Recovery in Action
These new Recovery Act AmeriCorps members provided vital services to
people facing unemployment, poverty, and other challenges by
offering job counseling and placement services, providing
foreclosure prevention and financial counseling, weatherizing homes,
strengthening food banks, supporting health care and independent
living services, and more. In addition, the AmeriCorps members
themselves learned new skills, acquired qualities of leadership, and
gained a sense of satisfaction from taking on responsibilities that
directly affect peoples' lives.
Since the enrollment of the first Recovery Act AmeriCorps members,
data reported by grantees and sponsors shows these members achieved
strong results, including:
- leveraging more than 1,091,000 volunteers to serve more than
8.75 million clients;
- generating more than $124.48 million in cash and in-kind
resources for nonprofits;
- providing employment and skills training and counseling to
181,821 clients;
- helping to place 15,238 people in jobs; and
- providing foreclosure and housing assistance services to
113,541 people.
Below are a few examples of AmeriCorps Recovery in action:
Program Profiles
Preventing Foreclosures and Providing Housing Assistance
Program: Equal Justice Works
Location: Nationwide
More than 3 million homes received foreclosure notices in 2009.
Many homeowners are losing their homes because they lack the ability
to navigate the landscape of lending laws. Legal representation can
help many homeowners save their homes and, more broadly, help to
stabilize neighborhoods at risk. But nonprofit legal services
programs everywhere are besieged with requests for foreclosure
assistance, and too few people are able to obtain qualified legal
guidance.
Equal Justice Works received a $1.2 million AmeriCorps Recovery
grant to place 30 AmeriCorps Recovery Fellows and 305 Summer Corps
Fellows across the country to provide legal assistance to victims of
foreclosures and others facing financial challenges as a result of
the recession. Since receiving the grant, AmeriCorps Legal Fellows
and Summer Corps members have helped 1,899 people needing home
foreclosure and housing assistance, and have already saved 662 homes
from foreclosure. AmeriCorps Recovery Fellow Ben Long, serving at
the Appalachian Research and Defense fund of Kentucky, helped a
recently-widowed client save her home from foreclosure by
identifying several Truth-In-Lending violations and obtained a
favorable loan modification. Radia Hussain, a Summer Corps member at
the Legal Aid Society in Queens, provided direct legal assistance to
clients who were victimized by predatory lending practices and
prevented four clients from losing their homes to foreclosure in
just a few short weeks. Christine Khalili-Borna, an AmeriCorps
Recovery Fellow at Public Counsel in Los Angeles, engaged law
students in the Homeless Prevention Project, recruiting 400 students
from nearby law schools. Last year, Christine helped 3,462 obtain
food, shelter, medical care and other basic needs.
Program: Michigan Campaign to End Homelessness AmeriCorps
Program
Location: Michigan Statewide
The housing emergency in Michigan is staggering. In March 2009,
8,240 Michigan homes were in active foreclosure; 8.6 percent of the
nationwide total. The 20 members of the Michigan Campaign to End
Homelessness AmeriCorps Program are taking action to sway the tide
of this housing crisis. Members are serving across the state, from
urban Detroit and Grand Rapids, to the rural north of Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula. Fifteen of the members are actively engaged in
outreach to the homeless population. These members provide housing
assistance to homeless individuals; including identifying housing
barriers, identifying housing opportunities, linking them to support
services and benefits assistance, and providing follow-up. The
remaining five members assist in foreclosure prevention activities
such as helping people understand what foreclosure is, what the
process is, who the entities are that are involved, and how to avoid
foreclosure. Members interact with landlords, lenders, and
counselors to help homeowners move through the process without
getting lost or misdirected. Since Recovery funding was awarded in
the summer of 2009, AmeriCorps members have served 845 individuals
with housing or home foreclosure assistance. The impact is clear,
133 foreclosures were prevented and resolved, with hundreds more
pending satisfactory resolution.
Program: NeighborWorks
Location: Multiple Sites
NeighborWorks VISTA members have recruited more than 6,000
volunteers, generated more than $4.5 million in cash and in-kind
resources, assisted in saving more than 4,500 families' homes from
foreclosure, and built the capacity of financial fitness and
asset-building programs for more than 5,500 individuals in
underserved communities.
