Spotlight |
|  Show Your
Support for the NEW Ohio VOLUNTEER License Plate
The Ohio Community Service Council is coordinating
an EXCITING effort to create an Ohio VOLUNTEER License
Plate to help support volunteer activities throughout
the state! Before the project can be introduced in the
State Legislature, 1,000 signatures must be obtained
from people who support the creation of this special
plate.
Proceeds generated from the sale of the license plates
will be used for a variety of activities including:
- grants to local organizations for innovative volunteer
programs;
- further development of Ohios Citizen Corps (citizen
involvement in homeland security);
- support for Make A Difference Day Ohio (the largest
national day of service);
- assistance with local matching funds for AmeriCorps
programs - and more.
Click here to download
your Signature Petition!
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AmeriCorps
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|
 AmeriCorps
helping Habitat for Humanity
CLEVELAND, OH-For the past few weeks,
a team of 10 AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community
Corps (NCCC) have been working with Greater Cleveland
Habitat for Humanity (GCHFH) to build homes with and
for working families. Corps members worked with and
helped facilitate a number of community volunteers on
projects that have included preparing two new house
foundations, assisting with house framing efforts as
well as a couple spring landscaping projects as well.
With NCCCs help, Cleveland Habitat planned to frame
five Habitat houses over five weeks, and this might
not have been possible without their help. Having a
consistent crew with a real sense of purpose and commitment
makes a noticeable difference with all of efforts,
reported Fred Cortright, Cleveland Habitats AmeriCorps
Director. This season Cleveland Habitat plans to frame
ten to twelve houses with its volunteers and new partner
families.
Their project with Habitat for Humanity is the last
in their ten-month term of service. Before coming to
Cleveland, they completed projects with Raccoon Creek
State Park in Beaver County, PA, the Colvin Run Mill
in Fairfax, VA, the Campaign for Working Families in
Philadelphia, PA, and the Friends of the Lower Muskingum
River in Marietta, OH.
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Senior Corps
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| Senior Corps - Making a Difference
Todays senior volunteer is not just
a cookie baker. RSVP volunteers help to expand and strengthen
existing service programs with demonstrated experience.
Click Here |
Make of Difference Day
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| Saturday, October 22,
2005
Volunteer. Make a Difference!
This is the 15th annual Make A Difference Day, sponsored
by USA WEEKEND and the Points of Light Foundation. Six
years ago, Ohio adopted this national day of service
as its own...and has led the nation ever since in the
total number of service projects on that day.
Honorary Make A Difference Day Ohio Co-Chairs Hope
Taft, First Lady of Ohio and Jim Tressel, Head Football
Coach, The Ohio State University, team up with the Ohio
Community Service Council and the statewide MDDO Steering
Committee to support and promote this day of service.
We encourage you to "join the team" and make
a difference in your own community!
A Message from our Honorary
Co-Chairs First Lady Hope Taft
and Ohio State Head Football Coach Jim Tressel. Click Here to Read Letter
2005
MDDO Poster
Promotional materials will be
available in
August!
Upcoming
Events |
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Seasons
of Service Events
Click Here AmeriCorps
Program Staff Fall Training Schedule
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Final
Thought |
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"Where, after all, do universal
human rights begin? In small places, close to
home - close and so small they cannot be seen
on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world
of the individual person; the neighborhood he
lives in; the school or college he attends; the
factory, farm or office where he works. Such are
the places where every man, woman and child seeks
equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity
without discrimination. Unless these rights have
meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.
Without concerned citizen action to uphold them
close to home, we shall look in vain for progress
in the larger world."
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884-1962 |
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Ohio State Profile |
Meeting
community needs in Ohio. More than 46,000 people are
helping to meet local needs, strengthen communities,
and increase civic engagement through 138 national service
projects across Ohio.
Take Me to Ohio's Profile |
2005-06
AmeriCorps |
| OHIO AMERICORPS
PORTFOLIO EXPANDS FOR PY 2005-2006
The Ohio Community Service Council recently added six
new programs to the Ohio AmeriCorps Formula Portfolio
for Program Year 2005 – 2006. Habitat for Humanity (MidAmerica
Region), Licking County Housing Coalition, Ohio State
University, Rebecca Williams Community Center (Warren),
Sojourner’s Outback Program (McArthur), and YWCA Columbus
join 14 continuation programs within the AmeriCorps
Formula Portfolio.
