MLK Day is over, but volunteering brings rewards all year

By Natalie Kessler, NeighborWorks VISTA Leader

Martin Luther King Jr. famously once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘What are you doing for others?’ ’’ That sentiment, which so aptly reflects the focus of his life, is at the heart of Martin Luther King Jr. Day  -- the only federal holiday designed to encourage Americans to commit to a day of service. But volunteerism is a contribution – and a joy – that can and should be practiced throughout the year.  

Take me, for example. As a participant in the AmeriCorps VISTA program, when individuals ask what I do for a living, I could respond in a number of ways. I could say I help a diverse group of people accomplish tasks around the country. I could respond with a long-winded description of how I provide administrative support, resources and other assistance to individuals who are striving to make their communities a better place. My actual answer? “I volunteer.”

The inspiration for AmeriCorps VISTA dates back 50 years, when President John F. Kennedy first spoke about his vision for a national service program in 1963. Two years later, Lyndon B. Johnson made that dream a reality as part of the “War on Poverty.”  The VISTA program initially had only 20 members. Johnson said to them, “Your pay will be low; the conditions of your labor often will be difficult. But you will have the satisfaction of leading a great national effort and you will have the ultimate reward, which comes to those who serve their fellow man.”

VISTA member Emily Pohlman (second from left) from 
Neighborhood Housing Services in Boise, ID, volunteered 
with employees from a local credit union to sort and 
distribute warm clothes for children.

President Johnson was right. The pay is low (just a stipend for living expenses) and my tasks are challenging… but the results are incredibly rewarding and I’m getting great experience. I lead, assist and provide resources for approximately 95 NeighborWorks VISTA volunteers across the United States. These VISTA volunteers serve local communities by creating course curricula for financial education and home-buying classes, coordinate other volunteers to complete home repairs in low-income communities, write grants for neighborhood-beautification projects, run fundraising and youth literacy programs, etc.

However, you don’t have to be a volunteer full-time. There are many opportunities to contribute in “small batches.”

Why consider giving up even a little of your free time?

Direct service is satisfying.
Volunteering feels good! I volunteered on MLK Day because I wanted to be more involved in my new home city, Washington, DC. Yes, my VISTA position is classified as volunteer, but it is also my job. As such, it doesn’t generate quite the type of satisfaction that flows from direct service. Plus, it’s fun to I get out into in my community and interacting with others.

VISTA members (three on the left) work with 
NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley in 
Woonsocket, RI, to  paint a shed. 

You help causes you care about.
If you’re like me, you follow favorite local nonprofits on social media. Volunteering  offers the perfect opportunity to experience their work firsthand.

Nonprofit organizations rely on you!
Many nonprofit organizations rely heavily on the work of volunteers. They couldn’t fulfill their mission without the contribution of your time.

It’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Volunteering is a natural way to make new friends, and I’ve even heard of some people finding their “soul mate” that way. You can also learn new skills and broaden your knowledge.

A  report from the Corporation for National and Community Service found that one in four adults volunteered through an organization in 2012. Altogether, 64.5 million Americans volunteered nearly 7.9 billion hours. Why not join them? You can volunteer as much or as little as you like – whether it be a couple of hours a year, a month or every week. If you don’t have a favorite local nonprofit already, you can search for a service opportunity through any one of these three websites:

• AllForGood.org
• VolunteerMatch.org
• Idealist.org

What are your favorite ways to volunteer? Do you have tips for fitting it into your schedule?

Wisconsin group to transform old armory to indoor farm staffed by returning vets

When NeighborWorks Green Bay (WI) bought 815 Chicago St. in 2002, the organization assumed it would rehabilitate the building, like the others it purchased, into multi-unit housing. What wasn’t known at the time, however, was that the building, an old armory that long ago served the needs of local military families, had 14-inch-thick cement slab floors that made the cost of redevelopment prohibitively expensive. So the building sat vacant, waiting for the day when it would be demolished.

Workers clear debris from the old armory.

Today, after the better part of a decade spent in a holding pattern, there is budding hope that the old armory will get its long-deserved rebirth. As part of a partnership between NeighborWorks Green Bay and local green agro-businesses, the old armory is being assessed for its potential as Green Bay’s first indoor farm. The idea sprouted after Noel Halvorsen, executive director of NeighborWorks Green Bay, participated in a local social-innovation leadership program and learned about creative urban farming projects around the country. Shortly thereafter, Halvorsen was contacted by local hydroponics specialists who also saw potential in the armory.

