CMA's e-Newsletter
Connections: Where We Live, Work and Learn
- Best Practice Highlight
- Save-the-Dates
- Additional Resources
- Letter from the President
- Guest Column: Youth 'Build' Their Way to Success in Life
- Celebrating Volunteerism 2006
- Special Highlight: Youth Move Michigan
- Michigan Campus Compact
- Volunteer Centers of Michigan
- Michigan Promise
- Mentor Michigan
- Great Opportunities for Youth
- State Farm Youth Advisory Board Opportunity
- 2006 Presidential Freedom Scholarships
Volunteer Center of Otsego County partners with 46th Circuit Trial/Family Court
The Volunteer Center of Otsego County strives to do more than connect volunteers with opportunities. We solve community problems.
The Volunteer Center of Otsego County works in partnership with the 46th Circuit Trial/Family Court in Otsego County to place juveniles ages 12 – 17 years old into court ordered community service. The Volunteer Center has recruited and retained over 20 nonprofit organizations that accept court ordered juveniles at their place of business.
According to Family Court records, the average time a youth serves ranges from 25 to 45 hours, usually to be completed within a 60 day time period. They report that 99% of the court ordered youth going through the Volunteer Centers community service placement system complete their court ordered assignments. Of that percentage, 95.3% of these youth do not have continuing involvement with the Court. We’re extremely excited about that!
"The Volunteer Center is of extreme importance to the Court," said Julie Delaney, Juvenile Officer for the 46th Circuit Trial Court/Family Division, "as they provide not only the placement and scheduling of the juveniles, but also documentation and feedback with respect to the youth that they work with. Scheduling of community service is itself a major task during the school year due to the limited hours the youth are available. The Volunteer Center monitors the youth throughout the course of their community service.”
4/21~4/29 VCM National Volunteer Week
5/2~5/3 Michigan Nonprofit SuperConference
5/19 Application deadline for MCC AmeriCorps*VISTA positions
MCC AmeriCorps*VISTA Effective Practices
Michigan Volunteer Week Proclamation
Corporation for National and Community Service
Volunteer through your local Volunteer Center
Issue #2 - April 28, 2006 - Connections
"Celebrating National Volunteer Week, Michigan Volunteer Week, and National Youth Service Day"
April brought us National Volunteer Week (April 23-29), Michigan Volunteer Week (April 23-29), and National Youth Service Day (April 21-23), each wonderful opportunities to highlight the work of Michigan's volunteers and the many great accomplishments that can only be brought about through the united efforts of our state's greatest servants. Kudos to all the volunteers who make Michigan such a great place to live, work and learn!
Sincerely,
Kyle Caldwell
President and CEO
ConnectMichigan Alliance
Guest Column: Youth 'Build' Their Way to Success in Life
By Jim Richmond, former Vice President of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
“Working together” has taken on new meaning for the 22 high school drop-outs and more than 30 different Battle Creek area partnerships that are participating in this year’s “YouthBuild” Program.
The 22 young men and women, all from low-income backgrounds, spend half their day building an attractive new Habitat for Humanity home at 8 Rose Street.
The remainder of their time is studying for their high school diploma, GED equivalency, and taking life skill classes in everything from how to interview for a job to balancing a family budget and checkbook.
Battle Creek is one of four Michigan communities with YouthBuild programs. The others are in Detroit, Flint and Ann Arbor.
Battle Creek Program Director Matthew Lynn said the students “have done everything but electrical and plumbing” on the house, which is slated for completion by late May. They’ve laid kitchen tile, put up aluminum siding and even scurried up a steep pitch to install the house’s new roof.
The program is under the auspices of the Community Action Agency, but includes the Battle Creek Public Schools, Habitat for Humanity, local churches, homebuilders association, and a range of other NGOs as well as partnerships with members of the ironworkers and electrical unions.
“This is really more than about building a house and basic construction skills,” Lynn commented. “Students also get their GED and they learn teamwork and how to apply what they learn to other parts of their lives.”
YouthBuild participant Vince Wanzer said he’d dropped out of school in the 9th grade.