New AmeriCorps programs are selected
on the basis of peer and staff review results; overall
program portfolio composition; geographic diversity;
and organizational capacity. The Corporation for National
and Community Service provides the Council an allocation
of formula funds each year based on state population.
Ohio was also very successful at the national level
of AmeriCorps funding gaining two new programs in
the Councils AmeriCorps Competitive Portfolio for Program
Year 2005 2006. Ohio University AppalCorps and City
Year Columbus Young Heroes join seven continuation programs
within the existing competitive portfolio. The Corporation
for National and Community Service selected only 19
new programs from across the country out of the119 applications
it received. Applications are first screened by peer
reviewers and then forwarded to the Corporation for
staff review upon recommendation.
The combined Ohio AmeriCorps portfolio for Program
Year 2005 2006 will include 29 programs with total
federal funding in excess of $6.4 million. These funds
will support over 735 AmeriCorps members in local Ohio
communities working in the areas of education, human
needs, public safety, environment, and homeland security.
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Ohio
Citizen Corps |
| President Bush recently presented
an award to Ohio Citizen Corps volunteer Dianne Garrett
for her outstanding efforts in volunteer service. Dianne
is an active member of the Whitehall Citizen Corps Council.
Click Here for Full Story
September
is
National Preparedness Month.
Stay tuned for further details! |
Medical
Reserve Corps |
| Recently, Ohio was
served by two medical volunteer operations, the Medical
Reserve Corps (MRC) and the Ohio Volunteer Medical Response
Corps (OVMRC). These two separate operations existed
because of different funding sources and guidelines.
With two organizations coexisting, disparities emerged
in training protocols and operation procedures. The
names also created confusion among the public looking
to become involved in volunteer service.
In an effort to remedy these problems, Commander Robert
J. Tosatto, MRC Program Director, and Dr. Nick Baird,
Director of the Ohio Department of Health, made an exciting
announcement joining the MRC and OVMRC to form the Ohio
Medical Reserve Corps (OMRC). Dr. Forrest Smith, State
Epidemiologist and Ohio MRC coordinator explains the
importance of the merger is streamlining, "Ohio
is unique, in that we are working on a volunteer system
that places medical and lay persons in the same database.
The name change will facilitate corridination through
a common structure."
The change will not affect the volunteers already involved
in MRC and the 14 MRC local units will remain the same.
In fact, plans call for even more local units to be
established. Dr. Smith says, "the change is in
the organizational structure."
Dr. Smith is personally excited about the change because
it will allow Ohio Medical Reserve Corps to move forward
in planning and expand the volunteer pool. He also expressed
high expectations for the future of OMRC, " In
the end we will have a coordinated response for any
medical emergency in Ohio."
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Volunteer
Center Spotlight |
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Youngstown / Mahoning Valley
Volunteer Center
Volunteer Services Agency, Inc., home to the Youngstown/Mahoning
Valley Volunteer Center has had a busy year! The Volunteer
Center is one of three programs that supports the agency's
mission of mobilizing and coordinating volunteer activity
throughout the community to enhance the quality of life
and provide resources and assistance where needed to
create a spirit of goodwill and cooperation. The Volunteer
Center connects people with volunteer opportunities
while providing training and resources to help build
volunteer capacity of non-profit organizations that
serve the community.
Projects of the Volunteer Center
TAG the Teen Action Group
is a volunteer organization comprised of representatives
from area high schools. During the 2004 2005 school
year, TAGs membership was comprised of 40 students from
__ area high schools. Members planned and organized several
on-going and done in a day service projects. Most notably,
they spent Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day as
days on, providing services to clients in Adult Day
Care Centers and women and children in transitional housing.
Project Blueprint recruits,
trains and assists in the placement of under-represented
women and men for positions of community leadership on
non-profit boards of directors. The most recent class
of graduates completed their training in April and is
exploring current opportunities.
All Community Volunteer Recognition
- the premier celebration in the Mahoning Valley that
marks the beginning of celebrations honoring volunteers
during National Volunteer Week. This years celebration
honored 13 groups and individuals for their contributions
to the community.
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ServeOhio.org
provides...
a calendar of events, best practices on screening volunteers,
tips on finding the right volunteer opportunity, homeland
security updates, Ohio's National Service Programs, Ohio Citizen
Corps, updates on legislation of interest to the field of
volunteer service-
and much more!
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