Operation AmeriCorps Next Stop: Bloomfield, Iowa

CNCS has announced that Bloomfield, IA, is the latest community to become part of the agency’s Operation AmeriCorps initiative with a focus on reducing energy costs and weatherization.

Bloomfield’s Iowa Energy Independence AmeriCorps will support 56 AmeriCorps members during the next two years to reduce residential energy demand by 5 percent. This investment, which will reach two-thirds of all homes in Bloomfield, will lead to energy cost savings and a reduced carbon footprint for the city’s plan to be a net-zero electric community by 2030.

In addition, Iowa Energy Independence AmeriCorps will increase financial stability and provide energy efficiency services that will benefit low-income families and assist elderly and those with disabilities who are unable to weatherize their own homes.

“As Mayor of Bloomfield I would personally like to say thanks. Our community is proud of this honor and we are looking forward to helping many homeowners with energy assistance and independence,” said Mayor Chris Miller.

“I salute the City of Bloomfield for its visionary program that will have a significant impact on the community and its residents who face home energy financial burdens,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Through Operation AmeriCorps, the city will lay the groundwork for lowering energy demand, leading to energy cost savings for the people of Bloomfield.”

Operation AmeriCorps is a CNCS initiative for local and tribal governments to use AmeriCorps as a transformative catalyst to address a high-priority community challenge. Previous Operation AmeriCorps announcements have been made for New York City; Tucson, AZ; Pawtucket, RI; and Flint, MI; and additional grantees will be revealed later this month.

Read the Bloomfield, IA, Operation AmeriCorps press release

Learn more about Operation AmeriCorps

Operation AmeriCorps is Coming to Flint, MI

CNCS has announced that Flint, MI, will be one of 10 communities nationwide to become part of the agency’s new Operation AmeriCorps initiative with a focus on education.

The Community Schools AmeriCorps project, led by the City of Flint, will support 80 AmeriCorps members during the next two years to provide after-school and summer programming for K-6 students at three local elementary schools. Flint will expand its community school model as a way to transform local education and increase student achievement.

“This new partnership will offer enhanced educational support and renew Flint schools as neighborhood hubs, while engaging more Americans in national service,” said Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, an AmeriCorps alum himself. “It is an honor for Flint to be selected for this innovative AmeriCorps project.“

“I salute the City of Flint, Flint Community Schools, the Michigan Community Service Commission, and the local community partners for this visionary project that will have a transforming impact on the community and its young people,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Through Operation AmeriCorps, this city will come together to ensure more Flint students succeed in school and in life.”

Operation AmeriCorps is a CNCS initiative for local and tribal governments to use AmeriCorps as a transformative catalyst to address a high-priority community challenge. Previous Operation AmeriCorps announcements have been made for New York City; Tucson, AZ; and Pawtucket, RI; and additional grantees will be revealed later this month.

Read the Flint, MI, Operation AmeriCorps press release

Learn more about Operation AmeriCorps

We’re Using Our Force for Good              

Happy Star Wars Day from the National Service family – AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, the Social Innovation Fund, and the Volunteer Generation Fund!

#MayThe4thBeWithYou

A National Poetry Month Haiku

National Service
AmeriCorps, Senior Corps
Serve and volunteer

Happy National Superheroes Day!

We think all of our AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers are superheroes. Even without capes.

How We #ServetheEarth on Earth Day

AmeriCorps’ Northern Office of Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC) organized the Flagstaff Earth Day celebration. During the event, community members joined AZCC AmeriCorps members to clean up the Arizona city’s downtown area.

Local volunteers and corps members divided into nine teams to collect trash and litter from public areas including sidewalks, streets, local parks, and the Rio de Flag waterway. After completing the service project, everyone was welcomed to Heritage Square, where vendors, live music, and educational booths were set up for an Earth Day celebration.

How to #ServetheEarth by Leaving a Trail

These AmeriCorps Texas Conservation Corps members are real trailblazers. Working with the Hill Country Conservancy, AmeriCorps members are building the Violet Crown Trail. 

The Violet Crown Trail project began as a vision in 1998 to create the first regional trail system in Central Texas. After nearly 20 years of strategic land acquisition and planning by the City of Austin and nonprofit partners, it’s on its way to becoming a centerpiece hike and bike trail in one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States.