For the next three years, “I’d go back to school on and off. But I never made any progress, never concentrated until I got a chance in this program,” Wanzer said. “Now I only have once class left to get my GED – and it’s a piece of cake. I just hope I can get into the construction business.”
Matt Lynn said the program helps ensure that happens by providing YouthBuild graduates with job placement assistance. Those that want to start a college education also get support.
The program has been funded in Battle Creek and nationally through grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and contributions from local sponsors and donors.
“This is a real community based initiative. And there are rural and urban YouthBuild models that could be tried in many other Michigan communities, with many local partners,” Lynn said.
Additional information on the national YouthBuild program is available online at http://www.youthbuild.org
Celebrating Volunteerism 2006
By Tiffany Aurora, ConnectMichigan Alliance
More than 150 volunteers, legislators, and volunteer supporters assembled at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing on April 19 for the first ever "Celebrating Volunteerism" event. Individual volunteers provided testimony on the differences being made in their communities through volunteer efforts, legislators commented on their respective roles in promoting volunteerism, and special guests urged all present to continue their involvement in and advocacy for volunteers across the state. First Gentleman Dan Mulhern presented Governor Granholm’s proclamation declaring the week of April 23, 2006 as Michigan Volunteer Week, and awards were presented to 11 legislators and 1 Supreme Court justice for their constant and hard-fought support of policy and initiatives that strengthen and promote volunteerism.
Award/Awardees included:
Volunteer Spirit Award ~ For outstanding leadership in advocacy of organizations that support volunteers in Michigan
Senator Mark Schauer - D – 19th District (Battle Creek)
Senator Valde Garcia – R – 22nd District (Howell)
Mentor Award ~ For exemplary leadership in promoting and supporting mentoring by Michigan Citizens
Senator Wayne Kuipers – R – 30th District (Holland)
Justice Maura Corrigan – Supreme Court Justice
Service Educator Award ~ For dedication to advancing service-learning throughout Michigan’s education community
Representative Hoon-Yung Hopgood – D – 22nd District (Taylor)
Representative Brenda Clack – D – 34th District (Flint)
Generation Award ~ For steadfast commitment to volunteers who seek to engage Michigan seniors in service to others
Representative Gary Newell - R - 87th District (Saranac)
Senator Mike Prusi – D – 38th District (Ishpeming)
National Service Champion Award ~ For outstanding leadership and advocacy of national service in Michigan
Representative Steve Tobocman – D – 12th District (Detroit)
Senator Tony Stamas – R – 36th District (Midland)
Servant Leadership Award ~ For life-long dedication to citizen service and for outstanding leadership in advancing service, volunteerism and civic engagement in Michigan
Senator Shirley Johnson – R – 13th District (Troy)
Senator Bob Emerson – D – 27th District (Flint)
Special Highlight: Youth Move Michigan
By Steven A. Culbertson, President & CEO, Youth Serve America
Energy, idealism, passion, and ingenuity are some of the words that can be used to describe the current generation of young people. YouthMove Michigan, a collaborative effort between General Motors, Youth Service America, and the Volunteer Centers of Michigan, is a new model of youth engagement that is working to unleash the power of this generation to transform our communities through volunteer service.
YouthMove is a website to provide volunteering resources and opportunities to young people in Michigan including tools to develop their leadership and job skills through volunteering. The anticipated outcomes are to increase the number of meaningful volunteer opportunities for youth in Michigan. The website is tentatively scheduled to go online for National and Global Youth Service Day April 21-23 2006 with beta testing to begin in early spring. During the fall, key Michigan stakeholders will be trained by Youth Service America, General Motors and the Volunteer Centers of Michigan to use the site at a conference organized by the Volunteer Centers of Michigan.
The website will integrate data from Youth Service America’s national volunteer website, SERVEnet.org, which contains volunteer opportunities, a talent bank, tools for volunteers, grants information, and many other useful databases. The website will also contain articles from Michigan bloggers on volunteering. Eight AmeriCorps VISTAs will provide support to update volunteer opportunities, increase the number of tools provided, and market the website to various constituencies including underserved communities.
Young people in Michigan can find volunteer opportunities by visiting YouthMove at www.youthmove.org, SERVEnet.org, and by stopping by any one of the 32 Volunteer Centers in Michigan.
