Citizen Corps Councils
Resources for Councils
Belvidere Citizen Corps Council
Drawing on Youthful Energy
- Overview
- Council Background
- Strategy
- Council Results
- Next Steps
- Additional Information and Resources
- Belvidere Citizen Corps Contact
Overview
Situated between Chicago, Illinois, and Madison, Wisconsin, Belvidere, Illinois is home to an unusually large population of citizens under the age of 18 – nearly 30 percent. Since early 2002, the Belvidere Citizen Corps Council has worked to involve its teen population to the city’s advantage, tapping into their willingness to contribute to building a safer community.
Council Background
Immediately following President Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address, announcing the creation of Citizen Corps, Mayor Fred Brereton’s office in Belvidere began to gather specifics on how to establish its own Citizen Corps Council. At the same time, the local YMCA chapter in Belvidere, under the direction of Bill Holsker, and leaders from the Rock River Chapter of the American Red Cross, contacted the Mayor’s office in search of a way to connect their youth volunteers to the new Council.
The early objective of the Belvidere Citizen Corps Council was to establish 500 hours of service for teens in the community to perform in the summer of 2002. That summer, as part of the city’s Youth Citizen Corps, the teens trained in first aid and CPR and participated in an awareness campaign addressing the threat of West Nile Virus. Their dedication to the well being of their neighbors earned them an invitation to a 10-week summer camp in 2003 for further training.
Strategy
Following the Council’s formation in early 2002, they set about writing the mission, goals, and objectives. The result was the current mission statement: “to facilitate and train the local citizenry who wish to volunteer two years or the equivalent of 4000 hours in a lifetime to the service of others as a result of President Bush’s Freedom Corps initiative.”
In May 2002, the Belvidere Citizen Corps Council held its first public meeting for the citizens of Belvidere to learn more about the newly formed group and what it was trying to accomplish in their community. The meeting drew a diverse crowd of 100 citizens as well as local newspapers, television and radio stations. Attendees were shown a presentation and then were able to browse information booths manned by agency representatives.
Skip Breck, the owner of a local business, had contacted Mayor Brereton, to see what sort of role he might play in responding to the President’s call for safer and tighter-knit communities. The Mayor appointed Mr. Breck as the initial chairman of the Council.
As the chairman, Breck utilized his ability to adjust his schedule to participate in local, regional, and state meetings to better understand the potential of Citizen Corps programs. Beck’s personal commitment and strong desire to build a better community were vital assets to his chairmanship.
The organizers of the Belvidere Citizen Corps Council soon realized that their original quarterly meeting schedule would not be adequate to accomplish all that needed to be completed. As a result, in September 2003, the Belvidere City Council adopted an ordinance creating Citizen Corps as a municipal commission, which meets monthly.
The Belvidere Citizen Corps Council knows how crucial public participation is to the success of any such undertaking, and the role clear and consistent communication plays in that process. In addition to traditional forms of outreach, such as press releases and public-service announcements, the Council holds public assemblies and meetings with targeted third-party groups. Members also make frequent appearances on local radio and television shows and attend community events.
Council Results
Citizens and businesses have responded favorably to the Council’s outreach, donating time and resources. Beginning with an emphasis on the youth population, today’s Belvidere Citizen Corps Council has a varied and multi-generational membership. Not to be outdone by the area’s youth, Lifescape Community Services’ Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) have joined the cause. Others who are giving of their time and resources include organizations such as the Hispanic awareness group ALERTA, the Belvidere City fire and police departments, Belvidere Community Unit School District #100, Boone County Health Department, Boone County Sheriff and Emergency Management Agency, Youth Services Network, and corporate representatives from CamCar Textron and Daimler Chrysler.
The General Mills Foundation donated $25,000 to help restructure the Belvidere City Council chambers to allow the addition of facilities for emergency preparedness training.
Bringing its mission to life, the Council has recently adopted two noteworthy public service undertakings: the West Nile Virus Education Campaign and the Automated External Defibrillator Placement and Training program.
The West Nile virus, which took the lives of 64 Illinois residents at the beginning of the summer of 2003, was the subject of a collaborative public information and education campaign by the Belvidere Citizen Corps Council, the Illinois Department of Health, and the Boone County Health Department, and the Youth Citizen Corps. The Council took part in the campaign by distributing informational door hangers on area homes and assisted with efforts to drain standing water on residential property, especially for the elderly and disabled. The Belvidere Citizen Corps Council also recruited retailers to hang displays at their places of business. The campaign was crucial to preventing an outbreak of West Nile virus and serves as a pilot program for future public service campaigns.