Job Placement and Employment Training Programs
Project: West Tennessee Special Technology Access
Resource (STAR) Center
Location: 21 counties in West Tennessee
The STAR Center provides assistive technology and referrals for
people with disabilities in West Tennessee to help them fulfill
their goals of education, employment, and independent living.
Through the Center’s Building Together Project, VISTAs build the
capacity of the individual organizations where they serve and
collaborate with other AmeriCorps VISTA members to develop resources
and trainings and create related projects. Three members joined the
project in May 2009. Since that time, they have recruited more than
535 community volunteers, who have contributed more than 6,000 hours
of service. These members have also established community
partnerships and expanded financial resources through effective
communication, marketing, and outreach. To make STAR’s service more
accessible to disabled clients who have difficulty with
transportation, one member, Thomas Buie, is developing a distance
education plan to bring online training to client’s home computer.
STAR anticipates serving an additional 100 clients per year by
offering distance education. The efforts of Recovery Act-funded
AmeriCorps VISTA members have enabled more than 300 new disabled
clients to receive employment and skill training and more than 20
disabled individuals to be placed in permanent full and part-time
jobs.
Program: Youth Conservation Corps, Inc.
Location: Waukegan, Illinois
Two AmeriCorps Act VISTA members Youth Conservation Corps (YCC),
Inc. helps at-risk, economically disadvantaged youth get their lives
back on track, complete their GED, and learn how to look for a job.
YCC also provides employment training and environmental education
training to high school youth by engaging them in conservation
projects. The AmeriCorps VISTA members at YCC conduct community
outreach and recruit volunteers for environmental restoration and
cleanup of two rivers in the area. These members have recruited 90
community volunteers, who have contributed 450 hours of service.
Fundraising events and grant writing initiatives by the AmeriCorps
VISTA members have brought in nearly $625,000. These resources
helped fund employment and skills training and counseling for 33
clients, resulting in 25 job placements. The clients also received
financial planning and literacy services.
Green Jobs and Weatherization
Program: California Conservation Corps
Location: California Statewide
The California Energy and Environmental Conservation Recovery
Corps is an environmental stewardship and low-income home
weatherization program funded through the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. It is a collaboration between the California
Conservation Corps and four local community conservation corps with
nine service sites throughout the state. The program helps fund
approximately 119 AmeriCorps members. Program work began in July
2009 and will run through September 2010. Six service sites provide
low-income home weatherization services. As of December 31, 2009,
1,064 homes have been weatherized and made more energy-efficient.
Four service sites provide public lands work with an emphasis on
native habitat restoration and trail construction/restoration. As of
December 31, 28 trails have been constructed and/or restored and 42
acres of native habitat have been restored and protected.
Program: Montana Conservation Corps
Location: Montana Statewide
Through the Warm Hearts Warm Homes program, Montana Conservation
Corps Recovery members are weatherizing homes in communities across
Montana by repairing, replacing and installing windows, doors,
roofing, ducts, insulation, weather-stripping, lights, heating,
ventilation and cooling (HVAC) systems, energy-efficient appliances,
water heaters, low-flow toilets and showerheads, and photovoltaic
panels. In addition, members may perform energy audits to assist in
weatherization planning and assist residents with conservation
awareness that will contribute to lower energy use and cost.
Recovery Corps members have weatherized 539 homes for 1,287 clients
across the state.
Providing Economic Security
Program: United Way of Central Alabama
Location: Alabama
United Way of Central Alabama relies on AmeriCorps VISTAs to
expand its capacity to strengthen the economic security of
low-to-moderate income Alabamians through outreach and recruitment
for the Individual Development Account program, development and
marketing of financial literacy education
resources, expanded VITA income tax preparation assistance, and
foreclosure prevention activities. Through the effort of four
Recovery Act-funded AmeriCorps VISTA members, the United Way of
Central Alabama has supported 5,361 clients, providing financial
planning and foreclosure and housing assistance to nearly 3,070
clients. Seven clients were able to bring their mortgage current,
three clients were able to refinance their mortgage, six clients
received a reverse mortgage, and two clients initiated a
forbearance/repayment plan. These members also recruited 37
community volunteers, who contributed more than 1,750 hours of
service.
Success Stories
Weatherization Project Saves a Life in North Carolina
Weatherization doesn't just save energy - sometimes it saves lives.
