Gov't awards $234 million in AmeriCorps expansion

Note: Photos included.

NOTE The following text is a quote:

www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/07/2010-americorps-grants

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2010 AmeriCorps Grants
Posted by Kori Schulman on June 07, 2010 at 06:15 PM EDT

President Barack Obama signs H.R. 1388, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, at The SEED School of Washington, D.C. The legislation tripled the size of AmeriCorps and provides new service opportunities for millions of Americans at all stages of their lives. April 21, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

The AmeriCorps grants, the first made under the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act signed by President Obama in April 2009, carry out the vision of the landmark law to expand the AmeriCorps program and target it on addressing critical national issues.

Today, the Corporation for National and Community Service announced that more than 325 organizations across the country will get a major boost in their efforts – thanks to $234 million in federal AmeriCorps grants. Patrick Corvington, Corporation CEO, discussed these grants:

In difficult times, working in some of America’s most distressed communities, AmeriCorps members are using service as a solution to our toughest problems. With these grants, we are not only expanding AmeriCorps, we are focusing AmeriCorps — by targeting it on the most critical issues facing our country — from illiteracy and the high school dropout epidemic to hunger and homelessness.

View a table of the 329 grants awarded to national and local nonprofits that will engage more than 57,000 new AmeriCorps members to improve lives and strengthen communities from coast to coast. Many of the positions announced today will be available starting in the fall, learn more about available opportunities at AmeriCorps.gov.

Below are a few examples of the organizations that are receiving funds:

Education: Teach for America’s grant will support more than 6,600 classroom teachers for under-resourced schools.
Health: The National Association of Community Health Centers will engage 469 AmeriCorps members in providing health education and improving access to health services in low income communities across the U.S.
Clean Energy and Environment: The Corps Network will engage 2,885 members in expanding recycling programs, constructing trails, removing invasive species, and weatherizing homes while providing disadvantaged youth with green job skills.
Veterans: The American Legion Auxiliary will engage 15 AmeriCorps members who will provide services, conduct outreach, manage volunteers and build the capacity of organizations addressing the needs of veterans and military families in six states.
Economic opportunity: Through their national grant, YouthBuild USA, Inc. will engage 2,930 members in renovating houses and buildings for homeless people and low-income families.

First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama introduce the Edward M. Kennedy National Service Bill and later plant trees in its honor. April 21, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

The Corporation for National and Community Service engages more than five million Americans in service and leads the President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

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NOTE The following text is a quote:

www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/21/a-call-to-service/

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A Call to Service
Posted by Jesse Lee on April 21, 2009 at 04:31 PM EDT

download .mp4 (82.5 MB) | also available here | read the transcript

The President has just signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, joined by Senator Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, the Congressional leaders who supported the legislation, and countless others dedicated to passage of the bill at the SEED School, where service is a core part of the curriculum. Appropriately, the President announced a major call to service:

A week from tomorrow marks the 100th day of my administration. In those next eight days, I ask every American to make an enduring commitment to serving your community and your country in whatever way you can. Visit WhiteHouse.gov to share your stories of service and success. And together, we will measure our progress not just in number of hours served or volunteers mobilized – but in the impact our efforts have on the life of this nation.

Find the right opportunity for you, or tell us your story of service – then come back in the coming days and weeks and we will highlight some of the best of what we hear.

He spoke to Senator Kennedy, and his entire family, commending them as an icon of service and self-sacrifice in America. He spoke to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch for his role in conceiving of the bill. And he spoke to those in Chicago who taught him the virtues of service as a community organizer.
He spoke to the youth, and all those who are already engaged:

I’ve met countless people of all ages and walks of life who want nothing more than to do their part. I’ve seen a rising generation of young people work and volunteer and turn out in record numbers. They’re a generation that came of age amidst the horrors of 9/11 and Katrina; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; an economic crisis without precedent. And yet despite all this, or more likely because of it, they have become a generation of activists possessed with that most American of ideas – that people who love their country can change it.
He spoke to those who are not yet engaged:

It’s as simple as that. All that’s required on your part is a willingness to make a difference. That is, after all, the beauty of service. Anyone can do it. You don’t need to be a community organizer, or a Senator — or a Kennedy – or even a President to bring change to people’s lives.

And he spoke to the larger moment our country faces:

We need your service, right now, at this moment in history. I’m not going to tell you what your role should be; that’s for you to discover. But I’m asking you to stand up and play your part. I’m asking you to help change history’s course. Put your shoulder up against the wheel. And if you do, I promise you – your life will be richer, our country will be stronger, and someday, years from now, you may remember it as the moment when your own story and the American story converged, when they came together, and we met the challenges of our new century.

