National Service News Week In Review

As President Barack Obama noted in his State of the Union Address this week, we can all “do more to restore the link between hard work and growing opportunity for every American.”

This week’s updates highlight some ways in which the work we all do together both inspires and provides ladders of opportunity in communities across the country.

Honoring a Legacy: Neighbors, friends, and family across the country made Monday, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service, “a day on, not a day off.” CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer served at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington alongside President Obama and the First Family. Check out our #MLKDay wrap-up on Storify to see where other officials served and to see more service projects across the country.

Expanding Evidence-Based Funding: Earlier this week, we announced the 2015 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Social Innovation Fund grants. We’re investing $51 million over five years for grantmakers with proven track records to support promising programs to educate youth, increase economic opportunity, and promote healthy living. Visit our website for more information.

Building a Sense of Community: Senior Corps RSVP volunteers transform lives every day. And volunteers who serve with the Sowega Council on Aging’s RSVP Program in Southwest Georgia do this by building ramps for seniors and children.

“Everyone is special that’s wheelchair bound [and] needs a ramp to get out of their house,” said Jim Hill, a Senior Corps RSVP ramp coordinator. “But it’s just something there a little extra when it’s a child.”

National Service in the News

AmeriCorps
Every resident counts: Civic Works making a difference in Baltimore
Baltimore Post-Examiner, January 22, 2015
More than 4,000 AmeriCorps members have served in Baltimore through Civic Works, a non-profit I founded in 1993 to strengthen Baltimore’s communities through education, skills development and community service.

AmeriCorps NCCC
Martizian joins National Civilian Community Corps
Martinez News-Gazette, January 22, 2015
Anni Shelton of Martinez is one of 99 men and women pledging to perform 11 months of national service as part of the Atlantic Region’s 21st Class of the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), as a member of FEMA Corps.

AmeriCorps VISTA
Urban Planning and Design Aren’t Optional
Next City (PA), January 21, 2015
You could say that was my first “real” job–being an AmeriCorps VISTA member working in neighborhood revitalization in Baltimore at the Greater Homewood Community Corporation.

Social Innovation Fund
New Policy Lab
The Herald, January 21, 2015
The Jan. 21 Western Regional Summit is one of a series of Pay for Success events hosted by the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, in partnership with the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and Nonprofit Finance Fund.

National Service Blog
It’s Big Block of Cheese Day
Nationalservice.tumblr.com, January 21, 2015
Today is Big Block of Cheese Day, and it’s feta than ever! Ask your questions for Cabinet secretaries and White House staffers all day using #AskTheWH.