Research now is underway to
determine what crops would
grow best in the "Farmory."

When completed, the “Farmory” – as it has come to be known – will not only supply food locally throughout the year but will also operate as an agricultural learning center with a focus on training returning veterans.

“We think converting the armory back into service as a training center for military folks returning from overseas would be a great life for the building and an asset for the neighborhood,” Halvorsen says.. The project is undergoing rigorous business planning and analysis to test its feasibility and the results to date are promising. NeighborWorks Green Bay hopes in the next few months to have a full business plan and training curriculum in place, with construction well underway in 2014.

It is this kind of creative thinking that characterizes NeighborWorks Green Bay’s success in the northeast region of Wisconsin it serves. The organization, which is celebrating its 20th year as a member of the NeighborWorks network, started out as a small-scale local initiative that offered tool lending, homeownership preservation and small “scrape-and-paint” projects. Over the years, the geography it serves has grown, as has its local partnerships and programming.

For example, another creative local project that NeighborWorks Green Bay is spearheading is a volunteer time bank.  The time bank, led by a team that the organization sent to NeighborWorks America’s Community Leadership Institute two years ago, is an online system for recording and rewarding volunteer exchanges, enabling local “Samaritans” to capitalize on their skills. For example, one person can exchange an hour earned walking a neighbor’s dogs to get his or her home repainted. The plan received initial support from a CLI planning grant and is in a test phase this winter to evaluate the software platform. Next February, NeighborWorks Green Bay plans to launch it publicly in select neighborhoods before hopefully introducing it community-wide in the summer.

By bringing together unique local assets through innovative projects and programs, NeighborWorks Green Bay is building a better community.

Written by Lydia Wileden, program specialist for community stabilization at NeighborWorks America. 

Beginning a Career in Service

This blog post is in honor of the forthcoming National Volunteer Week (April 21 - 27, 2013).

By Brittany Hutson, NeighborWorks
America Public Relations fellow

Today’s generation of college graduates and young professionals aspire to have a meaningful career that allows for connecting and giving back to communities in authentic and meaningful ways. There are a number of programs that allow for new professionals and career changers to explore what a career in service is all about. One of those programs is AmeriCorps VISTA, a national service program that fights poverty by placing members in yearly positions with nonprofit organizations to work on tasks such as fighting illiteracy, improving health services, strengthen community groups, and much more. The following testimonials are from four VISTA members who describe their experiences of working in local communities through a NeighborWorks affiliate:

Stories have been edited for length

Angela supporting NKCDC and the Sustainable 19125 initiative

Angela Taurino (AmeriCorps VISTA Member 2011-2012 at New Kensington Community Development Corporation in Philadelphia, PA): Upon graduating from Arcadia University, I decided to change my career goal of becoming a teacher. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what that career would be. I decided to use VISTA as a way to pursue other interests.  New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) offered a green community builder position that, while unrelated to my professional or educational background, coordinated with my interests.  [At NKCDC] I learned how to organize projects, manage volunteers, and create plans.  I coordinated with a team of professionals who were as dedicated to improving the community as I was.  My work with NKCDC has helped me refocus my career interests and goals.  Without building and maintaining partnerships with city entities, civic groups, and other non-profits, I wouldn’t know the many community building organizations available and the work that’s involved.  While the job market has been tough, I’m better able to choose organizations that are truly exciting and match my interests and skill sets.

The building behind is a foreclosed/condemned property in Silver Spring.
MHP launched Green Club as a way to engage youth and younger
generations to care for their community.

Jose Gonzalez (AmeriCorps VISTA Member 2011-2012 at Montgomery Housing Partners in Silver Spring, MD): In the fall of 2011, I decided that I had to serve and share with others my talents, capacities and leadership skills. My decision was influenced by the realization that neighborhoods in Silver Spring, MD were struggling from the housing crisis and economic turmoil. I chose to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA member with Montgomery Housing Partnership’s Glenville Road Interdepartmental Team (GRIT Team). The Glenville Rd. community was plagued by unemployment, chronic vagrancy, foreclosures, property vandalism, drugs, littering and trashed streets and alleys. To address these issues, I worked with the GRIT Team to develop a core group of leaders who would develop initiatives to protect the community. Serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA member was a unique experience and opportunity because it reminded me how important and rewarding it is to form a community where individuals can connect and participate in addressing the major challenges they are facing.

