Governor’s office announces $4 million in Americorps grants, including some to local groups

From the office of Gov. Pat McCrory:

Raleigh, NC – Governor Pat McCrory announced today the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Services has awarded $4,409,540 in grants to 16 AmeriCorps programs across the state for the 2013-14 program year. AmeriCorps members serving with these organizations will participate in outreach efforts and activities focused on economic opportunity, education, disaster services, environmental stewardship and healthy futures, as well as veterans and military families.

“These grant recipients are committed to using national service and AmeriCorps members to address critical community needs across our state,” Governor McCrory said. “AmeriCorps will begin celebrating its 20th anniversary in September and I look forward to a successful year of service and the extraordinary impact of our North Carolina programs.”

The N.C. Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service is a division within the Office of the Governor. For more information about the Commission and AmeriCorps, visit www.volunteernc.org or phone 919-814-2060 or 800-820-4483.

AmeriCorps Programs
2013-2014 Program Year

Black Child Development Institute of Greensboro, Inc. ($160,239)
AmeriCorps members will be trained to tutor students and act as role models for those who are at risk of academic failure. Along with 110 community volunteers, members will be placed at schools and community-based sites to improve the academic performance of the students they serve. Counties served (1): Guilford

Burlington Housing Authority ($320,475)
AmeriCorps members will leverage an additional 400 volunteers to provide support and facilitate access to services and resources for economically disadvantaged people, especially children. They will work to improve their economic well-being and educational outcomes. Counties served (8): Alamance, Durham, Guilford, Forsyth, Iredell, Person, Richmond and Wake
Capital Area Workforce Development ($188,183)
AmeriCorps members will provide job search assistance in JobLink Career Centers to persons with disabilities and other barriers to employment to help them obtain gainful employment. Members will also increase community awareness about JobLink through outreach activities. Counties served (2): Johnston and Wake

Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy ($403,503)
AmeriCorps members will enhance water quality, protect farm and natural land, promote local foods and implement energy conservation. They will help ensure the unique natural resources in Western North Carolina are safeguarded for the benefit of current and future generations. Counties served (25): Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Cleveland, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey)

Children First of Buncombe County ($431,147)
AmeriCorps members will serve as volunteer coordinators and academic enrichment specialists. They will provide students in the county with academic skills development, academic enrichment activities, and life skill guidance and development. Members will leverage an additional 3,600 volunteers to provide academic enrichment services to socio-economically disadvantaged children. Counties served (1): Buncombe

East Carolina University, School of Education ($546,974)
AmeriCorps members will leverage an additional 650 volunteers to provide mentoring services to approximately 1,980 military children and youth in after-school programs. Those being served will increase their level of connectedness to school, family and community. Counties served (4): Craven, Cumberland, Onslow and Wayne

MDC, Inc. ($183,540)
AmeriCorps members will serve in NC VetsCorps and placed with community-based organizations to meet the needs of veterans and their families by utilizing an existing statewide outreach initiative called The Benefit Bank of North Carolina (TBB®-NC). Focus areas include combating long-term hunger and increasing food security. Counties served (31): Alamance, Bertie, Camden, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Durham, Gates, Guilford, Harnett, Hertford, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Mecklenburg, Onslow, Orange, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Tyrrell, Wake and Washington

Music National Service Initiative ($243,528)
AmeriCorps members will build the organizational capacity of partnering music organizations by recruiting and supporting an additional 1,000 volunteers to deliver music instruction and service learning to low-income students, veterans, seniors, and other high-need populations. They will be placed at partner sites to implement music instruction or engagement activities for underserved communities. Counties served (5): Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Orange and Wake

North Carolina Community Networks, Inc. ($176,200)
AmeriCorps members will be trained by partnering organizations to improve the quality of life for the poor, frail, elderly and disabled. They will serve as part of a community-based care team and conduct phone calls, home visits and assessments. Counties served (5): Anson, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg and Union

North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources ($256,956)
AmeriCorps members will serve in nine counties and have a statewide reach as they increase environmental literacy and natural resource stewardship among communities in rural and underserved areas. Members will be placed in the State Aquariums, State Parks, Museum of Natural Sciences, and multiple divisions and programs within the Department. Counties served (9): Ashe, Carteret, Dare, Durham, Guilford, Harnett, New Hanover, Wake and Wayne

Playworks Education Energized ($134,596)
AmeriCorps members will leverage additional volunteers to implement an evidence-based program that will increase student academic engagement in low-income elementary schools. They will enable students to improve their social and emotional development, increase their sense of safety, security and connections to school and become more engaged in school to increase their long-term outcomes. Counties served (2): Durham and Wake

Stokes Partnership for Children, Inc. ($175,224)
AmeriCorps members will help address the need for teacher education and the enhancement of quality childcare for children 0 to 5. They will be trained in early childhood education and serve as substitute teachers, providing teachers with release time from the classroom to pursue their own education. Members will also serve as assistant teachers in an effort to reduce the high teacher-child ratios. Counties served (8): Cabarrus, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Rowan, Stokes, Surry and Wake

The Servant Center, Inc. ($205,054)
AmeriCorps members will provide case management, financial management, emergency assistance (housing, food, furniture, clothing) to those who are homeless and/or those at risk of becoming homeless. This will include families, disabled veterans, people in crisis (including homeless youth), women in recovery (and their children), and teen mothers. They will also provide training in computer skills, money management and life skills. Counties served (1): Guilford

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ($225,097)
AmeriCorps members (recent UNC-Chapel Hill graduates) will increase the number of low-income, first-generation, and under-represented NC students entering and completing higher education. Serving as college advisors, members will be placed in underserved high schools to help students navigate college admissions and financial-aid requirements. Counties served (14): Alamance, Caldwell, Chatham, Davidson, Durham, Edgecombe, Guilford, Halifax, Randolph, Robeson, Rockingham, Scotland, Surry, and Warren

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ($268,036)
AmeriCorps members in this program will serve as literacy program leaders at campus and community-based literacy organizations, where they will provide literacy tutoring to youth, adults and English-language learners while building program capacity through the recruitment, training and management of volunteer tutors. Counties served (13): Alamance, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Currituck, Dare, Durham, Guilford, Onslow, Orange, Wayne and Wake

University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Center for New North Carolinians ($490,788)
AmeriCorps members will provide employment readiness and placement services, English as a Second Language (ESL), citizenship education, interpretation, volunteer recruitment, case management, disaster preparedness and related services to immigrants and refugees. Members will have the opportunity to earn a credential in cross-cultural human services through the UNCG Center for New North Carolinians. Counties served (7): Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Orange, and Wake