As the President explained, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act is about “connecting deeds to needs” – it will open tremendous new avenues of opportunity for Americans to help their country get back on the right track in those many areas where government cannot do it all.

Get involved, and let us know what you’re doing.

(President Barack Obama meets with Senator Kennedy and former President Clinton to discuss national service. April 21, 2009. White House Photo/ Chuck Kennedy.)

NOTE The following text is a quote:

www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Signing-of-the-Edward-M-Kennedy-Serve-America-Act/

Home • Briefing Room • Speeches & Remarks

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secrectary
For Immediate Release

April 21, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT SIGNING OF THE EDWARD M. KENNEDY SERVE AMERICA ACT
The SEED School of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
3:56 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you. Well, what an extraordinary day. It is good to be here with all of you.

I want to, first of all, thank President Bill Clinton for joining us here today — where’s President Clinton? — (applause) — for his lifetime of service to our country, but also the fact that he created AmeriCorps, and that not only made this day possible, it has directly enlisted more than half a million Americans in service to their country; service that has touched the lives of millions more.
Now, it just so happens that one of those people who have been touched by AmeriCorps was FLOTUS, otherwise known as First Lady of the United States — (laughter) — Michelle Obama, who ran a AmeriCorps-sponsored program, Public Allies, in Chicago. (Applause.)

I also want to thank former First Lady Rosalynn Carter for being here — (applause) — for her advocacy on behalf of those with mental illness, and for her husband’s continued good works that inspire us all. I am thrilled to have Caroline Kennedy here — (applause) — for carrying on her family’s long legacy of service.

To my congressional colleagues who did such a fantastic job on a bipartisan basis ushering this through, starting with the two leaders of the House and the Senate, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, I’m grateful to them, and obviously to Barbara Mikulski and Orrin Hatch, George Miller, the entire delegation who helped to shepherd this through — please give them a huge round of applause. (Applause.)

To my outstanding Vice President, Joe Biden. (Applause.) To Dr. Jill Biden. (Applause.) A couple of outstanding public servants in their own right, please, a warm welcome for General Colin Powell and his wonderful wife, Alma.

(Applause.) For the outstanding Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg. (Applause.) And I’ve got to give some special props to my fellow Illinoisan, a great friend, Dick Durbin. (Applause.)

Finally — and I know that I’ve got some prepared remarks — but I just want to go ahead and say it now. There are very few people who have touched the life of this nation in the same breadth and the same order of magnitude than the person who is seated right behind me. And so this is just an extraordinary day for him. And I am truly grateful and honored to call him a friend, a colleague, and one of the finest leaders we’ve ever had — Ted Kennedy. (Applause.)

All right. I want to thank the students and the faculty of the SEED School — (applause) — our hosts for today — and their headmaster, Charles Adams. Where’s Mr. Adams? Is he here? (Applause.) A shining example of how AmeriCorps alums go on to do great things. This school is a true success story — a place where for four of the last five years, every graduate from the SEED School was admitted to college — every graduate. (Applause.)

It’s a place where service is a core component of the curriculum. And just as the SEED School teaches reading and writing, arithmetic and athletics, it also prepares our young Americans to grow into active and engaged citizens. And what these students come to discover through service is that by befriending a senior citizen, or helping the homeless, or easing the suffering of others, they can find a sense of purpose and renew their commitment to this country that we love.

And that is the spirit in which we gather today, as I sign into law a bill that represents the boldest expansion of opportunities to serve our communities and our country since the creation of AmeriCorps — (applause) — a piece of legislation named for a man who has not only touched countless lives, but who still sails against the wind, a man who’s never stopped asking what he can do for his country, and that’s Senator Edward M. Kennedy. (Applause.)
In my address to a joint session of Congress in February, I asked for swift passage of this legislation, and these folks on the stage came through. So, again, I want to thank wide bipartisan majorities in the House and the Senate who came together to pass this bill — especially Barbara Mikulski, Mike Enzi, Chris Dodd, John McCain, who’s not here, Thad Cochran, as well as, on the House side, Representatives Miller and Carolyn McCarthy, Buck McKeon and Howard Berman.

More than anyone else, the new era of service we enter in today has been made possible by the unlikely friendship between these two men, Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy. They may be the odd couple of the Senate. (Laughter.) One is a conservative Republican from Utah; the other is, well, Ted Kennedy. (Laughter.) But time and again, they placed partnership over partisanship to advance this nation even in times when we were told that wasn’t possible. (Applause.)

