by Amy Potthast

New Online Discussion Board for the Serve America Act Implementation

In response to the Kennedy Serve America Act that will take effect October 1, the Corporation for National and Community Service is holding listening sessions — Katrina Mathis wrote about these this past week — and launching a few conference calls and an online discussion board where you can share your thoughts.

To achieve the goals of the Serve America Act — including expanding opportunities for all Americans to serve; focusing on important national outcomes; serving as a catalyst for social innovation; and supporting the nonprofit sector — the Corporation is swinging open the door to hear as many ideas as possible, in order to glean the best ideas and thoughts from Continue reading →

05.15.09

by Sarah Kaplan, National Service Inclusion Project

Mental-Health Related Disabilities and Reasonable Accommodations

May is National Mental Health Month. Given that AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn & Serve programs have service members with non-apparent disabilities, including members with mental health related disabilities, information and suggestions for providing reasonable accommodations are shared provided below.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health “an estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older—about one in four adults—suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people.”

Mental health related disabilities “refer collectively to all diagnosable mental [conditions]…[which] are characterized by Continue reading →

05.15.09

by Amy Potthast

AmeriCorps Week: Challenging and Building Capacity through VISTA

I hope everyone has had a fabulous AmeriCorps Week, which ends tomorrow. Our series of interviews concludes today. This interview is with former Idealist.org intern Julia Sylla who is now serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA through Oregon Volunteers. To read more about Idealist.org-involved folks who have also served in VISTA, check out my post on the “V is For __” campaign which features grad school blogger Eileen Gallagher, Idealist staffer Jung Fitzpatrick, and me. But, now for Julia:

Where do you serve?

My site is a nonprofit organization called SOLV, based just outside of Portland, Oregon. SOLV is a state-wide organization focused on the promotion of environmental stewardship. In a nutshell, we create opportunities for environmental volunteerism and support restoration and cleanup initiatives in communities throughout Oregon. The work I do at SOLV is based in a collaboration between SOLV and Oregon Volunteers. I serve both organizations, even though I spend most of my time at SOLV.

What were you doing before you joined AmeriCorps VISTA? Continue reading →

05.14.09

by Amy Potthast

British Council Hosts Global Service and Active Citizenship Event Tonight

Jody Olsen, Acting Peace Corps Director Photo by Kate Anderson

The British Council will host an event in Washington, D.C., tonight that convenes advocates of citizen service.

Tonight’s event celebrates volunteerism and global citizenship. It will features speakers Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) — lead sponsor of the Peace Corps Expansion Act of 2009 which is now in the House Foreign Relations Committee. (Read more.) Other featured speakers include Acting Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen, and Professor Mike Hardy, the British Council’s Head of Intercultural Dialogue Programming.

The British Council, which also partners to run Global Xchange, has recently launched the U.S. publication of its book Volunteering: Global Citizenship in Action by Aurelie Brockerhoff and Nick Wadham-Smith which was inspired by the
volunteers’ experiences.

The goal of the event is to bring together pre-eminent U.S. volunteerism and service advocates and to expand the conversation about global action and citizenship.

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Read more about the British Council.

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