Keyword: AmeriCorps
National Service + Disaster Relief = FEMA Corps
By
Kate Enos
September 13th, 2012 marked a historic chapter in the field of disaster services at the Corporation for National and Community Service as the nation's first 240 FEMA Corps members were sworn into service at an induction ceremony in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
A unique collaboration between two federal agencies, FEMA Corps is an innovative partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to enhance disaster response and recovery capacity while expanding career opportunities for young people.
Established as a new unit within the existing AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), FEMA Corps engages young adults ages 18 to 24 to provide10 months of full-time service on disaster response and recovery projects. Members will be deployed to assignments ranging from working directly with disaster survivors to supporting disaster recovery centers to sharing disaster response and mitigation information with the public.
At the induction ceremony, members of the inaugural FEMA Corps class took the AmeriCorps pledge to “get things done for America” and heard from agency leaders about the important work that lies ahead. FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino and CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer were on hand to welcome the members and thank them for their commitment to service.
The induction ceremony marked the end of one month of AmeriCorps NCCC training and the start of FEMA position-specific training. After completing training this month, members will be deployed to their first assignments.
After completing 1,700 hour of service, FEMA Corps members will receive a $5,550 Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to pay for tuition or pay student loans. Members will gain significant training and experience in disaster services that can serve as a pathway to employment in the emergency management profession.
Learn more about FEMA Corps or how to apply here.
Keywords:
FEMA Corps   
AmeriCorps   
Vicksburg   
NCCC   
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Posted on
9/13/2012
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For Tina Kiehn, an AmeriCorps NCCC member in Aurora, IL, the morning of September 11, 2001, started out as a day like any other. She was at her service site, helping a class of first graders adjust to the new school year. With summer just behind them, Kiehn and her team expected a normal daily schedule: classes, recess, homework help.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps NCCC   
September11   
Habitat for Humanity   
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Posted on
9/10/2012
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Olive Eckstein was making copies of her resume at a Kinko's in Queens on the morning of September 11, 2001. After serving for a year with AmeriCorps NCCC, she was looking for a job in her native New York.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
September11   
AmeriCorps NCCC   
New York   
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Posted on
9/7/2012
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AmeriCorps and Senior Corps teams are responding in four Gulf Coast states as Hurricane Isaac moves toward the region.
Keywords:
Disaster   
Hurricane   
AmeriCorps   
Senior Corps   
FEMA   
UWS   
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Posted on
8/29/2012
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My name is Ciera Russum and I’m a member of the Advanced Construction team at YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School. We worked with the Green Building team to complete a full-gut rehab project on Greene Street.
Keywords:
YouthBuild   
AmeriCorps   
CNCS   
Department of Labor   
Philadelphia   
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Posted on
8/28/2012
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The St. Louis Safety Service Corps, commonly known as the Emergency Response Team (ERT), answered the call time and time again after natural disasters scarred communities across the Midwest in 2011.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
St. Louis   
Emergency Response Team   
Awards   
Service Impact Awards   
Joplin   
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Posted on
8/24/2012
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“Believe in something; stand for something; act on something.” These ideas epitomize the career of new AmeriCorps Director Bill Basl as he continues his impressive work in public and national service and takes the helm of the program with more than 80,000 members.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
CNCS   
VISTA   
Basl   
Washington Service Corps   
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Posted on
8/23/2012
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On August 17, we held a Google+ Hangout to highlight the difference AmeriCorps, a national service opportunity that has logged more than 1 billion hours of service since 1994, is making in communities across the country.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
Wendy Spencer   
White House   
Champions of Change   
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Posted on
8/20/2012
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At the Corporation for National and Community Service, we hear and learn about amazing things happening through national service every day. But the best way to experience the power of national service isn’t in our headquarters in Washington, DC.
Keywords:
UWS   
AmeriCorps   
VISTA   
California   
WendySpencer   
826LA   
Playworks   
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Posted on
8/17/2012
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Hosted in collaboration with the White House Office of Public Engagement and AmeriCorps Alums, the Corporation for National and Community Service is pleased to announce a convening of AmeriCorps alumni at the White House this Friday, August 17th, 2012.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
White House   
Social Media   
Wendy   
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Posted on
8/15/2012
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Some of our most creative AmeriCorps members and alumni took our challenge and submitted more than 300 entries for our 2012 AmeriCorps Photo and Video Contest. If you haven’t checked out the submissions and cast your votes, well, now's the time!
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
photo   
video   
contest   
UWS   
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Posted on
8/14/2012
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Paul Reickhoff, president and CEO of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, has an idea about a great, untapped American resource. He believes national service models based on AmeriCorps to harness and leverage the skills of military veterans and can “help people think about us as the cavalry, not as a problem."
Keywords:
Veterans   
Iraq   
Afghanistan   
Joplin   
AmeriCorps   
UWS   
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Posted on
7/30/2012
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The London 2012 Summer Olympics opens tonight, and we’re feeling the Olympic spirit. With that in mind, we asked visitors to the AmeriCorps Facebook page which events would be included in an AmeriCorps Summer Games. As you might imagine, we received some mighty interesting responses.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
AmeriCorps NCCC   
AmeriCorps VISTA   
summer olympics   
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Posted on
7/27/2012
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Nearly half of Ohio’s school children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and many of these children do not have access to adequate nutrition during the summer months. This lack of access to adequate nutrition has been linked to poorer academic performance, which can easily perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
VISTA   
Ending Hunger   
Summer Food Service Program   
USDA   
Ohio Association of Foodbanks   
LRLM   
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Posted on
7/26/2012
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Rising health care costs continue to hit extra hard for people with chronic illnesses who are uninsured or living on fixed incomes. Philadelphia Health Corps AmeriCorps members serve in the city's District Health Centers to help these patients gain access to medications through drug company prescription assistance programs.
