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. 

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. 

5000 Starbucks Volunteers Help Fifth Ward CRC Make a Better Houston

By Gary Wolfe
District Director, Rocky Mountain Region

How do neighborhoods go from declining to improving? Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation (Fifth Ward CRC) has used partnerships to help turn around Houston’s Fifth Ward.  Most recently, Fifth Ward CRC partnered with Starbucks, during their Global Leadership Conference in Houston, to make a positive difference in the lives of the Fifth Ward residents.

Starbucks "Team Blue" built a playground

In early October, more than 5,000 Starbucks employees volunteered with community members to make a tangible impact.  Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said to KHOU 11 News “When I walked through the Fifth Ward and saw the conditions of the houses and really the people in need, I just thought this is where we need to be.”

In the Fifth Ward, the day began when the thousands of Starbucks volunteers took a bus from their downtown hotels to staging grounds at local churches. There, they ate lunch, learned about the Fifth Ward neighborhood and grabbed the tools they needed to paint homes, install pocket parks and community gardens, clean up vacant lots, put up community artwork and the like. Fifth Ward CRC projects focused on the Lyon’s Avenue Corridor, a 22 block area which encompasses the community’s “main street” and comprised of residential, commercial and public spaces with a unique blend of historical markers reflective of the community’s native sons and daughters. 

In total, more than 9,000 Starbucks employees who attended the Global Leadership Conference participated in volunteer projects across Houston. On average, the Starbucks employees volunteered between four and six hours at each project for an impressive total of more than 42,000 hours of community service over the three days of the conference.

Lyons Avenue Renaissance sign with
numerous partners listed

For the Lyon’s Avenue Corridor area, the volunteering was just one piece of the ongoing revitalization work. Fifth Ward CRC is committed to a complete community renaissance, which will include not only great homes and clean streets, but also new jobs and opportunities. Michael Emerson, Chairman of the Fifth Ward CDC told KHOU 11, “This is an image for us of what Fifth Ward is going to be,” said “We’re creating an economically diverse, ethnically diverse, economically strong, new neighborhood here in Houston.” Fifth Ward CRC has formed partnerships not only with Starbucks, but also with the City of Houston, Rice University, University of Houston and the American Regional Institute of Architects to change the landscape and future of Fifth Ward. With the help of collaborations like these, Fifth Ward CRC can return to being a “neighborhood of choice.” 

To learn more about the Starbucks-Fifth Ward partnership, view this news video or click here to see more photos.

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.

How a VISTA Kicked Off an After-School Program, and Took it Up a Notch with Volunteers from Boston U. and Support from TDBank

“So often we measure impact in numbers, but when I saw these pictures I thought they really conveyed the impact one VISTA volunteer can have on the lives of many children… No surprise that this is a really successful program.”

- Ann Houston, executive director
Chelsea Neighborhood Developers.

While talking with the residents of Spencer Green, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, AmeriCorps Vista volunteer Josh Strazanac made a discovery: there wasn't enough for the Spencer Green kids to do to keep busy.

Working with Chelsea Neighborhood Developers' (CND) Community Engagement Team, Strazanac created a three-day a week program for kids ages three to 12 so they would have a positive place to spend a few hours after school. Volunteers from Boston University's Community Service Center worked with kids for an hour on their homework and for the second hour, the kids had time for some fun. They play board games, socialize with friends and make arts and crafts.

"The after school program was a way for the community room to be used in a healthy, constructive way," Strazanac said.

After a few successful months CND partnered with TDBank to start a financial literacy program for the kids in the after school program. Also Chelsea Public Schools offered their gym and equipment for the children to use when it was cold out and the BNY Mellon Charitable Giving Program provided free passes for the Boston Children's Museum and New England Aquarium.

This program, which started with just 12 children in February when it launched, now has 24 students registered. Many of the nine volunteers from Boston University have been with the program since its launch. The model has been so successful that it is being used to start a program at Spencer Row, another CND affordable housing community.

"Pursuing a healthy environment with long term stability in neighbor relationships is the goal," Strazanac explains.

The time Strazanac put into the after school program has had a lasting impact on all the families who rely on after school care. Spencer Green has seen dramatically reduced damage to property, and the residents are happy with its result.

The Community Engagement Team encourages working with other organizations to improve communities. By forming the relationship between CND, Boston University, TD Bank and Chelsea Public Schools, it has strengthened the Chelsea community.

National NeighborWorks Week is Your Chance to Get Involved in Your Community

By Omar Velarde-Wong
Project Manager, Communications and Marketing
NeighborWorks America

National NeighborWorks Week has been a core part of NeighborWorks America’s fabric for the past 27 years. But this year it has taken on special meaning for me. This is my first time managing it and it has been an absolute pleasure to witness first-hand the dedication of our member organizations to their communities. There are more than 230 organizations across the country but this particular program is the one that connects us on a single week and embodies the mission of the organization.

We have more than 300 volunteer events planned so far during NeighborWorks Week, June 5-12. About half of them will involve local NeighborWorks organizations spreading the word in their communities about loan modification scams. The proliferation of these scams is a huge problem in our neighborhoods, and we’re doing all we can to inform homeowners facing foreclosure how to avoid loan modification scams and report them to trusted authorities.

