ARCHIVED BLOG
Veterans Center Breaks Ground in Oklahoma, Spearheaded by Senior Corps Volunteers
For a tireless group of Senior Corps RSVP veteran volunteers, Monday’s groundbreaking of the Johnston County Veteran Center in Tishomingo, Okla. will be a celebration six years and thousands of hours of service in the making.
Monday marks the biggest moment yet in a long journey to raise the 10,000 square foot center, and the groundbreaking ceremony will commemorate it appropriately; federal, state, tribal, and local officials will all be in Tishomingo to participate in the ceremony led by the Senior Corps volunteers.
With coordination through INCA Community Services, Inc., 15 veteran volunteers have spearheaded the center’s fundraising efforts, building design oversight, and engineering. To date they have raised a staggering $600,000 toward the $1 million cost of the center. Over the course of the project, Senior Corps volunteers have surpassed thousands of hours of service.
#AmeriCorpsWorks to Support STEM
By: Abby Wilhelm, CNCS
Across the country, CNCS has AmeriCorps members serving
with non-profits to give youth access to STEM programming. In recent years, CNCS
has committed $32 million per year to support STEM education. In honor of
AmeriCorps Week 2017, learn about some of the invaluable work members are doing
to engage underserved communities and inspire the next generation of STEM
leaders.
City Year AmeriCorps Members on Snapchat and Instagram Live
Follow NationalService on Instagram and Snapchat all day on Wednesday, March 8th for stories from City Year AmeriCorps members serving in Tulsa, OK and Baton Rouge, LA.
Unity and Impact: Your Story Gets a Hearing on the Hill
Oklahoma’s Provide-A-Ride Program Mobilizes Senior Citizens In Service
As we conclude Volunteer Mobilization month this October, we take a look back at the important service volunteers provide in our communities. Provide-A-Ride, a program designed, implemented and managed by RSVP of Central Oklahoma since 1995, ensures low-income senior citizens who reside in Oklahoma County have safe, reliable and free transportation to and from their medical appointments.
RSVP volunteer drivers utilize their own vehicles to provide one-on-one, door-through-door support for seniors who can no longer drive. Through Provide-A-Ride, 5,200 senior citizens without transportation have received 123,900 rides to medical appointments and treatments since the program began, and 300 volunteers have donated 120,000 service hours to help their peers overcome transportation barriers.
Through grants and other resources—including the energy and efforts of citizens age 55 and over— the Senior Corps programs: Foster Grandparents, RSVP and Senior Companions help meet the needs and challenges of America’s communities.
Oklahoma Receives $9.6 Million in New CNCS Funding for AmeriCorps and Senior Corps Programs
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will invest $6.5 million to support 830 AmeriCorps members serving with 11 nonprofits across the state. The AmeriCorps funding consists of $3.1 million in grants and an additional $3.4 million in education scholarships for AmeriCorps members. The federal investment is projected to generate an additional $3.7 million in local support to increase community impact and return on federal investment, bringing the total funding to $10.3 million to support AmeriCorps programs.
Below is
a listing of 2015 AmeriCorps grants and Senior Corps investment in Oklahoma:
City Year, Inc. for City Year of
Tulsa:
AmeriCorps members will provide in-school and after-school tutoring and
mentoring to third and ninth grade students who are at-risk to drop out of six
Tulsa, Oklahoma, public schools. (50
AmeriCorps members; $625,000 grant)
Jennings Public School for Learn to Read: AmeriCorps members will provide one-on-one and small group literacy and reading interventions to K-4 students at 19 public schools in eight rural counties across Oklahoma. (36 AmeriCorps members; $232,186 grant)
Okeene Public School for Service
for Success:
AmeriCorps members will tutor low-performing pre-K through 12 grade students in
reading and math in 13 rural Oklahoma school districts. (66 AmeriCorps members; $363,749grant)
Teach for America – Oklahoma: AmeriCorps members will teach two years in low-income schools to improve educational outcomes for students. (370 AmeriCorps members; $280,090 grant)
Communities in Schools – Oklahoma CIS Summer of Service Plus: AmeriCorps members will provide one-on-one and small group literacy instruction, targeting pre-K through 5th grade underperforming students from low income families, in addition to various enrichment, social, and other academic support in Cities in Schools afterschool and summer program in Ardmore, Oklahoma. (50 AmeriCorps members; $140,414 grant)
Little Dixie Community Action Agency School Readiness: AmeriCorps members will serve in Little Dixie Community Action Agency Head Start and Early Head Start programs to assist teacher and assistant teachers in making sure students are prepared to enter kindergarten. (28 AmeriCorps members; $177,907 grant)
Oklahoma Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs for Oklahoma Boys & Girls Clubs’ AmeriCorps Project Learn Program: AmeriCorps members will improve existing homework help programs, teach high-yield learning activities, implement homework completion incentive programs, and recruit community volunteers in 20 Boys & Girls Club sites across the state. (20 AmeriCorps members; $132,985 grant)
Oklahoma Conference of the United
Methodist Church for Project Transformation: During the summer months, AmeriCorps members will organize
and facilitate the daily Project Transformation reading and enrichment activities
at eight locations across the state. (50 AmeriCorps members; $126,402 grant)
Putnam City Schools AmeriCorps
Program:
AmeriCorps members will work with low-income students in interactive reading
sessions as well as lead physical fitness and extra-curricular activities from
September-May in six elementary schools and one middle school. (50 AmeriCorps members; $140,714 grant)
Red River Community Corps, Inc. for Oklahoma Serves: AmeriCorps members work with youth in after-school and out-of-school time activities, service activities include academic tutoring, arts education, equestrian therapy, health and fitness education, mentoring, and volunteer recruitment and management. (65 AmeriCorps members; $518,766 grant)
Red River Community Corps, Inc.for Oklahoma in Action: AmeriCorps members will provide GED tutoring,
English as a second language tutoring, job readiness training, job placement
services, food pantry management, nutrition education, client in-take, and
volunteer recruitment and management. (45
AmeriCorps members; $425,248)
The Delta Community Action Foundation, Inc. was awarded more than $619,000 over three years to develop the Delta Senior Companion Program in today’s announcement. Senior Companions will serve in Southern Oklahoma to provide independent living support services to homebound clients and provide respite services for family caregivers. Senior Companions will help clients with chores such a light housekeeping, buying groceries, and finding transportation to medical appointments.
CNCS’s investment will leverage an additional $67,500 in local resources from the private sector, foundations, and other sources to increase community impact and return on the federal investment. The total investment of more than $685,000 will support up to 40 Senior Companions serving annually for three years.
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Chickasaw Nation Receives Federal Grant for First-of-its-Kind Foster Grandparent Program
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the Chickasaw Nation, and Congressman Tom Cole today announced a first-ever federal grant to support a new Senior Corps Foster Grandparent Program. The goal of this program is to improve school readiness, ensuring children are on the pathway to academic success.
The federal agency announced more than $1 million in new funding to support up to 75 Senior Corps Foster Grandparents serving annually over the next three years. The federal investment is projected to generate an additional $120,000 in local support to increase community impact and return on federal investment.
Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anotubby joined Congressman Cole and CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer for the announcement.
Foster Grandparents will serve with the Chickasaw Nation Child Development Center and Head Start in Ada, OK. Some of their activities will include providing one-on-one attention to children, Chickasaw language and culture discussion, literacy development, and math and science tutoring. Foster Grandparents will also act as mentors offering emotional support and guidance to children, parents and staff.
Read the Chikasaw Nation grant announcement press release
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