Message from Points of Light:

On behalf Points of Light and the Community Blueprint Advisory Council, I would like to share the great news – the Phase 2 2012 – 2013 RFP for the Veteran Leader Corps program has been released.  Points of Light would like to thank the great contributions that have been made by the Corporation for National and Community Service and our corporate partner ITT Exelis as it is through their support that this program was made possible. 

Points of Light invites state service commissions to apply to serve as a host site for the Veteran Leader Corps OR to send to your constituents to inform them of this opportunity.

The Veteran Leader Corps is a new AmeriCorps program to help recent conflict veterans reintegrate into communities, gain workforce skills and find jobs. 

In October 2012, the founding class of 30 Points of Light Volunteer Leader Corps (POLVLC) members started their service in organizations in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana and the Metro Washington DC area. Points of Light seeks high quality placements for an additional 45 POLVLC members to serve 11 month terms starting in March 2013.  Together, these two classes of POLVLC members will help 8,000 veterans gain workforce skills and volunteer opportunities for 16,000 veterans in their communities.

The Points of Light Veterans Leader Corps supports the Community Blueprint.  The Community Blueprint brings together community leaders, individuals, government agencies and nonprofits to bring collaborative, integrated solutions to addressing the most common challenges facing veterans and military families, from unemployment to education to behavioral health, housing, and reintegration. The Community Blueprint is the only national, scalable approach developed by a coalition of over 55 veteran and military-serving organizations nonprofits and government agencies focused on serving our nation’s military men and women and their families.  The Veteran Leader Corps are the “boots on the ground” in communities across the country implementing real solutions that engage and lift up veterans. 

Points of Light responsibilities include:

• Manage payroll and benefits for POLVLC members, including providing most of the funding for the program.

• Support host sites with program implementation and technical assistance as needed with work readiness or civic engagement elements of the program.

• Manage national partnerships with funders and federal agencies.

• Cover costs of over $11,000 per AmeriCorps member.

Host site responsibilities include:

• Provide high quality service opportunities and supervision to POLVLC members.

• Lead local collaborations with other veteran serving organizations.

• Financial contribution of at least $3,000 to Points of Light to cover AmeriCorps members stipend, health insurance, FICA and workers Compensation and provide supervision and other basic support costs.

• Provide data collection and reporting on the program to POL.

Applicants are encouraged to apply with partners to ensure both the workforce development and volunteer generation elements of the program will be successful. I encourage you to contact us if you need assistance with securing these partnerships. Please contact Tray Deadwyler at tdeadwyler@pointsoflight.org for clarification or more information.

Follow the link below for the RFP/Application. We will also be hosting  Conference Calls where potential applicants can learn more about the opportunity.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B02bEZiO5NKJTEFEUGQ2M3ZiYzg

These calls are scheduled for November 7, 14, 16, at 3pm EST. There is no need to register. Please use the following conference line to dial in and hear more about this opportunity!

Conference Call Number: 1-888-619-1583

Passcode: 709275

Thank you very much for your commitment to helping veterans reintegrate and contribute to your community. 

Sincerely,

Mike Monroe

Vice President, Points of Light, Military Initiatives

Tricia Thompson

Director, Military Initiatives

Tray Deadwyler

Manager, Veteran Leader Corps

For more information contact:

Traymone Deadwyler, CVM
Manager, Program Adoption and Training
Points of Light
600 Means Street NW, Suite 210, Atlanta, Georgia 30318
t: 404.979.2915   c: 678.362.2253   f: 404.974.2338
email: tdeadwyler@pointsoflight.org

skype: traymone.deadwyler

Volunteers in Texas Provide Vital Civic Support
As Volunteering Among Americans Hits Five-Year High

Washington, DC – Volunteers in Texas demonstrated their commitment to improving their communities in a variety of ways last year.  According to the Volunteering and Civic Life in America (VCLA) report released today, more than 4.64 million Texas volunteers served 571 million total hours, which is valued at $13.4 billion

The VCLA data is part of the most comprehensive study of volunteering and civic engagement across the country. The annual report is issued by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) as part of its efforts to expand the reach and impact of America’s volunteers, in partnership with the National Council on Citizenship, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Bureau for Labor Statistics.

The report shows the national volunteer rate reaching its highest level since 2006.  More than 64 million Americans – or roughly one in four adults – volunteered approximately 8 billion hours, valued at $171 billion.  In addition, two out of three citizens nationally (65.1% or almost 144 million citizens) engaged in informal volunteering by doing favors for and helping out their neighbors, an increase of 9.5 percentage points from last year.