Michigan Campus Compact: Outdoor Appreciation for All Ages
By Bret Muter, Ferris State University senior majoring in environmental biology
In the fall of 2004, the Ferris State University Outdoor Club created a program to “Introduce Kids to Michigan Birds.” We invited kids in the Muskegon River Valley Chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters, as well as Eagle Village to take part in our activities—which were to include a guided bird watching hike down Rails to Trails and many other hands-on activities. Unfortunately, due to less-than-ideal weather conditions we were forced to move our program inside. Although the program went exceptionally well considering the weather, we were disappointed we were not able to get the kids “in the field.”
The following summer a few Outdoor Club members met and discussed the idea of developing a series of programs that would introduce people of all ages—not just kids—to Michigan’s amazing wildlife. We began outlining the program, which we entitled “Michigan Wildlife 101” and decided we would do a series of three events—“Michigan’s Amphibians and Reptiles,” “Michigan’s Birds,” and “Michigan’s Mammals.”
We began to put a list of needed materials together and were hoping to find a way to get assistance with funding the program. We put together a Student Community Action Fund mini-grant through the Michigan Campus Compact for assistance. The grant we received allowed us to offer these programs to Ferris students and people in Big Rapids and the surrounding community.
We were able to offer our three programs beginning with “Michigan’s Amphibians and Reptiles.” This program was held at Paris Park and our club’s Community Service Representative, Kari Kammer, a senior majoring in environmental biology, led the program with help from several Outdoor Club members. Kammer and the Outdoor Club volunteers led a group of about a dozen kids and their parents down Rails to Trails on a “herp walk” to look for reptiles and amphibians. The short excursion was successful and we were able to show the participants an eastern ribbon snake, an American toad, green frogs, and spring peepers.
Our second program was the “Michigan’s Birds” event. I had the opportunity to lead this program with the help of more enthused Outdoor Club members. The bird program involved a two-hour hike down Rails to Trails in late October. We had approximately 15 Ferris students, kids and local community members participate in this cold morning’s hike. This program was another success. The group came across nearly 20 different species of birds during the excursion.
Our final program, “Michigan’s Mammals” was held at the Card Wildlife Education Center at Ferris State University. This program had the greatest attendance with approximately 35 community members and Ferris students. I had the opportunity to co-teach this program with Kari Stevens, a junior majoring in secondary English education. This program featured a natural history tour of the Michigan specimens, and outreach materials on furs, skulls, tracks, and even animal scat!
Each program was a great way for the educational program leaders as well as the Outdoor Club members that volunteered to help with “crowd control” and “chaperoning.” Our club is made up of many diverse individuals from different academic backgrounds. The educational program leaders received a lot of positive feedback from the general members, and many of those members that were just there to help have now expressed interest in learning more about wildlife, so they are able to lead their own programs next fall. Not only did this give the volunteers, including myself, a great opportunity to take people into the field, but it included an opportunity to teach a diverse audience about something all of our members care about—the environment.
In our Michigan Wildlife 101 series, some of the most memorable moments were watching a four-year old on our bird watching expedition “looking for eagles” and another youngster defining the word amphibian as meaning “two lives.” Although it seems like the moments we will remember most will be those of the kids who participated in our program, our members will also not forget the thanks and gratitude of the parents whose kids participated and those adults that wanted to come out and learn something new for themselves. It is these said and unsaid gestures of appreciation that inspire our members to continue these programs in the future.
It is in the FSU Outdoor Club’s mission to provide insight and awareness of the environment through community service projects and campus-community outreach programming, but it is truly something to witness the impact you can make in someone’s life when you teach them about something you care about. And we believe that is especially important to make this impact in the lives of our youth, because as cliché as it may sound, they will eventually be responsible for the decisions that are made about wildlife and our environment in years to come. If we can host a program that gets one person excited about learning more about wildlife and helps them develop an appreciation for the environment, our time was well spent.