During a conference sponsored by the Save-A-Life Foundation, Council leaders learned about Automated External Defibrillator (AEDs) and how they can play a significant role in saving lives through community placement and training. They persuaded other Council members to authorize a purchase of nearly a dozen of AED units. A special arrangement with the state of Illinois allowed communities to purchase AEDs at half the normal price. Costs were further defrayed when a local citizen stepped in and donated $1,500 toward the purchase of more units after they read about the initiative in the local newspaper.
Since then, the Council has installed eight units in police cars and others in a variety of locations, including the city’s Council chambers. At least one member of the police department has saved a life with the AED, and the Council hopes to outfit the entire fleet of squad cars with the defibrillators in the near future.
From a visibility perspective, the Council has been successful in attracting local media attention, most recently with a 30-minute interview on local television. In addition, they have formed successful partnerships with the local YMCA summer program and the local chapter of the Red Cross.
Next Steps
The Belvidere Citizen Corps Council faces the same challenge as other Citizen Corps Councils in maintaining the interest of current volunteers and recruiting new volunteers to the cause. Finding and recruiting individuals is a hurdle that the Council continuously strives to overcome. Recently, a Council member analyzed its volunteer database to identify the characteristics of current volunteers, and noted that a small portion of the local population has repeatedly volunteered to fill the needs of the organization, leaving many others untapped.
Five trainers have completed the Train the Trainer course for Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the Council will continue to search for funding to establish a base of citizens who are CERT-trained. Simultaneously, the Council will look for ways to expand its Youth Citizen Corps and establish a Medical Reserve Corps to analyze and improve the community’s medical services.
Additional Information and Resources
City of Belvidere
www.ci.belvidere.il.us
Belvidere Family YMCA
www.belviderefamilyymca.org
Boone County Emergency Management
www.boonecountyil.org/ema/ema.htm
Rock River Chapter American Red Cross
www.rockriver.redcross.org
Download
The Bylaws of the Belvidere Citizen Corps
Belvidere Citizen Corps Bylaws (PDF Version -- 126 KB)
Belvidere Citizen Corps Bylaws (Text Version -- 5 KB)
A chart depicting the overall organization of the Belvidere Citizen Corps
Belvidere Organization Chart (PDF Version -- 43 KB)
Belvidere Organization Chart (Text Version -- 1 KB)
The ordinance creating the Belvidere Citizen Corps
Belvidere Ordinance (PDF Version -- 180 KB)
Belvidere Ordinance (Text Version -- 6 KB)
A color brochure outlining the mission and organization of the Belvidere Citizen Corps
Belvidere Brochure (PDF Version -- 7.8 MB)
Belvidere Brochure (Text Version -- 7 KB)
A handout for potential volunteers that includes information about the Belvidere Citizen Corps and an application
Belvidere Volunteer Handout (PDF Version -- 1.3 MB)
Belvidere Volunteer Handout (Text Version -- 14 KB)
Belvidere Citizen Corps Commission
Belvidere Agenda 10-14 (PDF Version -- 92 KB)
Belvidere Agenda 10-14 (Text Version -- 3 KB)
Belvidere Citizen Corps Commission
Belvidere Activity update 10-14 (PDF Version -- 178 KB)
Belvidere Activity update 10-14 (Text Version -- 6 KB)
Belvidere Citizen Corps Commission
Belvidere Agenda 11-12 (PDF Version -- 45 KB)
Belvidere Agenda 11-12 (Text Version -- 3 KB)
Minutes from the Belvidere Citizen Corps Commission meeting on 11-12-2003
Belvidere Minutes 11-12 (PDF Version -- 54 KB)
Belvidere Minutes 11-12 (Text Version -- 7 KB)
Belvidere Citizen Corps Commission
Belvidere Agenda 12-9 (PDF Version -- 89 KB)
Belvidere Agenda 12-9 (Text Version -- 3 KB)
The Belvidere Citizen Corps' grant report form to the Illinois Commission on Volunteer and Community Service that includes narrative descriptions of the organizations previous year's activities
Belvidere Citizen Corps Grant Report Form (PDF Version -- 249 KB)
Belvidere Citizen Corps Grant Report Form (Text Version -- 10 KB)
The work plan for the creation of a CERT to serve the city of Belvidere and Boone County
Belvidere Work Plan (PDF Version -- 189 KB)
Belvidere Work Plan (Text Version -- 6 KB)
A power point presentation that discusses the role of Citizen Corps in the community and how individuals can both help community preparedness and volunteer for the program
Belvidere Citizen Corps Presentation (PDF Version -- 1.2 MB)
Belvidere Citizen Corps Presentation (Text Version -- 7 KB)