Asheville, N.C., resident Gene Senyak credits a carbon monoxide alarm
installed at his West Asheville bungalow with saving his life when his power
went out during a snowstorm. AmeriCorps members with the AmeriCorps Recovery
Project Energize program had placed the monitor in Senyak's kitchen during
an energy audit in preparation for a free retrofit of the home. When his
electricity went out, cutting out his furnace, Senyak retreated to one room
with a propane heater where he tried to stay warm. Overnight, the monitor
went off, alerting him to high carbon monoxide levels from the heater.
"They've already saved my life," Senyak said of the Project Energize
workers, whose work is funded by federal Recovery Act dollars.
Transforming Her Life through Service
AmeriCorps Recovery Member Rebecca Long dropped out of school at
fourteen. She committed to turning her life around when she entered the
YouthBuild McLean County Charter School’s AmeriCorps program in September
2009. Despite a challenging living environment where she is responsible for
her niece and nephew, she has been able to maintain a 3.6 GPA, and nearly
perfect attendance while working a fulltime job as a waitress on weekends.
In addition to these amazing accomplishments, she recently completed an 8
week EMT course at Heartland Community College and passed the state
licensing exam. She has contributed over 415 hours of service to her
community so far. Through her term as an AmeriCorps Recovery Member she has
helped build Green affordable housing, increased recycling efforts within
our community, built bunk beds at a children’s camp, and organized a blood
drive. AmeriCorps service has helped her gain the insight that she wants to
pursue a career in a helping field, such as nursing. She plans to use her
AmeriCorps scholarship to attain her degree. She states that, “YouthBuild
AmeriCorps gave me the courage to get my diploma and also pass my EKG
course. YouthBuild has changed my life because I know I can do hard work,
and I feel like nothing can stop me.”
Helping the Unemployed Find Dignity and Work
Over the past few years, the recession has hit working people hard in
Michigan. In Kent County, where Grand Rapids is located, 25 percent of
children are receiving food stamps. Unemployment in Grand Rapids is nearly
12 percent, which is three points higher than the national average. I joined
Goodwill and AmeriCorps because I believe everyone has the right to provide
for themselves and their families. There is dignity in work. At Goodwill, I
instruct around 40 to 60 participants on a daily basis, serving 700
participants in an average month. I work with individuals who are unemployed
and underemployed, have disabilities, are homeless and have felony
backgrounds. I teach classes about résumé building and cover letter writing.
I facilitate classes on interviewing, professionalism, and I instruct
participants on computer basics. I offer advice on career paths and higher
education.
My most important function, however, is fostering confidence in participants
I see on a daily basis. Goodwill Industries provides people with resources
to empower themselves and to provide for their families. I love being a part
of that mission. Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids placed over 900
participants in jobs last year. It’s tremendously rewarding to be the Career
Center instructor and help unemployed people find work. With help from the
AmeriCorps education fund, I was able to defer my loans and I’ll be using it
in the future to pay for part of my master’s degree in sociology. I’ve been
able to gain valuable experience that I would not have otherwise had. I love
getting up in the morning and coming into work.
~ Chris Mills, AmeriCorps Recovery member at Goodwill Industries
of Greater Grand Rapids
Preventing Gangs in Tallahassee, Florida
AmeriCorps VISTA Recovery Act member Ramunajan Narayanan is helping stop
the growth of gangs in Tallahassee, Florida as part of the statewide Florida
Gang Reduction Strategy developed by the Attorney General. The strategy
recognizes that law enforcement along can’t stop gang activity and that the
community must be involved. Ramunajan works in the Leon County Sheriff’s
Office, where he recruits and coordinates volunteers for the gang reduction
task force, identifies community resources and strategies that address gang
prevention, and provides support to the task force leadership committee.
Ramunajan was born and raised in Gainesville, FL and attended the
University of Florida where he earned a bachelors degree in Economics, and
went on to receive a Masters Degree in International Business in May of
2009. While a college student, he created an after-school program that
targeted at-risk elementary school students in East Gainesville. He joined
VISTA because “my education experience over the past decade has taught me
that among the most important criterion for stimulating economic growth in a
particular community is attacking the education gap and preventing at-risk
kids from entering gangs.” After his AmeriCorps VISTA year, he wants to
pursue a career that focuses on economic/business development in third world
countries.