Volunteer Centers of Michigan: Michigan Student Service Award Program
By Todd Essendrup, Executive Director, Volunteer Center of Dickinson & Iron Counties
The Michigan Student Service Award Program has outperformed any reasonable expectations that the Volunteer Center of Dickinson and Iron Counties could have hoped for. Being able to establish the program in all 6 high schools at the same time has been outstanding. When the MSSA was brought to the attention of each school’s faculty and they were able to see the positive impacts of having such a program in place for each one of their high school students, they were committed to making this program a success. We have had so many e-mails and phone calls from parents wanting to know more about the program and how they can get their children signed up. Parents are also becoming actively involved in the volunteering process with their children. Local agencies have contacted us directly wanting students for volunteering opportunities throughout the year. Students like the fact they are being recognized for their volunteering efforts and are becoming noticed throughout their communities.
In the school year of 2004 – 2005, the entire state of Michigan had a total of 470 high school students actively involved in the MSSA program. Out of 470 students, 200 were from Dickinson and Iron Counties in Upper Michigan. Also 90 high school seniors received the Governors Award and medallion in the entire state of Michigan. Of the 90 seniors, 41 were from our program. Our students completed over 10,000 hours of volunteer service in the first year of operation. The program is still growing as 12,000 hours have already been logged midway through our 2nd year of offering this program.
From parents, local agencies, community members to the school systems, this program has had total support from everyone to assist in any way possible in order to meet the student’s volunteering goals.
We have students volunteering at nursing homes, the V.A. Hospital, the local animal shelters, The American Red Cross, The American Cancer Society, coaching sports, tutoring young children, highway clean-up and so many more. There is so much that the students do each and every day that communities typically never hear about. We seem to hear a lot about what the youth do wrong rather than what our youth do right. This program showcases our students and displays all the positive things our youth are doing and how each one of them is making a difference in his or her own way. Every child deserves a pat on the back. Our agency and the entire community is involved in recognizing our area youth for the positive influence that they bring each and every time that they volunteer.
This program has given students something to strive for. Students want the ability to write in their college application about where they volunteered and what they did to volunteer over the course of their high school years. We not only give them recognition for their volunteer service, we help them find a good fit for their talents and provide numerous new opportunities throughout the year.
At the end of the school year, we have the seniors receiving the awards fill out a reflection form about volunteering. Here is one answer a senior provided that sums up the sole purpose of this program. The question was, “Why did you volunteer?” The answer was, “I chose to volunteer while in high school because I learned many things from those who I helped and those who I worked with. By continually volunteering I was constantly educating myself. I also enjoyed seeing how much of a difference even one person can make in the life of another.”
Our agency is so grateful for a program such as the Michigan Student Service Award to be available to volunteer centers throughout the state of Michigan. It allows each student an opportunity to give of themselves, with simple acts of kindness and in return gain a lifelong passion for helping others in need. They also take with them into the future the idea of knowing, “To the world you might be one person, but to that one person you might be the world.”
Michigan's Promise: 2006 Red Wagon Award Winners
By Mary Estrada, Program Coordinator, Michigan's Promise
Michigan’s Promise is proud to announce the 2006 Red Wagon Award winners. Our winners this year were selected from a pool of 26 nominations that were reviewed by a panel of noprofit leaders. The eight winners represent how local communities have come together to support their youth through the Five Promises.
This year’s winners include:
Promise 1 - A Caring Adult – Michigan School Readiness Program Home Visitor Program in Inkster and Reading Buddies Program in Gladstone
Promise 2 - A Safe Place – Books, Breakfast and Busses in Holland and The Lake Superior Village Youth and Family Center in Marquette
Promise 3 - Healthy Start – The Healthy Morning Snack Program in Ionia
Promise 4 - Marketable Skills – SCOOP TV Cable Communication Public Benefit Corporation in Detroit
Promise 5 - Opportunity to Give Back – Michigan Student Service Award Program in Iron Mountain and Promise Daze in Ionia.
Michigan’s Promise congratulates all the winners and will officially present the awards on May 2, 2006 during the Michigan Nonprofit SuperConference luncheon at the Sheraton Detroit Novi in Novi.
Michigan’s Promise Red Wagon Awards will be offered again next year with the application process beginning in mid November, 2006. For more information, please contact Mary Estrada, Program Coordinator at mestrada@connectmichiganalliance.org or by phone at (517) 492-2443.