Homeport community garden

Josiah Littrell (AmeriCorps VISTA Member 2012-2013 at Homeport in Columbus, OH): In the summer of 2012, I signed up to spend ten weeks as an AmeriCorps*VISTA Summer Associate to help grow and administer a community garden. I created guides on recycling, composting, and getting involved in the garden. I wrote bylaws. I watered plants. I weeded plants. I set up a blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account. Each night, I wondered if any of my efforts would make a difference. As the summer progressed, slowly but surely, people started volunteering to help water and maintain the garden. Others started sharing ideas for parties in the garden and events we could have. With that, I realized that success was all the little things that happened along the way –it was the weeds that we pulled, the phone calls we made, and the pictures we posted. Success was working incrementally, sometimes painstakingly so, in order to be ready for that key moment when the right people were in the right place at the right time.

Alexandria at work, organized with Post-ITs

Alexandria Ingley (AmeriCorps VISTA Member 2011-2012 at Homeport in Columbus, OH): Upon graduation from college, I knew two things:  I wanted to stay in Columbus and I wanted to work within the nonprofit field. I discovered an AmeriCorps VISTA position available with Homeport. During my term, I refined my professional skills through community engagement, community event planning and grant writing. Beyond my professional development, I have learned with and from those who stand in the face of struggle, always resilient in their support of the neighborhoods they call home and the vision of a community that will return to its once beautiful and thriving rhythm. Society has often measured success by wealth or a higher social position. For communities working to stabilize, however, success may look like months with less gang activity, a grant to help purchase home repair supplies or a community picnic where people gather and share in each other’s lives.

Have you served as a VISTA member or participated in another service program? Tell us about your experience below or contact us via Facebook or Twitter.

NeighborWorks Prepares for MLK Day of Service

By Nikki Perez
NeighborWorks America VISTA leader

The NeighborWorks VISTA Program was established in 2009 to increase the capacity of local NeighborWorks organizations by adding full-time VISTA members in critical areas, such community stabilization, resident engagement and others. The program helps organizations facing increased demand caused by the foreclosure crisis and reduced resources due to the recession. The program also helps attract and retain new and diverse talent to the community development field while providing meaningful service opportunities for those who wish to support their country and their communities.

On January 21, 2013 millions of people around the nation will come together in volunteer efforts in honor of The MLK National Day of Service, making it "a day on, not a day off." In support of this national call to serve, the NeighborWorks VISTA Program has encouraged VISTA members and NeighborWorks organizations to assist their communities through acts of service. This year, some planned Martin Luther King (MLK) day activities include:

Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation 
Ventura, California

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C.
Creative Commons photo by The Uprooted Photographer

VISTA member Victor Espinosa will facilitate a community dialogue on the meaning of Martin Luther King’s words and actions. The discussion will include topics such as race, equality and social justice in Ventura County. Rather than viewing Dr. King’s legacy of racial, social, and economic justice as a historical victory, this event seeks to connect his legacy to an ongoing social justice struggle, recover critical, yet less-examined facets of King’s words, and connect them to current local social justice movements. Additional event details on the Presidential Inauguration Committee's National Day of Service website.

Neighborhood Housing Services of Richland County 
Richland Center, Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin Ph.D. candidate, Simon Balto will give a free civil rights talk. VISTA member Robert Johnson will provide the introduction to the lecture and include some information about the earned income tax credit. This discussion will be advertised in the community with all encouraged to attend.

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven 
New Haven, Connecticut

On Saturday, VISTA members at Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven will be sanding the living room floor of a former Visiting Nurses Association nurse who due to a stroke, has physical limitations and cannot go up stairs and uses the living room for her bedroom.

On Sunday, VISTA member, Joey Rosenberg of Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven will be volunteering with the Yale Peabody Museum for their MLK Environmental and Social Justice Event. The event will help children learn about MLK Jr. and ways to save the environment through stage performances and learning booths. Many organizations in the area will have having booths and Joey will be serving at the United Community and Family Services booth.

On Monday, VISTA members at Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven are planning to volunteer with the Veterans Affair making welcoming baskets. These baskets are filled with household items for formerly homeless veterans who are moving into new apartments.

NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley 
Woonsocket, Rhode Island

This year for NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley’s MLK Day of Service event the MLK Community Service Committee are collaborating with community members to create murals dedicated to MLK’s message and the community’s cultural diversity. The murals will be painted at the Woonsocket Police Station, Woonsocket High School and the YMCA in downtown Woonsocket. There will also be a neighborhood cleanup effort on the same day. Read more about the event here.