“Volunteering and civic engagement are the cornerstone of a strong nation,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS, the agency that administers AmeriCorps and Senior Corps and leads the federal effort on volunteering. “We have a prime example of the importance of people working together in the Northeast, where volunteers have really stepped up to support recovery and relief efforts from Hurricane Sandy. People working together and talking to each other help solve problems and make their communities better places to live and work.”

The report also ranks all 50 states and the nation’s largest cities and metropolitan areas for their volunteering and civic engagement rates. It has become a useful tool for elected officials, civic leaders, and nonprofit executives who recognize the economic impact of an engaged community. These officials and leaders also use the report as a tool to develop strategies to mobilize more Americans in service to address local needs and problems. The complete report can be accessed at VolunteeringInAmerica.gov.

Volunteers can contribute as little or as much as their time allows—their ideas and talents are important to strengthening our communities and the nation. To learn how you can volunteer in your community, visit Serve.gov.

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About the VCLA Report

The Volunteering and Civic Life In America report is a joint effort of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the National Conference on Citizenship, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Bureau for Labor Statistics to collect volunteering data annually through the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households, (approximately 100,000 adults) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Selected supplements collect data on the volunteering and civic activities of Americans age 16 and older for volunteering and 18 and older for the civic supplement. Volunteers are considered individuals who performed unpaid volunteer activities through or for an organization.  The report includes information for all 50 states, Washington, D.C., more than 50 major metropolitan areas, and more than 140 other cities.  For more information, visit VolunteeringInAmerica.gov.

About CNCS

The Corporation for National and Community Service is the federal agency that engages more than four million Americans in service through its Senior Corps and AmeriCorps programs. It also leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, please visit NationalService.gov.

SAVE THE DATE

Friday, October 19, 2012

Social Impact. Dallas. Engagement. Civic-mindedness. These are all words that evoke the energy and excitement around this year’s bigBANG! event, a forum hosted by Dallas Social Venture Partners. We will be convening the thinkers and doers of our city for a day-long opportunity to catalyze positive impact.

This year, bigBANG! will be a place to jump in and get hands-on. With experiences at every turn to learn about forward-thinking socially conscious businesses and nonprofit organizations, we invite you to be completely immersed in the day.

bigBANG! – think bazaar meets three-ring circus with a socially conscious twist.

Union Station downtown Dallas

Dallas Social Venture Partners

email: bigbang@inanyeventdallas.com

phone: 972.380.4232

web: http://www.dsvp.org

Click here for further information.

“The data contained in the Report will help you stay ahead of the curve in complying with the IRS 990 compensation-setting documentation requirements and stay competitive in today’s labor-market.   255 nonprofits participated in this survey.  With a detailed job description for each of over 100 positions, you can match your own organization’s jobs to others across Texas.  There is also a section on Weighted Average Salaries Paid by Region that break out the Austin, Dallas and Houston areas.  Others could not be broken out as there were not enough respondents to make such an analyses statistically significant.”   Reports can be purchased at www.columbiabooks.com/statesalarysurvey.

OneStar Foundation is excited to be accepting applications for Texas Connector Super Beta Testers!  Super Beta Testers will receive a 30-day free trial of the Connector and a sneak peek at the new statewide version of the tool!  Organizations of all sizes and types are encouraged to apply at http://www.tfaforms.com/253967.

Click here for more information on the Texas Connector.

OneStar Foundation is seeking individuals with a variety of National Service and Focus Area expertise to serve as community reviewers for the 2013-2014 AmeriCorps*Texas grant cycle. If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please complete our online application.

Recruitment for reviewers for the 2013-2014 opportunity will close on October 15, 2012.

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact Elisa Gleeson at 512-287-2029 or elisa@onestarfoundation.org.

Love this Austin American-Statesman article about how American YouthWorks AmeriCorps partnered up with KaBOOM! and Disney to help with Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management long-term recovery efforts! http://tinyurl.com/92pfv4f

OneStar has partnered with Social Media 4 Nonprofits to bring their exciting conference to Texas!   This conference series has already reached over 2,500 nonprofit leaders across the country, and on October 23^rd in Austin they will bring together hundreds of nonprofit decision-makers from the Lone Star State to share practical tips and tools for fundraising, marketing, and advocacy. Speakers will address a variety of topics in a series of short TED-meets-Twitter style talks and interactive workshops.

Click here to learn more and get registered.