ServeOhio E-Newsletter

National Days of Service:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

On January 18, people of all ages and backgrounds came together to improve lives, bridge social barriers, and move our nation closer to the Beloved Community that
Dr. King envisioned.

Dr. Martin Luther King devoted his work to causes of equality and social justice. He taught that through nonviolence and service to one another, problems such as hunger and homelessness, prejudice and discrimination could be overcome. Dr. King's teachings can continue to guide us in addressing our most pressing needs---poverty, economic insecurity, job loss and education.

Frank examining a bottle "unearthed" while clearing Honeysuckle in Dayton on Make A Difference Day.	Bon Voyage' Frank!

After more than 13 years of service Frank Underwood, Director of Special Projects & Initiatives, will be retiring from the Ohio Community Service Council on March 31. Frank graduated from Ohio University in 1977 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Previously to working for the OCSC he was employed by the Ohio Department of Health, the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, and Business Directions Inc.

Frank began working for OCSC on January 2, 1997. For the first 10 years, he coordinated service-learning programs (his favorite part of the job). Frank also has managed several grant programs, the largest and most successful one was a “Youth Grant-Making Initiative.” In 2000 Frank coordinated the first year of Make a Difference Day Ohio, which he has continued to do for the past 10 years. MDDO has been very successful. It has won two national awards, expanded each year, and Ohio has led the nation in the number of service projects completed every year.

For the past 5-6 years he has also worked with various components of Ohio Citizen Corps, and managed the AmeriCorps*VISTA project. Another aspect of working at OCSC that Frank has enjoyed was having interns for the past several years. He felt they were very helpful and enjoyed getting students involved. Frank plans to kayak, fish, travel, and continue to do work with youth development and service learning (that doesn't sound like retirement!).

Best wishes Frank and " Thanks" for all you do!

Click here to send Frank a message!

Kelsey Conaway, MDDO Student Intern,
The Ohio State University

2009 was a Banner Year!

Ohio Citizen Corps (OCC) witnessed significant growth in 2009 - especially during the time period starting with the H1N1 Flu Incident (August, 2009) and the recent Haiti earthquake response (January, 2010). The number of approved volunteers has increased nearly 29% during this time period. In 2009 there were over 7,000 new volunteers!

2009 highlights:

Ohio Citizen Corps Council recognized by FEMA as one of the four best in the country
20,000 Ohio residents are registered on the statewide database - Ohio Responds
2500+ volunteers have participated in H1N1 related activities
2000+ prospective volunteers requested additional information
Activity calendar received over 200 volunteer activities
Ohio Citizen Corps brochure translated into Spanish
Media Partnership/Ohio Association of Broadcasters - $50,000 investment resulted in ad dollar value of $935,303 in airtime (generated over 1500 prospective volunteers) 175 TV-Radio stations submitted affidavits reporting the number of plays as 27,019. Our best campaign to date!

Haiti: Situation Awareness

In January 2010 there has been almost a 2% increase in volunteer registrations since last month in approved volunteers. There are 668 new applications with 394 of those submitted on or after January 12, 2010, the date of the Haiti earthquake.

Volunteer Efforts:
For people wanting to register and get involved with H1N1 or other disaster efforts: go to https://www.ohioresponds.odh.ohio.gov/volunteer/

Help for Haiti - Learn what you can do

Ohio AmeriCorps VISTA

	Josh Angelini AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer

Josh Angelini serves as Hard Hatted Women’s (HHW) Green Jobs Outreach Coordinator and was the first VISTA recruited to serve with HHW. His service began in August 2008. Originally from Columbus, he moved to Cleveland in 2003 to attend Case Western Reserve University, where he studied Anthropology and later earned a Master’s in Geology. His interest in national service originally stemmed from his desire to give back to the community. As his academic career came to a close, he sought environmentally-oriented positions in Cleveland through which he could pursue his dual interests in human culture and the dynamic processes that make up the planet. With this as his goal and the AmeriCorps Web site his means, he came to find the position he now holds with HHW.

In his six months of service, Josh has already substantially increased HHW’s capacity by researching and communicating opportunities for low-income women in emerging green jobs and training programs. Soon after his year of service began, he helped facilitate the Ohio Roundtable on Women’s Inclusion in the Green Economy, and helped write the subsequent report on the event and its outcomes. Throughout the fall, he and a team of other VISTAs helped develop the curriculum for HHW’s NEW (Nontraditional Employment for Women) Pathways program, a three-week, 40-hour career exploration workshop for low-income women. He has played a role in outreach and partnership-building in the energy industry, assisting with industry-specific programming aimed at recruiting qualified female applicants for utility work, and with committee work in a statewide consortium of energy industry and workforce development organizations. Most recently, he has been involved with work groups that spawned out of last fall’s Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit, which aims to make the city a model of sustainability and a leader in the green economy.

In exchange for Josh’s contributions to its mission of economic empowerment, HHW hopes to help Josh develop tools he can use throughout his career. After his year of service, he hopes to work in either the non-profit or public sector, ideally with an organization whose mission focuses on conservation.

Terri Sandu, Executive Director
Hard Hatted Women

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