Senator Hatch was shaped by his experience as a young missionary serving others, a period he has called the greatest of his life. And last year he approached Senator Kennedy to share his ideas about service. Out of that conversation came this legislation. And last month, at Senator Hatch’s selfless request, the Senate unanimously chose to name this bill after his dear friend, Ted. (Applause.) That’s the kind of class act that Orrin Hatch is.

Now, Ted’s story and the story of his family is known to all. It’s a story of service. And it’s also the story of America — of hard work and sacrifice of generation after generation, some called upon to give more than others, but each committed to the idea that we can make tomorrow better than today. I wouldn’t be standing here today if not for the service of others, or for the purpose that service gave my own life.

I’ve told this story before. When I moved to Chicago more than two decades ago to become a community organizer, I wasn’t sure what was waiting for me there, but I had always been inspired by the stories of the civil rights movement, and President Kennedy’s call to service, and I knew I wanted to do my part to advance the cause of justice and equality.

And it wasn’t easy, but eventually, over time, working with leaders from all across these communities, we began to make a difference — in neighborhoods that had been devastated by steel plants that had closed down and jobs that had dried up. We began to see a real impact in people’s lives.

And I came to realize I wasn’t just helping people, I was receiving something in return, because through service I found a community that embraced me, citizenship that was meaningful, the direction that I had been seeking. I discovered how my own improbable story fit into the larger story of America.
It’s the same spirit of service I’ve seen across this country. I’ve met countless people of all ages and walks of life who want nothing more than to do their part. I’ve seen a rising generation of young people work and volunteer and turn out in record numbers. They’re a generation that came of age amidst the horrors of 9/11 and Katrina, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an economic crisis without precedent. And yet, despite all this — or more likely because of it — they’ve become a generation of activists possessed with that most American of ideas, that people who love their country can change it.

They’re why the Peace Corps had three applications for every position available last year; why 35,000 young people applied for only 4,000 slots in Teach for America; why AmeriCorps has seen a 400-percent increase in applications in just the past four months. And yet, even as so many want to serve, even as so many are struggling, our economic crisis has forced our charities and non-for-profits to cut back.

What this legislation does, then, is to help harness this patriotism and connect deeds to needs. It creates opportunities to serve for students, seniors, and everyone in between. It supports innovation and strengthens the nonprofit sector. And it is just the beginning of a sustained, collaborative and focused effort to involve our greatest resource — our citizens — in the work of remaking this nation.

We’re doing this because I’ve always believed that the answers to our challenges cannot come from government alone. Our government can help to rebuild our economy and lift up our schools and reform health care systems and make sure our soldiers and veterans have everything they need — but we need Americans willing to mentor our eager young children, or care for the sick, or ease the strains of deployment on our military families.

That’s why this bill will expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000 in less than a decade. (Applause.) And it’s not just for freshly minted college grads. As I said, my wife Michelle left her job at a law firm to be the founding director of an AmeriCorps program in Chicago that trains young people for careers in public service. And Michelle can tell you the transformation that occurred in her life as a consequence of being able to follow her passions, follow her dreams.

Programs like these are a force multiplier; they leverage small numbers of members into thousands of volunteers. And we will focus their service toward solving today’s most pressing challenges: clean energy, energy efficiency, health care, education, economic opportunity, veterans and military families.
We’ll invest in ideas that help us meet our common challenges, no matter where those ideas come from. All across America, there are ideas that could benefit millions of Americans if only they were given a chance to take root and to grow — ideas like the one that Eric Adler and Raj Vinnakota had that led to this school and expanded its model to others.

That’s why this bill includes a new Social Innovation Fund that will bring nonprofits and foundations and faith-based organizations and the private sector to the table with government so that we can learn from one another’s success stories. We’ll invest in ideas that work, leverage private-sector dollars to encourage innovation, expand successful programs to scale and make them work in cities across America.

Because we must prepare our young Americans to grow into active citizens, this bill makes new investments in service learning. And we’ve increased the AmeriCorps education award and linked it to Pell Grant award levels, another step toward our goal of ensuring that every American receives an affordable college education. (Applause.)

Because millions of Americans are out of school and out of work, it creates an Energy Corps that will help people find useful work and gain skills in a growing industry of the future.

Because our boomers are the most highly educated generation in history, and our seniors live longer and more active lives than ever before, this bill offers new pathways to harness their talent and experience to serve others.

And because this historic expansion of the Corporation for National and Community Service requires someone with both bold vision and responsible management experience, I have chosen Mary* Eitel — where’s Mary*? There she is, stand up, Mary — as its new CEO. (Applause.) The founder and first president of the Nike Foundation, Maria is a smart and innovative thinker, and a leader who shares my belief in the power of service. And I also wanted to thank the acting CEO, Nicky Goren — where’s Nicky? — (applause) — for guiding the corporation through this transition.

