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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Corporation for National and Community Service today approved approximately $1.5 million in grants to six organizations to foster “the next generation” of national service organizations.
“We are committed to finding innovative ways to use national and community service to respond to critical national problems,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation, in announcing the results of the Next Generation grant competition, which are reserved for organizations that have not previously received a grant from the Corporation. “These grants will support programs that are finding new and innovative ways to meet the needs of disadvantaged youth or to engage the aging generation of baby boomers in meaningful service to their community – two of the strategic goals of our agency.”
Corporation grants awarded through this competition provide seed money to organizations to plan and implement innovative new programs that have the potential to become national in scope, or that propose a model that can be replicated in other locations. Each program selected contains an innovative strategy for engaging volunteers in community service activities and is designed to achieve measurable outcomes both for program participants and beneficiaries. Proposals fall under one [or both] of two areas:
- Programs that engage adults age 50 and above [‘baby-boomers”] in full- or part-time service; and
- Programs that improve the lives of disadvantaged youth through mentoring and service activities.
Following is a list of the grantees and the projects to be supported:
- The Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Paso (TX) will receive $207,576 to implement a new strategy of recruiting and matching baby boomer volunteers with disadvantaged youth. The program will engage baby boomers in mentoring and other volunteer roles, and will engage disadvantaged youth, their families, and mentors in volunteer activities.
- Educate Tomorrow, Inc. (Miami, FL) will receive $250,000 to assist youth who will become ineligible for the foster care system when they reach age 18. The program will provide one-on-one mentoring relationships with foster children in high school to help them finish high school and become employable or move on to technical school or colleges/universities.
- The Kings County District Attorney's Office (Brooklyn, NY) will receive $370,000 to reduce recidivism among incarcerated female youth in Brooklyn, N.Y., by providing mentors, community support, and comprehensive services to help them successfully re-enter the community. The program provides a team mentoring approach where two adults from faith-based institutions throughout Brooklyn mentor each youth two to three times a week for a full year.
- Senior Services of Albany (NY) will receive $189,824 to provide non-profit organizations with access to baby boomer volunteers to assist them with management and service delivery functions. The program will engage retired professionals by recruiting, training, and preparing approximately 20 non-profit organizations to identify functions that highly skilled volunteers could plan and implement.
- The Village Initiative (Ann Arbor, MI) will receive $270,600 to match court-supervised youth in Washtenaw County with one-on-one mentoring opportunities and community service projects through a new program based on the principles of Restorative Justice.
- The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (Bethlehem, PA) will receive $200,000 to implement the Benefits Ambassador Program, in which senior volunteers from the community assist other older adults in obtaining benefits for which they are eligible. The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley will train baby boomer volunteers as Benefits Ambassadors who use the BenefitsCheckUp technology, a new web-based service designed to help Medicare beneficiaries of limited income and resources gain access to the extra help available to them through the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.
The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.
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