Keywords:
Health Corps   
Philadelphia   
AmeriCorps   
Awards   
Service Impact Awards   
Challenge   
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Posted on
7/25/2012
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With many AmeriCorps members ending their service this month, AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Alums reached out to Alumni on Facebook for the advice they'd offer this new batch of Alums.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
Career   
Alums. How-To   
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Posted on
7/24/2012
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Earlier this summer, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the graduation of 22 Green City Force AmeriCorpsmembers in New York City. Green City Force recruits young adults, ages 18-24, who are currently unemployed or underemployed high school graduates or GED-holders from low-income neighborhoods.
Keywords:
New York   
AmeriCorps   
Green   
Jobs   
Education   
Environmental   
   
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Posted on
7/17/2012
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Stephen Packard, 24, could have taken his degree in Economics from the University of Connecticut and found a comfortable desk job. Instead, he opted for a more adventurous path when he joined AmeriCorps NCCC. Never did he imagine he'd one day be working on the front lines of Colorado's biggest wildfire in history, sleeping just feet from the flames.
Keywords:
Disaster   
Colorado   
AmeriCorps   
NCCC   
Wildfire   
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Posted on
7/4/2012
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As we celebrate the 4th of July, we celebrate our patriotism and the millions who have shown their love of country by wearing the uniform. There are a few Veterans among us -- 16,000 so far -- who came home and volunteered for a second time and served their communities though AmeriCorps.
Keywords:
Veterans   
AmeriCorps   
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Posted on
7/3/2012
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Recent wildfires have threatened communities across Colorado and the Southwest and national service has been working day and night to help put out the flames and support survivors.
Keywords:
Disaster   
Colorado   
Wildfires   
Firefighting   
AmeriCorps   
Senior Corps   
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Posted on
7/2/2012
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The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) just announced a tremendous commitment to support veterans and military families at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service. From expanded grants to increased “people power” in areas of need, we are ready to stand with our soldiers to provide opportunities that will help them continue their service here at home while we serve their special needs.
Keywords:
Veterans   
AmeriCorps   
Grants   
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Posted on
6/19/2012
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As thousands of service leaders gathered at National Conference on Volunteering and Service today, Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Wendy Spencer announced $213 million in new AmeriCorps grants to strengthen the impact of more than 275 organizations across the country in tackling the most pressing challenges facing communities and the nation.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
Grants   
News   
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Posted on
6/18/2012
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In October 2010, I began my first year of service as an AmeriCorps member with the Community Building Partnerships for Youth in Transition program in Denver, Colorado. I was placed with the YMCA of Metropolitan Denver in the Community Programs Branch at Bruce Randolph School and tasked with mentoring ten youth over the course of the year – a job I found both intimidating and exciting.
Keywords:
AmeriCorps   
Colorado   
Denver   
YMCA   
Day of Service   
Youth   
Schools   
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Posted on
6/8/2012
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Minnesota Reading Corps, an AmeriCorps program designed to help every child in the state become a successful reader by the end of third grade, announced positive growth in its results with numbers that surpassed those for students statewide.
Keywords:
Commission   
Minnesota   
AmeriCorps   
Literacy   
Education   
Tutor   
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Posted on
6/5/2012
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The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has a rich heritage in food production, but an increased reliance on processed foods has left them susceptible to America's obesity epidemic. One way to battle this problem is to increase the availability of locally grown, healthy food choices, and the Red Cliff Mino Bi Ma De Se Win (Return to the Good Life) Community Farm is tackling the problem head-on
Keywords:
Let's Move in Indian Country   
LRLM   
VISTA   
AmeriCorps   
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Posted on
6/1/2012
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Earlier this week I traveled to Joplin, Missouri, for a trip I will never forget. The Joplin story is one of a community that that never gave up, that demonstrated steely resolve in the face of tragedy, and that is coming back stronger and better than before. It is also the story of volunteers – 130,000 strong and counting – whose selfless service has lifted up an entire community when it needed it most.
Keywords:
Joplin   
Wendy   
Missouri   
Disaster   
AmeriCorps,   
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Posted on
5/25/2012
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Donations from around the country piled up and volunteers turned out in droves in the days and weeks that followed last year's devastating May 22 tornado in Joplin, MO. City officials estimate that Joplin received donated resources and volunteer hours totaling $17.7 million, the largest amount in Missouri's history and the largest amount ever recorded in FEMA's Region VII.
Keywords:
Disaster   
Joplin   
Volunteer   
AmeriCorps   
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Posted on
5/21/2012
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To mark the one-year anniversary of the May 22 Joplin tornado, we'll be featuring a variety of content on the serve.gov blog, including Q&As with those who served in the community, like this one.
Keywords:
Joplin   
Disaster   
AmeriCorps   
AmeriCorpsNCCC   
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Posted on
5/20/2012
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To mark the one-year anniversary of the May 22 Joplin tornado, we'll be featuring a variety of content on the serve.gov blog, including Q&As with those who served in the community, like this one.
Keywords:
Disaster   
Joplin   
AmeriCorps   
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Posted on
5/19/2012
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To mark the one-year anniversary of the May 22 Joplin tornado, we'll be featuring a variety of content on the serve.gov blog, including Q&As with those who served in the community, like this one.
Keywords:
Disaster   
AmeriCorps   
Joplin   
Alumni   
Q&A   
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Posted on
5/18/2012
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