Mentor Michigan: Service Combined with Citizenship - A Winning Combination!
By Amy Smitter, Executive Director, Michigan Campus Compact
Mentor Michigan AmeriCorps members around the state have been attending Citizenship and Civic Engagement training this winter and spring. Why you might ask? Well, not only is this a part of their year of service, but it is also a great way to ensure that their service to the state regarding mentoring has a lasting impact for their own future and that of the state, nation and world.
Members develop positive attitudes regarding the value of lifelong citizenship and service for the common good; the ability to discuss and explore their community and the people, processes, and institutions that are most effective in improving community conditions; the ability to plan effective service projects that respond to real community needs; and the social, cultural and analytical skills necessary to effectively participate in American democracy.
The Michigan AmeriCorps citizenship training also provides an opportunity for members to dialogue and network with Corps members from other programs.
Mentor Michigan AmeriCorps (MMA) is one of several initiatives designed to answer Governor Granholm’s call to engage 10,000 new mentors by 2006. Mentor Michigan AmeriCorps comprises a corps of thirty-five members strategically placed across Michigan to support mentoring initiatives and recruit mentors at the local and regional levels. They will engage at least 1,000 additional volunteers in mentoring and related activities.
Mentor Michigan is pleased to announce the hiring of its new Program Manager, Scott Craven. Scott has served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA and AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader with Michigan Campus Compact, and we are very excited to have him join the Mentor Michigan team. He will begin his position with Mentor Michigan on May 8, 2006, and can be reached at scraven@micampuscompact.org or 517-492-2424.
Great Opportunities for Youth
State Farm Youth Advisory Board Opportunity
By Nick Metzger, Public Affairs Specialist, State Farm Insurance Companies
State Farm® is proud to establish the State Farm Youth Advisory Board charged with helping State Farm leadership design and implement a signature service-learning initiative.
Members of this Board will play an important leadership role in creating and overseeing a $5 million/year signature service-learning initiative which will address pressing issues of importance to State Farm and communities across America. The Youth Board will collectively help identify these issues; oversee competitive site selections and grant making process for catalyzing large-scale, student-driven service-learning projects. The Youth Board will interact with senior State Farm leaders in presenting and supporting an analysis of their grant making decisions.
If you know of students in your area who would be interested in being involved with the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, please have them access the attached link www.statefarm.com/sfyboard.htm to complete the application process.
All applications must be postmarked by April 28th, 2006.
2006 Presidential Freedom Scholarships
The Presidential Freedom Scholarships are currently available for the 2006 program year. This program, administered by Learn and Serve America at the Corporation for National and Community Service, provides Presidential recognition and a $1,000 college scholarship to high school juniors and seniors for their leadership in community service. The Corporation provides $500 which must be matched with at least $500 secured by the high school from the community. Students must complete at least 100 hours of community service to be eligible for the scholarship.
This year the Corporation is offering up to 6,500 scholarships. The postmark deadline to submit certification forms is May 12, 2006.
We would like to ask for your assistance in disseminating the information about this opportunity to your networks and would be grateful if you would post a link to our website from your website and/or post this information on your listserve or include it in your newsletter.
For more information on the Presidential Freedom Scholarships program please visit the program website www.nationalservice.gov/scholarships.
Editor:
Tiffany Aurora, ConnectMichigan Alliance
Contributors:
Sara Ballard, Volunteer Centers of Michigan
Kyle Caldwell, ConnectMichigan Alliance
Steven A. Culbertson, Youth Serve America
Todd Essendrup, Volunteer Center of Dickinson & Iron Counties
Mary Estrada, Michigan's Promise
Nick Metzger, State Farm Insurance Companies
Bret Muter, Ferris State University student
Dina Paxenos, Presidential Freedom Scholarships
James M. Richmond
Amy Smitter, Michigan Campus Compact
Allison Treppa, Michigan Campus Compact
What do you think of our e-newsletter? Send us your feedback at cma@connectmichiganalliance.org.
Home | Contact Us | Sitemap | Search this Site | Privacy Statement | Disclaimer |