Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and communities affected by Hurricane Sandy. At the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), we are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), and other partners in this coordinated multi-agency response effort. We salute individuals at every level of government, in nonprofit organizations, and in the private sector whose work is helping save lives, provide shelter, and rebuild communities. Our work is just beginning as first responders and other emergency personnel manage life-saving and rescue efforts. Hundreds of national service members are deployed and serving in disaster-affected communities and nearly a thousand more are standing by for immediate deployment.Before the recovery is complete, we expect thousands of AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members to help in the recovery. My heartfelt thanks go out to all of our members, state offices, and state commissions, all of whom are making possible this vital national service response to this unprecedented weather event.  This work makes a difference. Christine Beste, a native of Delaware who is a team leader with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), is on the ground in the Northeast. She summed up what it means to help out her community in the following way:”I like being able to hit the ground running, being responsible for shelters and for my team.  Every one of my family members has lost electricity in their homes in Delaware and Philadelphia. This work is important to me because I am helping people who are in a disastrous situation.”Like Christine, many of us know people or have relatives in one of the impacted areas, and we all know that overcoming the challenges left by this hurricane will require all of us to pitch in. Please visit Serve.gov to find out ways you can volunteer or contribute to organizations that are helping communities that were in Hurricane Sandy’s path. We know this will be a long recovery and that volunteers will be critical in the coming weeks and months.If you are in an affected area, please let me reiterate FEMA’s advice to stay safe. You can visit this site to get safety tips for you and your family.Thank you for all that you’re doing to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy, and feel free to check in with us at Serve.gov for additional updates and more information on volunteering.Warmest regards,Wendy Spencer

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.