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Youth AmeriCorps Projects in Iowa
Graceland University AmeriCorps Youth Launch
The Graceland University AmeriCorps Youth Launch Program was established in 2008 with a vision to lift individual and rural communities out of poverty through education and capacity building. This program delivers intensive service to comminutes by utilizing the 5 Promises: Caring Adults, Safe Places, Healthy Starts, Marketable Skills, and Opportunities to Serve. The AmeriCorps Youth Launch members are strengthening all of the communities in the six-county (Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Ringgold, Union and Wayne) region by uniting individuals and institutions in common efforts to support youth, through after school programming, mentoring, positive youth development in schools and youth centers.
For more information, please contact:
Jodi Haley, Program Director
641-344-3585
rjhaley@iowatelecom.net
Shirley Kessel, Program Director
641-414-8093
lskessel@grm.net
Iowa AmeriCorps State of Promise
Iowa AmeriCorps State of Promise strives to actively engage Iowa communities in providing youth with the 5 Promises of Iowa's Promise: Ongoing relationships with caring adults; Safe places with structured activities during non-school hours; A healthy start and future; Marketable skills through effective education; and Opportunities to serve. The purpose of the initiative is to provide youth access to the 5 Promises, of Iowa's Promise, by providing youth with safe, enriching and educational out-of-school activities and programming. The AmeriCorps members serve to expand local community partnerships, increase volunteer recruitment to strengthen program impact, build organizational capacity, foster active citizenship and support sustainable out-of-school programming.
While enrolled in the AmeriCorps State of Promise initiative members may engage in developing or implementing a mentoring program, developing service learning opportunities, recruiting volunteers on a one time or ongoing basis to work with and supervise youth, develop educational enrichment activities, work with community partners to develop organizational capacity, engage the community in positive youth development practices and support the development of sustainable, quality out-of-school programming. Members will also participate in local and state level training to strengthen their knowledge and skills.
The initiative is housed at ISU Extension and serves in twenty communities. Members are placed at the following sites:
Adair County Extension/Nodaway Valley Community Schools
ASPIRE Therapeutic Riding Program, Waterloo
Centerville Community Schools
Community Corrections Improvement Association, Cedar Rapids
Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
Davenport Community Schools
Hartley Public Library
Horizon After-School Program, Marble Rock
Iowa Council of Foundations, Des Moines
ISU Extension SET, Ames
Lutheran Services in Iowa - Bremwood Campus, Waverly
Mahaska Community Recreation Foundation
Monroe County Extension
Ottumwa Teen Center
Promise Partners - Pottawattamie County's Alliance for Youth
Rockford Visions After-School Program
United Action for Youth, Iowa City
Wapello County Extension
Wayne Community School District
Youth & Shelter Services, Ames
For additional information contact:
Judy McCarthy, Program Coordinator
Iowa AmeriCorps State of Promise
Extension 4-H Youth Building
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011-3630
515/294-1611 mccarthy@iastate.edu
Partners in Learning
The Partners in Learning AmeriCorps Program focuses on literacy with the primary goal of empowering youth to improve academically. Members provide academic support to students K-12 during school, after school, and on non-school days. Through summer programming, Members create supportive and safe learning environments providing recreational and cultural enrichment. All program positions allow Members to create new programs, to network with other community agencies for resources, and to facilitate programs for at-risk children and families. Members serve in fourteen Dubuque Community Schools, the library, the Dubuque Community Y, the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, the Multicultural Family Center, two youth/children centers, and two neighborhood family resource and technology centers. Emphasis is also placed on engaging families in programming that increases their parent-child interaction and expanding their access to family technology resources. Besides the development of all these activities, the Partners in Learning Program also provides Dubuque County residents the opportunity to engage in meaningful community service alongside AmeriCorps Members.
For more information, please contact:
Penny Ehlinger , Program Coordinator
Dubuque County Extension
Clarke College Mail #1546
1550 Clarke Drive
Dubuque, IA 52001
(563) 584-8644
Penny.Ehlinger@clarke.edu
AmeriCorps Partnering to Protect Children
Prevent Child Abuse Iowa has received approval from the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service for its AmeriCorps Partnering with Communities to Protect Children program. Under the overall direction of PCA Iowa, this program will support 10 local Community Partnership sites that cover 31 counties in their efforts to reach out earlier to stressed families and to intervene more promptly and comprehensively when abuse occurs.
PCA Iowa is the only nonprofit organization with the mission of ending child abuse in the entire state of Iowa. PCA Iowa's goal is for Iowa to become a place where children are free from abuse and neglect, living in families that are nurturing and safe. PCA Iowa seeks to ensure that parents receive the social support, respite child care, and education they need to be good parents and not abuse their children by: (1) organizing and directing two statewide child abuse prevention programs, (2) advocating for expanded child abuse prevention services, and (3) informing the public about child abuse and how to prevent it. PCA Iowa's efforts help 12,000 parents and 60,000 children annually, with projects now in 91 of Iowa's 99 counties.
An important part of PCA Iowa's child abuse prevention work has been its partnership with Iowa Department of Human Services staff in the expansion of the Community Partnership from Cedar Rapids in 1996 to 99 counties now.
PCA Iowa's program will involve eight Partnership sites throughout Iowa in recruiting AmeriCorps members for work in their communities. Local Community Partnership coordinators will provide immediate supervision of AmeriCorps members. PCA Iowa will provide overall program supervision and financial management through its Community Partnerships associate coordinator and AmeriCorps Program Director.
Carol Schroeder
AmeriCorps Program Director
Prevent Child Abuse Iowa
505 5th Avenue Suite 900
Des Moines, IA 50309
515-244-2200
cschroeder@pcaiowa.org
Big Brothers Big Sisters AmeriCorps Consortium
The Big Brothers Big Sisters AmeriCorps Consortium is a partnerships between five eastern Iowa Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies – BBBS of Cedar Rapids, BBBS of Clinton, BBBS of Johnson County, BBBS of the Mississippi Valley, and BBBS of Muscatine County. The primary mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to provide a high quality high impact mentoring program using community volunteers and a proven/recognized mentoring process supported by professional staff.
AmeriCorps members in the Consortium will be active participants in the organization’s efforts to expand mentoring services to children in our service territory. Members will conduct outreach in our communities, build collaborations and partnerships and serve as advocates for children needing and wanting a caring adult influence in their lives. Members will receive comprehensive training to spearhead recruitment efforts, and assist in the matching and support of mentoring relationships. Support of mentoring relationships include coordinating and facilitating quality experiences for matches in our mentoring programs including events, access to unique community venues and various healthy activities.
This initiative will help our agencies increase the number of children we mentor each year by 10%, and it will help us bring our program into new communities which have never had youth mentoring services before.
For more information, please contact:
Jo Winegar
130 West 5th Street
Davenport, IA 52801
563-323-8006
jwinegar@bbbs-mv.org
www.bbbs-mv.org
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