Advocating for Veterans
At a recent community outreach event, Center for Veterans Advancement
AmeriCorps Recovery Fellow Stacy Zimmerman met Jason, a young veteran who
saw massive combat and bloodshed while serving in Iraq. Jason has severe
psychological problems stemming from his combat experience, including
post-traumatic stress disorder and possible traumatic brain injury. Because
of these issues, Jason was unable to keep a job, his family was alienated
from him and he had experienced several run-ins with the law. When Stacy
first met him, Jason was living at a VA facility where he received intensive
inpatient treatment for his psychological problems. However, Jason was
receiving only a small amount of VA service-connected disability benefits,
and his legal and financial difficulties were preventing him from moving
forward in his life. The Center’s Director assisted Jason by winning a
decision to double the amount of his VA benefits, and he plans to further
appeal the decision so that Jason can receive benefits at the fully-disabled
level. Meanwhile, Stacy has been working with the Court, Probation
Department, Alternate Public Defender, and the VA to advocate for and
coordinate a positive resolution of Jason’s other legal and financial
problems. Once these issues are resolved, Jason hopes to move into his own
apartment, where he can continue outpatient treatment at the VA and
concentrate on recovering from the invisible wounds of war.
Helping a Student Stay on Track for Graduation
KJ, was on track for repeating 9th grade for the third time when he was
suspended from school and placed at SCALE, one of our alternative school
sites. KJ was paired with Pattie, an AmeriCorps Members, a baby boomer
recruited for the Recovery program that was trained to tutor him. Within a
week of working with Pattie, KJ’s demeanor changed. He started walking to
the site. Patti worked with him on a plan for achieving the credit hours he
would need to make it into 10th grade by the beginning of the school year.
Along with tutoring during the period he was at the location she began to
mentor him via email, encouraging him towards his goal. By the end of the
period, KJ had completed the required 50 hours needed and was promoted to
the 10th grade for the 2009 school year.
Gaining Skills and Protecting Public Lands in California
Ryan Avila, 24, from Loma Linda, CA, is an AmeriCorps member at the
California Conservation Corps’ (CCC) Inland Empire Center. Prior to being
part of this Recovery Act-funded program, Ryan was unemployed but
volunteering at Loma Linda Hospital. As part of the program, Ryan is
currently with members of the Desert Conservation Crew out at the Vulcan
Mine in the Mojave National Preserve. The work site is so remote that
corpsmembers set up a base camp where they reside for the duration of the
project. He will be working to install fencing around the abandoned mine for
public safety and watershed protection purposes. Previously, Ryan has gained
trail rehabilitation and trail maintenance experience working with the
United States Forestry Service (USFS). Ryan has taken advantage of every
opportunity AmeriCorps and the CCC has offered to him. He has taken the
initiative to participate in the Center’s Corpsmember Advisory Board as one
of the individuals to get it up and running. Ryan has expressed interest in
learning more about GIS/GPS technology and using that knowledge to explore
job opportunities with abandoned mine mapping, skills he will learn as part
of this AmeriCorps Program.
Bringing Technology to Low-Income Communities
At One Economy Corporation, VISTA members are maximizing the potential of
technology to empower communities for a lifetime. Two VISTAs, funded by the
Recovery Act, have already changed the lives of community members with just
six months of service.
Tariq Shaheed serves at the One Economy office in Los Angeles,
California, where he helped the One Economy staff bring wireless Internet to
Jordon Downs, a 700 unit apartment complex in the Watts district of Southern
California. In partnership with AT&T and Opportunities Industrialization
Center, Shaheed helped distribute 150 computers and 50 hours of computer
training to residents at Jordon Downs. He also oversaw the construction of
350 outdoor enclosures for the wireless router network, assembled by the
residents and youth of Jordon Downs. Now hundreds of residents have access
to content on career coaching, resumes building, and financial management
through the Beehive (http://www.beehive.org),
a website created by One Economy to provide low-income individuals with
tools and information about financial services, education, jobs, health
care, and family. Additionally, the hours of computer training have equipped
residents with job readiness skills. The youth in Jordon Downs “aren’t just
doing maintenance work,” said the Resident Development Program Coordinator.