This year’s National NeighborWorks Week will be no different. We will be holding our traditional community building activities, including home repair and painting events, landscaping projects, and mural painting.

I’m looking forward to getting involved myself. I’ll be one of dozens of volunteers on Saturday, June 5, who will be landscaping the Willowbrook Condominium, a tenant purchase project developed by our local D.C. member organization, Manna, Inc. I also will be canvassing the Brookland neighborhood and inviting residents to a Loan Modification Scam Alert seminar later in the day.

I encourage you all to get involved in your community during this volunteer week and beyond. Find an event near you here. If you’ve already selected an event, please share your comments, pictures and videos with us! Contact me to find out where to send them in.

NeighborWorks Fights Mortgage Modification Scams with National Effort

NeighborWorks organizations around the U.S. are holding more than 150 events during national NeighborWorks Week (June 5-12, 2010) to inform tens of thousands of homeowners on how to avoid and report mortgage modification scams.

The events include hundreds of volunteers canvassing neighborhoods with tip-sheets and flyers, dozens of one-on-one and group workshops about reputable mortgage modification programs, and more.

“Many mortgage modification scams are sophisticated, slick and so well crafted that homeowners find it difficult to recognize them for the danger that they are,” said NeighborWorks America CEO Ken Wade. “More than 7,700 mortgage modification scams have been reported to the authorities since our campaign started in October, and we believe that the number of homeowners who have been victimized is significantly greater.”

In addition to mortgage modification scam prevention events nationwide, NeighborWorks organizations also are holding traditional community celebrations and hands-on community building activities, including home repair and painting events, landscaping projects, and mural painting. These efforts, and those of NeighborWorks Week events over the past 26 years, leave positive lasting legacies in participating communities all year round.

Find events on the National NeighborWorks Week website. More information is also in the NeighborWorks newsroom.

Make Your Volunteer Events More ‘Social’ Via Online Networks

by Tom Austin, web content development manager, NeighborWorks America

If you’re not already integrating social media into your volunteer events, now might be a good time to start. After all, it's National Volunteer Week (April 18-25), which draws attention to the huge contributions made by volunteers in communities.

Whether your neighborhood project is a fix-up, paint-up, plant-up or even a fundraising event like a 5k race – online social networks are where people are hanging out in growing numbers, and not just tech-savvy teens and 20- or 30-somethings, but older folks too.

These websites not only include popular channels like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, but also websites that match volunteers to opportunities.

What I find most promising for NeighborWorks and other local community development nonprofits is the potential to attract more people, particularly those starting their careers, to local activities that are transforming communities, and that includes engaging volunteers on service projects through social networks.

Here are a few ideas for using social media before, during, and after your volunteer events. If you’ve had some good luck using the tools mentioned below, or other social tools, please share your comments below.

Before Your Volunteer Event:

• Even if you don’t have that many Facebook followers yet, put your “Wall” to work by promoting your events, and in an inviting way that encourages comments and “thumbs-ups” from your followers.


• Some local nonprofits are beginning to create their own customized social networks on Ning that can easily be used to rally volunteers, but it does take some time to set up and engage a community in this kind of multifaceted website.


• Create a short video about your organization and event for upload to YouTube, then include the video on your website, Facebook page, or blog.


• Promote your volunteer events on a few of the many social network websites that match volunteers with volunteer opportunities. AllforGood is the result of a major collaboration between nonprofits and tech companies like Google and Craig’s List and integrates well with other websites and social media. MeetUp is another popular site to gather a group of people quickly, around affinity interests, including volunteering. Some of the other reputable websites that match volunteers with the organizations that orchestrate volunteer events are http://www.volunteermatch.org/; http://www.handsonnetwork.org/; http://www.dosomething.org/; http://www.craigslist.org/ (volunteers category); http://www.servenet.org/; http://www.volunteersolutions.org/.


• Post your event photos on websites created by your local television station. Also, be on the lookout for other online social networks that post volunteer events, such as those sponsored by civic associations, libraries, and local government community affairs offices.

During Your Volunteer Event

• Capture your event with video for posting to YouTube or photos for posting to Flickr. You can link to these from your website. Once you have the images posted, your volunteers may share them on their own social networks, attracting even more volunteers to your events.


• Encourage use of Twitter during your event. Twitter also has ways to share photos, which work well with snapping shots of volunteers from Smart Phones. You may want to even take your Twitter tweets and make a scrapbook out of them to promote future events.


• Does your organization have a blog? Consider a live blog of your volunteer event. Better yet, have one of the volunteers do a “guest blog” on their volunteer experience.


• When your volunteers register, give them the opportunity for them to share their email, so you can follow up with them by sending them links to photos, video, blog posting, or other content relevant to your event.

After Your Volunteer Event

• Show your online followers and fans who did not volunteer what they missed by posting photos and video, etc.


• Use your social network to thank those who participated in the event by sharing photos, videos, etc.
  

There are obviously lots of possibilities for nonprofit project managers willing to experiment. Which of the tools do you see working best for your organization?

Also, if you’re looking for more on trends in volunteerism, check out the upcoming symposium, hosted by NeighborWorks America in Phoenix in May at www.nw.org/volunteers.