Want to join an event? Visit the Presidential Inauguration Committee's National Day of Service website to find an event near you. 

Giving New Meaning to Summer Break

By Alexandra Chaikin,
Online Media Project Manager

Summer break is in full swing and many local NeighborWorks organizations  are using the time off from school to get kids involved in their communities. Below are a few of the many great projects going on around the country:

Michigan

Ava and Maria in the vegetable garden

Youngsters from the Detroit Country Day School Junior Community Service Club are helping Lighthouse of Oakland County by tending a vegetable garden with zucchini, spinach, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and peppers. The fresh produce supports Lighthouse of Oakland County's emergency food pantry and provides important nourishment to seniors.


Pennsylvania
A nonprofit called Little Acts of Love (West Lawn, Pa.) paired up with Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Berks (Reading, Pa.) to get Berks County youth to help the elderly by painting, roofing, and doing various other chores to lend a helping hand to the less fortunate.  Ten houses on Second, Front, Pear, and Buttonwood streets were improved by the efforts. This project was featured in the Reading Eagle news.

Virginia and Maryland
Research from Johns Hopkins the shows that two-thirds of the 9th grade academic achievement gap between disadvantaged youngsters and their more advantaged peers can be explained by what happens over the summer months during the elementary school years. To combat this, Arlington-based AHC Inc. is helping more than 120 children combine education and fun over the summer. This year's theme is the Olympic Games. Along with swimming each week, campers participate in a variety of educational activities and field trips to such places as local museums, Imagination Stage, and Upton Hills Water Park.

Texas

This summer, Alamo Area Mutual Housing is running a Dr. Seuss-themed reading program at one of its community Learning Centers. The program culminates in an end of summer bash, where kids will be able to celebrate their reading achievement - and the top 4 readers will participate in a field trip to Splashtown waterpark this month. In addition to the reading program, Alamo Area Mutual Housing is offering a 4-H math and science camp, gardening opportunities, and a chance to perform in plays and talent shows.

Making a Difference with NeighborWorks Week 2012

By Eileen Fitzgerald
Chief Executive Officer
NeighborWorks America

Every year NeighborWorks Week gives us an opportunity to step outside our normal routines, roll up our sleeves and connect with the people and places we work so hard to support. This year, NeighborWorks Week will take place June 2-9, and I am pleased to say that we have over 160 events planned thanks to the dedication of NeighborWorks network organizations across the country, and support from NeighborWorks America staff.

By volunteering this week, and throughout the year, we put our words into action and learn what’s working, and what challenges remain for local communities. These efforts enrich our work while providing much needed support and partnership to the communities we serve.

In FY2011, the NeighborWorks network generated 240,000 volunteer hours through the Community Building and Organizing program. This NeighborWorks Week I’ve invited all DC staff to a volunteer opportunity in Montgomery Housing Partnership in Silver Spring. We’ll be planting flowers, mulching playgrounds, painting and picking up trash around the property.

I hope that you, wherever you are, can volunteer at one of our many local NeighborWorks Week events, and that you will share your experiences and photos with us via Facebook and Twitter (#NWW2012).

To learn which events are near you, visit http://events.nw5.org/. You can also see pictures from last year’s events in our Flickr album.

September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance

[Can't see the video above? View it on YouTube: http://bit.ly/qpn6np]

Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. It is a day forever embedded in the heart of this nation, not only because of the senseless loss of life, but also because of the spirit of unity and compassion that swept our nation that day and the months that followed.

More than 1 million people are expected to participate in the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, an effort originally launched in 2002 by family members who lost loved ones in the attacks and support groups, led by the nonprofit organization MyGoodDeed. In 2009, Congress designated September 11 as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with supporting this effort across the country.

At NeighborWorks America we firmly believe in the value and impact of volunteer engagement. In 2010, our Community Building and Organizing Programs generated 322,000 volunteer hours, building stronger, vibrant and more connected communities. We know the difference ordinary people working together can make in the lives of individuals and entire communities. That is why we are encouraging you to participate in this year’s National Day of Service and Remembrance.

There are so many ways to get involved, ranging from performing a simple act of kindness to helping with home repairs, neighborhood cleanups and disaster relief activities. Visit serve.gov to learn how you can help, or check your local NeighborWorks organization to see if any volunteer events are planned.