A week from tomorrow marks the 100th day of my administration. In those next eight days, I ask every American to make an enduring commitment to serving your community and your country in whatever way you can. Visit whitehouse.gov to share your stories of service and success. And together, we will measure our progress not just in the number of hours served or volunteers mobilized, but in the impact our efforts have on the life of this nation.

We’re getting started right away — this afternoon, I’ll be joined by President Clinton and Michelle and Joe Biden and Dr. Biden to plant trees in a park not far from here. It’s as simple as that. All that’s required on your part is a willingness to make a difference. And that is, after all, the beauty of service. Anybody can do it. You don’t need to be a community organizer, or a senator, or a Kennedy — (laughter) — or even a President to bring change to people’s lives.

When Ted Kennedy makes this point, he also tells a story as elegantly simple as it is profound. An old man walking along a beach at dawn saw a young man pick up a starfish and throwing them out to sea. “Why are you doing that?” the old man inquired.

The young man explained that the starfish had been stranded on the beach by a receding tide, and would soon die in the daytime sun. “But the beach goes on for miles,” the old man said. “And there are so many. How can your effort make any difference?” The young man looked at the starfish in his hand, and without hesitating, threw it to safety in the sea. He looked up at the old man, smiled, and said: “It will make a difference to that one.” (Laughter.)

To Ted, that’s more than just a story. For even in the midst of his epic fights on the floor of the Senate to enact sweeping change, he’s made a quiet trek to a school not far from the Capitol, week after week, year after year, without cameras or fanfare, to sit down and read with one solitary child.

Ted Kennedy is that young man who will not rest until we’ve made a difference in the life of every American. He walks down that beach and he keeps on picking up starfish, tossing them into the sea. And as I sign this legislation, I want all Americans to take up that spirit of the man for whom this bill is named; of a President who sent us to the moon; of a dreamer who always asked “Why not?” — of a younger generation that carries the torch of a single family that has made an immeasurable difference in the lives of countless families.

We need your service right now, at this moment in history. I’m not going to tell you what your role should be; that’s for you to discover. But I’m asking you to stand up and play your part. I’m asking you to help change history’s course, put your shoulder up against the wheel. And if I — if you do, I promise you your life will be richer, our country will be stronger, and someday, years from now, you may remember it as the moment when your own story and the American story converged, when they came together, and we met the challenges of our new century.

Thank you very much, everybody. I’m going to sign this bill. (Applause.)
(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)
END
4:14 P.M. EDT

ON THE INTERNET:

www.nationalservice.gov/

www.nationalservice.gov/about/newsroom/releases_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1768

www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/2010_americorps_grants.pdf

serve.gov/

ON THE INTERNET:

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/cncs/index

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/americorps/index

SNIPPET from post no. 23:

"And that is the spirit in which we gather today, as I sign into law a bill that represents the boldest expansion of opportunities to serve our communities and our country since the creation of AmeriCorps — (applause) — a piece of legislation named for a man who has not only touched countless lives, but who still sails against the wind, a man who’s never stopped asking what he can do for his country, and that’s Senator Edward M. Kennedy. (Applause.)"

Previously...

Quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2245873/posts

What Is the Social Innovation Fund?
WHITEHOUSE.GOV ^ | Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 7:55 pm | n/a
Posted on May 6, 2009 9:27:19 PM PDT by Cindy

Note: Includes a photo.

Note: The following text is a quote:

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 7:55 pm What Is the Social Innovation Fund?

Last night the First Lady discussed the Social Innovation Fund at the Time 100 Most Influential People Awards; we asked Michele Jolin, Senior Advisor for Social Innovation for the Domestic Policy Council, to tell us about it:

Yesterday, the President announced that he would ask Congress in the FY2010 budget to provide $50 million in seed capital for his Social Innovation Fund, fulfilling a campaign pledge. The Fund will identify the most promising, results-oriented non-profit programs and expand their reach throughout the country.

This is a dramatically different way for the government to do business – and it reflects the President’s new governing approach — finding and scaling the best social innovations; partnering with those who are leading change in their communities; and creating a policy environment for all these innovations to thrive.

President Obama has said that this is an “all-hands-on-deck” moment and that government cannot solve our nation’s problems alone. He has said that it is critical to partner with citizens, nonprofits, social entrepreneurs, foundations and corporations to make progress on our nation’s great challenges. The President has also talked about finding new solutions to old problems, and this is where the social innovation can play a unique role.

