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Groups Unite on Blueprint to Help Returning Vets
By Greg Tucker
After defending our country in locations all around the world, many veterans find more battles await them when they return home. A new initiative was announced today to support and ease the reintegration of returning service members, veterans, and their families as they search for jobs and support services. 
Retired Gen. George Casey, former chief of Staff of the Army, and AmeriCorps Director Bill Basl joined officials from Points of Light, ITT Exelis, and a coalition of 55 veteran and military service organizations, nonprofits, and government agencies from across the country to announce the Community Blueprint launch.
The Blueprint's mission is to improve the outcomes for the more than 1 million military members who will come home during the next five years as they seek access to services and support that will enable them to become future leaders and problem-solvers on the homefront. The idea for the initiative sprang from a 2010 gathering involving a coalition of military support organizations, and its goal is to establish 200 cities and towns as Community Blueprint communities by 2014.
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is proud to support this effort, and Basl attended the event to lead this year's class of the Veteran Leader Corps (VLC) in the AmeriCorps pledge. The VLC currently operates in seven states and its members serve in volunteer centers and workforce development nonprofits while they enhance their leadership skills by supporting America's soldiers.
This just one of the many veterans' groups CNCS is supporting with $6.2 million in AmeriCorps grants this year alone. In addition to the 27,000 veterans involved in national service, CNCS programs serve 600,000 veterans and military families in more than 200 communities nationwide. Some of the services CNCS provides include employment placement, behavioral health counseling, community rehabilitation, homeless veteran support, and financial literacy.
“Today we welcome even more veterans into the AmeriCorps program as part of Points of Light's Veteran Leader Corps,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “We are honored to work with our partners in the military and nonprofit communities to create economic opportunities for veterans and their families.”
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Posted on
10/9/2012 |
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Why STEM Education Matters
You will hear the acronym STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) a lot whenever the discussion turns to improving education in the United States, and there is a good reason. Those disciplines are the cornerstones of the jobs that will keep America competitive in the near and distant future, and we have to get our students ready for that future now.
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Posted on
10/3/2012 |
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AmeriCorps Alum Joins CNCS Board
Service comes naturally to Matt McCabe, the first AmeriCorps alum to join the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) Board of Directors. A commitment to service was instilled in him by his parents and grandparents from childhood. “They set the expectation that we give back to our community,” said McCabe.
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Posted on
9/25/2012 |
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Marine Builds a Home and Inspiration with AmeriCorps
In the spring of 2011, a Marine stood on the porch steps of his new home in Annapolis, MD. He was not thinking about the beautiful row house that he would now share with his wife and four children, but was looking down at the porch that he helped build with his own hands. He was contemplating his spirit of service with a renewed vigor and hope.
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Posted on
9/24/2012 |
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From Our National Tragedy, a Path Forward in Service
Eleven years later and the tide has surely turned, at least in one very significant way. The anniversary of September 11th is no longer only a day known for a horrific tragedy on our national landscape. It is now also America’s largest day of charitable service and good deeds, in honor of my late brother and all those who perished that sunny September morning.
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Posted on
9/7/2012 |
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9/11 Volunteer Opportunities From Coast to Coast
The September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance arrives in less than a week, but service projects have already begun, and more will take place this weekend and continue through 9/11 Day. If you don't have plans and are looking to serve, we have an overview of how volunteers across the country will pay tribute to and honor the victims and heroes of September 11th across the nation.
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Posted on
9/5/2012 |
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YouthBuild: I Transformed a Home, but the Experience Transformed My Life
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.
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Posted on
8/28/2012 |
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Service in Action: Bill Basl Takes the Helm at AmeriCorps
“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.
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Posted on
8/23/2012 |
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How-To Tuesday: Plan Your 9/11 Service Project
As the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance draws closer, you may be making plans to join in with a service project of your own but then realize that you have no idea where to start. We can help you with that.
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Posted on
8/21/2012 |
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YSA STEM Fest Celebrates Achievement Through Service-Learning
On Aug. 1, 13 teachers gathered at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for STEM Fest, a panel discussion highlighting effective practices in STEM-based service-learning. Convened by Youth Service America (YSA), STEM Fest celebrated the teachers' achievements in implementing YSA's STEMester of Service, a program that introduced extended service-learning to middle school students to learn science, technology, engineering, and math by addressing local environmental issues.
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Posted on
8/7/2012 |
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RSVP Grant Competition Opens
For more than 40 years, RSVP has delivered proven results and engaged millions of Americans 55 and over in national and community service. This Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) program is a win-win for America, as senior volunteer service benefits the health of the adult volunteers and addresses vital needs in the communities they serve. Last week, Senior Corps opened its 2013 RSVP Competition.
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Posted on
8/6/2012 |
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Let's Read, Let's Move: What Is It?
America's children continue to struggle with summer learning loss and childhood obesity. As part of the effort to battle this problem, the Corporation for National and Community Service continues our Let's Read. Let's Move. initiative for the summer of 2012.
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Posted on
6/28/2012 |
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A Prestigious Honor: Five AmeriCorps NCCC Alumni Recieve Congressional Service Award
Yesterday, five AmeriCorps alums received the most prestigious honor given to youth leaders by the United States Congress – the Congressional Gold Medal Award. This year, 250 were chosen as honorees and five were AmeriCorps NCCC alumni but of the 1,000 Bronze, Silver, and Gold medalists that are chosen each year more than 1,000 are affiliated with AmeriCorps.
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Posted on
6/24/2011 |
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