaging citizens at the local level to
  address unmet community needs, AmeriCorps members
  plan and implement
• 3 special community service projects every year.
• AmeriCorps members recruit, train and supervise
  volunteers.

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AmeriCorps Members Recruit Volunteers

• AmeriCorps grants require members to recruit,
  train and supervise two types of volunteers
• EPISODIC VOLUNTEERS
• and
• CONTINUOUS VOLUNTEERS

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Volunteers increase the effects of our AmeriCorps
service

• Volunteers sustain our efforts over time
• Volunteers get others involved
• Volunteers generate other volunteers
• Volunteers make a difference

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Walk the TalkTalk the Walk

• As AmeriCorps members, we have a unique
  opportunity to help get the word out about what
  AmeriCorps is and how other people can
  participate.

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Walk the Talk Talk the Walk

• Before you joined
• How did you hear about AmeriCorps?
• Why did you decide to join?
• Were your friends and family supportive of your
  decision? If not, how did you convince them it
  was a good opportunity?

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Activity The 30 second elevator speech

• You step into an elevator and
• someone asks you Whats AmeriCorps?

You have 30 seconds until your arrive at your
floor to explain what you do in the
community What will you say?
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• Why
• Are
• You
• An
• AmeriCorps
• Member?

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Ask yourself

• What do you hope to get out of your year of
  national service?
• What are you committed to?
• What will you value from your experience?

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Practice

• I am an AmeriCorps member with ___________________
  ________
• I provide national service at ___________________
  ____________
• I am serving _____ hours with a one year
  commitment.
• I earn a small living allowance but will get a
  ____ education award for school.
• Members serve all over Nevada in the priority
  areas of education, environment, homeland
  security, human needs and public safety.
• I joined AmeriCorps because______________ talk
  about your personal experience including how you
  hope AmeriCorps will impact your life or the
  lives of other people in the community.

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And then theyll wantto know...

• Whats it really like to be an AmeriCorps member?
• What will you enjoy the most about your
  experience?
• What do you hope to learn about yourself?
• What do you want to learn about your community
  and other people?
• Do you really think you can make a difference?

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The AmeriCorps Pledge

• I will get things done for America to make our
  people safer, smarter, and healthier.
• I will bring Americans together to strengthen our
  communities.
• Faced with apathy, I will take action.
• Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
• Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
• I will carry this commitment with me this year
  and beyond.
• I am an AmeriCorps member and I am going to get
  things done.

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AmeriCorps works

• There are those who look at things the way
  they are, and ask why...
• I dream of things that never were, and ask
  why not?
• -Robert Kennedy

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National Service Resources

• Corporation for National and Community Service
• www.cns.gov
• National Service Resource Center
• www.nationalserviceresources.org
• Nevada Volunteers www.nevadavolunteers.org

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Nevada Volunteers
Nevada Volunteers 639 Isbell Road 220
Reno, NV 89509 775.825.1900 www.nevadavolunteers
.org
The staff of Nevada Volunteers wish you a
successful year. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!