“They are actually learning a skill that will benefit them in the future.”
As editor of the “localized” Kansas City Beehive in Missouri, VISTA
Thomas Del Greco develops content specific to needs of that community.
Visits to the Kansas City Beehive have increased by 500 percent! Del Greco
has helped more than 1,000 people learn more about unemployment and how to
apply for food stamps through the development of localized content. In this
tax filing season, he has helped more than 50 people learn how to apply for
the earned income tax credit. “Thomas is providing people with information
so they can make more informed decisions about jobs, health, and more,” said
VISTA Leader Meg Gosney. “He is teaching people with the content he
develops. He is helping them access resources that teach how to navigate
through the tough times, find a job, and gain financial independence.”
Helping People with Mental Illness
William, a veteran, is a full-time Recovery Act AmeriCorps member serving
at Grapevine, a drop-in center for individuals with mental illness in Butler
County, Pennsylvania. He serves as a mentor, listening ear, and friend to
many clients with severe mental illness. He is responsible for transporting
them to necessary medical and social services appointments as needed and
also for connecting them with housing by driving the moving truck. He helped
more than 30 individuals move into new housing between May and December
2009. William also helped distribute nearly 1,000 pounds of donated frozen
turkeys to needy families over the holidays.
Mentoring At-Risk Youth
The Recovery Act has allowed many additional Michigan citizens to serve
in AmeriCorps. Included in that group is Chardae Rowe, a first-year,
full-time member serving Downriver CARES-Recovery in Southgate, Michigan.
Chardae is a Detroit native and graduate from Michigan State University with
a Degree in Journalism. She was placed with The Guidance Center’s Juvenile
Justice Program where she provides resource coordination, life skills
development, and mentoring to at-risk youth. In her role as AmeriCorps
member, Chardae has been instrumental in the development of a Culinary Arts
employability model for the youth she serves. This model helps youth develop
the skills necessary for future careers in the food service industry. In
addition, she has developed many life skills curriculums that help educate
the youth to make positive life decisions. This includes HIV/AIDS prevention
and education training. She also attends probation hearings for youth,
completes detention visits, and connects the youth and their families to
needed resources. Chardae hope to continue her passion for HIV/AIDS
prevention and outreach work with the National AIDS Fund and is interested
in obtaining a Masters in Public Administration so she can fulfill her dream
of one day opening her own non-profit.
The Heat is On
The Accounting Aid Society in Detroit is the largest provider of free
income tax preparation services for low and moderate income households in
Michigan. We help struggling families prepare taxes and recover more than
$14 million in refunds and credits each year. In this way, we help families
stay in their homes, keep their utilities turned on, put food on the table,
and save for the future. As an AmeriCorps member serving at AAS, I prepare
tax returns for clients, train volunteers to prepare returns, and help
maintain the efficiency of our tax sites. I serve approximately 5-15 clients
per day and each one has a unique situation. One client had paid more than
$300 to have her tax return prepared by a local income tax service. The IRS
rejected her tax return because it was done incorrectly. She came to us
asking for help amending her return, which showed her owing more than
$2,000. The preparer that did her return originally misclassified her income
and failed to award her tax credits that she was entitled. I corrected her
tax return for her and as a result she received a refund of $3,500. Later
that month, I received a call from this client. She had received her refund
and gladly shared, “I was able to use it to pay off my past due heating
bills and the utility company is turning my heat back on before winter
arrives.”
~ Brian Foster, AmeriCorps Recovery Act Member, Michigan’s
AmeriCorps Partnership
Matching a Big Brother with a Troubled Little Brother
When AmeriCorps VISTA member Michael Curtis first arrived at Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Tucson, Arizona, he was prepared for an office assignment
with little interaction with clients. Curtis's experience serving nearly 600
underprivileged children has changed all that. Curtis visits the schools
where Big Brothers Big Sisters has site-based programming and sees the kids
on a daily. One of the first matches Curtis made included a boy who was
struggling a great deal. The 'Big Brother' that Curtis recruited has been
tremendous help to 'Little Brother,' who lost both his parents within months
of each other and is being raised by his sister who is bedridden. The youth
was occasionally acting out and his grades were slipping. Since being
introduced to his Big Brother, the Little Brother has improved his grades
and behavior and shows a positive attitude toward life and new experiences.