AmeriCorps program to return to North Country

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JOIN AMERICORPS

To qualify, applicants must: be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; be at least 17 years old; hold at least a high-school diploma or GED; and pass a criminal background check.

To learn more, call Steven Dorr at 561-4295, Ext. 3008.

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July 5, 2011

State grant brings group back to North Country

DAN HEATH Press-Republican The Press Republican Tue Jul 05, 2011, 03:28 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH — The North Country Workforce Investment Board has received funding to create an AmeriCorps program in the North Country.

The Workforce Investment Board received an grant of $155,215 from the New York State Office of National and Community Service, which will be used for the new group, AmeriCorps for the Adirondacks.

'POWERFUL CATALYST'

Elaine Leavitt, chair of the Workforce Investment Board's Youth Council, said it was wonderful to see an AmeriCorps program here again.

"The values and experiences that our youth will receive from this program are invaluable," she said in a press release. "AmeriCorps members are a powerful catalyst for community volunteering and strengthening the organizations where they serve."

Families First had an AmeriCorps program in Essex County from 1998 to 2005, and Plattsburgh State had one in Clinton County from 1994 to 2003.

LIMITED NUMBERS

The Workforce Investment Board will develop the local AmeriCorps program in conjunction with the United Way of the Adirondack Region. AmeriCorps for the Adirondacks will enlist up to 14 people to serve in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties.

The goal is to create, support or enhance programs intended to increase financial, reading and language literacy, boost awareness of health-care and preventive services and increase access to viable economic opportunities for the region's residents.

HOW TO APPLY

Steven Dorr will be in charge of the new AmeriCorps program, which is tentatively scheduled to start Oct. 1.

Dorr will start recruiting and accepting applications in July.

In return for their service, AmeriCorps members receive a modest stipend and an AmeriCorps Education Award that they can use to pay for college or to pay back qualified student loans. Members have earned more than $1 billion nationwide in education awards since 1994.

PARTNERSHIP

United Way of the Adirondack Region Executive Director John Bernardi said his organization "was pleased to collaborate with the North Country Workforce Investment Board to provide the organization with assistance in developing collaborative community partnerships to support the project."

The grants are funded through a governor-appointed State Commission on National and Community Service. The money is used to recruit, train and place AmeriCorps members in groups whose missions align with AmeriCorps focus areas or areas of community need.

John VanNatten, chair of the Workforce Investment Board of Directors, said, "I congratulate those who in the past have answered the call to service by joining AmeriCorps, and I look forward to a new generation of AmeriCorps service members in the years to come."

STARTED IN 1994

AmeriCorps is a network of three programs — AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps VISTA and AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps — that each year has nearly 75,000 Americans help others meet critical education, environmental, public safety, homeland security and other needs, according to its website.

Since 1994, nearly 500,000 AmeriCorps members have served with thousands of nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and faith-based organizations nationwide, from small community groups to nationally known organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross and Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Email Dan Heath at:

dheath@pressrepublican.com