Monthly Archives: August 2008

08.13.08
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In New Orleans: Service by the People, for the People

Marginalized New Orleans Youth Strive for a Brighter, Greener Future

The Corps Network has recently launched a new service program in New Orleans. The Conservation Corps of Greater New Orleans (CCGNO) combines many goals:

  • Engage local youth whom the schools have not reached, including formerly incarcerated and court-involved 16-24 year olds
  • Prepare these youth with highly marketable and potentially lucrative green job skills
  • Give them the chance to use sustainable practices to restore the environment and historic structures, conserve energy, and build community
  • Revitalize New Orleans, a city still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina
  • Innovate service learning practices by implementing them without the classroom
  • Transform the public perception of marginalized youth by giving them a platform and a voice
  • Instill in these youth the value of service to community at an early age

CCGNO leverages some investment from the Federal government, to not only transform the lives of its Corps members but also to rebuild and rejuvenate New Orleans infrastructure and community.

The program graduates its first class of Corps members this Friday through its Service Learning Showcase, where 100 Corps members will share their accomplishments from their three-month term of service.

During their term, Corps members visualized success, researched and assessed community needs, proposed and implemented sustainable projects, and finally evaluated their own outcomes. Corps members have served side by side with up to seven peers, plus professional mentors who have guided them. They have served in agencies throughout Greater New Orleans.

Recruited from the parishes of Greater New Orleans, the inaugural class of CCGNO show that quality service-learning comes through youth ownership. By mid-2009, CCGNO hopes to have graduated 800 Corps members.

While some service corps programs are hit-or-miss when it comes to career transitions, CCGNO is all about green workforce development, and commits to propelling its graduating Corps members towards green jobs and further education.

For further reading on bringing all voices to the environmental movement, check out GreenForAll.org. In November 2008, Green For All’s founder Van Jones published a book Green Collar Economy. Also read this New York Times blog post (from 11/10/08) about Van Jones and the Obama administration. Check out this interview with Van Jones, who explains more:

08.07.08
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Congressional action on AmeriCorps

Since Congress is in recess, here’s an update on two pieces of legislation relevant to the AmeriCorps world. H.R. 6407 is a bill in the House of Representatives that would eliminate federal taxation on the education award. You can track the progress of the bill through this website. There’s no way of knowing when there will be further action on the bill, or whether or not it will cover former VISTAs and AmeriCorps participants who graduated from the program already but who have not yet redeemed their awards. The bill still has a long way to go before passage, but it’s also the most movement I have seen on the ed award taxation issue I’ve seen since 2002.

On the Senate side, Evan Bayh of Indiana co-sponsored the AmeriCorps Act of 2008 in May. Passage of this bill would adjust the AmeriCorps/VISTA education award to $6,185 (from the current $4,725) and also get rid of the taxation on the award.

08.05.08
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Terms of political service

Looking to get more directly involved in the democratic process? Is the election year whetting your appetite for campaign action? Many service programs disallow political involvement due to financial support from the government. But these programs exist that embrace politics:

PolitiCorps

Based in Portland, OR, and a project of the Bus Project, PolitiCorps is a “boot camp” for organizers. Fellows spend the summer registering voters, issuing policy white papers, and learning to run campaigns. Alumni go on to run political and fundraising campaigns, serve nonprofits, earn graduate degrees and more.

Green Corps’ Field School

A year-long, hands-on experience, Green Corps’ Field School for Environmental Organizing teaches the art of building grassroots, activist support as well as the science of influencing policy. Based in Boston, the Corps also supports its members’s career transitions.

Campaign Corps

Emily’s List offers this opportunity for college grads to get involved with Democratic Party campaigns: one week of Campaign School and then working the final three months on a Democratic campaign.

ForecastRed

On the Republican front, learn more about ForecastRed’s campaign school that prepares participants for the campaign season. Email events@forecastred.org.