As the First Lady said in her remarks on Tuesday to the TIME 100 Most Influential people:

The idea is simple: to find the most effective programs out there and then provide the capital needed to replicate their success in communities around the country that are facing similar challenges. By focusing on high-impact, result-oriented non-profits, we will ensure that government dollars are spent in a way that is effective, accountable and worthy of the public trust.

(First Lady Michelle Obama attended and gave remarks at the TIME 100 Annual Dinner at the Rose Jazz Center in New York City. She was greeted by (L to R) Jeffrey Bewkes, Chairman of Time Warner Inc., Rick Stengel, Managing Editor of TIME magazine, and John Huey, Editorial Director of TIME Inc.)

The First Lady also talked more broadly about the need help nurture a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs who will direct their skills and energy toward solving their community’s – and our nation’s – most serious social problems:

Careers focused on lifting up our communities – whether helping transform troubled schools or training workers for green jobs or helping low-income families access health care – are not always obvious. But, at a time when our nation is facing unprecedented challenges, encouraging careers in public service and social innovation are more important than ever.

The First Lady highlighted the work of a couple of young, new social entrepreneurs. One example was Rebecca Onie, a creative young woman who founded “Project Health” to help break the link between poverty and poor health. Rebecca organizes college students to staff Help Desks in urban medical centers, universities and community centers. Students then connect low-income families to other critical community and government resources – such as housing vouchers, supplemental nutrition assistance, and educational support.

This is just one example of the kind of social innovation and entrepreneurship that the Obama Administration wants to encourage and replicate in communities across the country.

The Social Innovation Fund will help do that. We recognize that there is no ready and available source of growth capital for programs and ideas that have demonstrated they work and are ready to spread. This gap in the social capital markets is a good niche for government action. The Social Innovation Fund will build a “pipeline” of programs that have demonstrated results and are ready to spread across the country to meet community needs. Now, more than ever, we need to invest in programs that work and find innovative, effective solutions to our nation’s most serious challenges.

Archival Note to post no. 23:

philanthropy.com/article/Obamas-Nominee-to-Lead/63098/

May 26, 2009
“Obama’s Nominee to Lead National-Service Efforts Withdraws”
By Ian Wilhelm

SNIPPET: “President Obama’s pick to lead AmeriCorps and other national-service efforts has withdrawn her name from consideration.

Maria Eitel, the president of the Nike Foundation, was nominated last month to be the chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service, in Washington. But according to a letter sent to corporation staff members from the organization’s acting director, Nicola Goren, Ms. Eitel withdrew last week because of an unnamed health problem.”

SNIPPET from post no. 27:

"Yesterday, the President announced that he would ask Congress in the FY2010 budget to provide $50 million in seed capital for his Social Innovation Fund, fulfilling a campaign pledge. The Fund will identify the most promising, results-oriented non-profit programs and expand their reach throughout the country.

This is a dramatically different way for the government to do business – and it reflects the President’s new governing approach — finding and scaling the best social innovations; partnering with those who are leading change in their communities; and creating a policy environment for all these innovations to thrive."

SNIPPET from post no. 21:

"Today, the Corporation for National and Community Service announced that more than 325 organizations across the country will get a major boost in their efforts – thanks to $234 million in federal AmeriCorps grants. Patrick Corvington, Corporation CEO, discussed these grants:"

A Little Bit Off Topic:

stepping back in time...

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/09/21/propaganda-health-care-and-acorn-full-context-of-nea-conference-call-reveals-disturbing-pattern/

“Propaganda, Health Care and ACORN: Full Context of NEA Conference Call Reveals Disturbing Pattern”
by John Nolte
(September 21, 2009)

#

http://biggovernment.com/dloesch/2009/09/18/taxpayer-funded-serve-gov-filtering-activists-to-acorn/

“Taxpayer Funded Serve.gov Filtering Activists to ACORN
by Dana Loesch

SNIPPET: “The Obama Administration has placed a large premium on what it calls “national service.” It has launched a website, www.Serve.gov, that is reported to act as a clearing house for Americans eager to “give back” to their communities. Unfortunately, Americans looking for an opportunity to volunteer may get something they weren’t expecting.

By typing “ACORN” into the search field entitled “What interests you” at Serve.gov, you’re transported to allforgood.org where you can choose from a list of volunteer opportunities, including “healthcare activist.” This particular “volunteer” opportunity is with the Tuscon ACORN office:”

(September 18, 2010)

A Little Bit Off Topic:

stepping back in time...

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/02/phil-kerpen-unions-van-jones-apollo/

“Obama’s ‘Green’ Groups Eye Lots of Greenbacks”
By Phil Kerpen
Published September 02, 2009 | FOXNews.com

bump

gnip

Talk about a slush fund...