Availability of AmeriCorps State Funding for FY2013-2014

(Salt Lake City) The Utah Commission on Volunteers announces the availability of AmeriCorps State funding for Program Year 2013 – 2014 to eligible organizations in Utah. The purpose of these grants is to establish AmeriCorps programs in local communities focusing on needs in the key objective areas of education, healthy futures, environmental stewardship, veterans, economic opportunity, and disaster services.

AmeriCorps is a national service network that provides full- and less than full-time opportunities for participants, to serve their communities and build the capacity of nonprofit organizations to meet local environmental, educational, public safety, homeland security, or other human needs. Within these issue areas, programs may submit proposals that address specific problems of local communities. Program operation for this funding cycle will begin in fall 2013.

The application process will be explained in detail in mandatory AmeriCorps Funding Technical Assistance Meetings. Those interested in applying must attend one meeting held September 25-October 5 at locations throughout the state. For more information about meeting locations and dates, please visit www.volunteers.utah.gov.

In order to maximize the impact of the investment in national service in Utah, the Commission on Volunteers is seeking to fund programs that can demonstrate community impact and solve community problems through an evidence-based approach (e.g. performance data, research, theory of change).

 “AmeriCorps programs are improving the lives of citizens and making a powerful impact on the toughest challenges facing our state,” said LaDawn Stoddard, at the Utah Commission on Volunteers. “AmeriCorps members and the volunteers they manage are an indispensable resource to nonprofit and government leaders at a time of social need and fiscal constraint.”

The national public/private partnership supporting AmeriCorps is the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). CNCS receives AmeriCorps program funding from Congress and awards funding to state service commissions and organizations, such as the Utah Commission on Volunteers, to grant and oversee AmeriCorps programs in their state.

For additional information or technical assistance regarding this Notice of Funding Availability, please contact LaDawn Stoddard at ldstoddard@utah.gov or 801-715-6716.

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Utah Commission on Volunteers Awards 5 AmeriCorps Grants Totaling $1.39 million to Local Organizations to Address Vital Community Needs

(Salt Lake City) The Utah Commission on Volunteers announced today that five organizations in Utah have been awarded $1.39 million in AmeriCorps grants to address some of the most pressing challenges facing Utah communities. 

 

These grants make a focused investment in four of the priority areas laid out in the bipartisan Serve America Act and three of the priority areas for the State of Utah: education, environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, and healthy futures. The grants help to carry out the vision of the Commission’s 2010-2013 Strategic State Plan, targeting resources on a core set of critical problems and focusing on greater impact through use of standardized performance measures to evaluate success.

 

 “AmeriCorps members are helping tackle our communities’ toughest issues and strengthening the impact of local organizations,” said LaDawn Stoddard, Program Manager at the Utah Commission on Volunteers.  “At a time of great human need with growing social and economic challenges, national service is a critical and cost effective approach that engages citizens in solving problems in their own communities.”

 

This year's AmeriCorps grant cycle was highly competitive due to the growing demand by organizations seeking AmeriCorps resources and the significant funding cuts at the national level. Nationally a record-breaking 582,000 AmeriCorps applications were received in 2011, a dramatic increase from the 360,000 seen in 2009.   The Utah Formula grant competition was also very competitive with over $4.4 million in funding requests and $1.39 million available.  In the end, only the most exceptional proposals were funded.

 

 The grants will go to local nonprofit, community and educational organizations and will support 1,037 AmeriCorps members who will serve across the state. Below are the organizations receiving funds in the 2012 competition:

 

EDUCATION

·         The Utah AmeriCorps Literacy Initiative - $750,000

·         Utah Campus Compact AmeriCorps Education Award Program - $150,000

 

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP/ENERGY

·         The Utah Conservation Corps Program - $232,286

 

 Economic Opportunity

·         The AmeriCorps Alleviating Homelessness Program - $133,000

 

Healthy Futures

·         AmeriCorps and the Medically Underserved - $133,000

 

The grants announced today will implement Serve America Act program changes to increase AmeriCorps' impact, efficiency, and cost effectiveness. Among those are standardized national performance measures that will allow for aggregated impact reporting on how AmeriCorps is addressing community issues, increasing the focus on outcomes and performance. They will also continue emphasis on expanding capacity by recruiting and managing volunteers for their programs.

 

AmeriCorps is a national service program that engages Americans of all ages and backgrounds in intensive, results-driven service to meet critical community needs. AmeriCorps works through existing organizations and helps them reach more people and better achieve their mission. In 2010 Utah AmeriCorps members mobilized more than 31,000 volunteers who provided over 308,000 hours of service with an estimated economic value of $5.5 million.

 

In the past 17 years, nationally more than 700,000 men and women have served as AmeriCorps members, providing more than 860 million hours of service. AmeriCorps members have served with more than 14,000 nonprofit, faith-based, and community groups each year helping them expand their reach and better meet their mission.

  

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Youth across the state are encouraged to spend this summer volunteering

Summer of Service 2012
Youth across the state are encouraged to spend this summer volunteering

SALT LAKE CITY- This summer, the Utah Commission on Volunteers is calling on Utah youth across the state to support their local communities through service. We are excited to be kicking off our 2012 Summer of Service campaign – YOU changing the world…One day, One week, One SUMMER at a time.

Summer of Service is a statewide initiative that encourages and mobilizes youth to make a difference in their communities by volunteering over the summer. Youth simply sign up to participate, volunteer their time, log their hours online, and can qualify to win a Presidential Service Award signed by the President of the United States. The individual in each age group that logs the most hours of service from June 1 through August 31, 2012 will win lunch with Utah’s Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell in September.

Between 2008 and 2010, the average national volunteer rate for young adults was 21.9% per year. During that same time frame, the average rate for young adults in Utah was 39.9%, ranking Utah first in the nation for young adult volunteering. The summer season is a great time for youth to continue this tradition of volunteering and make a difference in their communities.  

“I am proud to live in a state that places such an emphasis on volunteering”, said Lt. Governor Greg Bell, “Summer of Service provides a way for youth to be recognized for the impact they make in our communities”.

To register and begin logging hours please visit www.volunteers.utah.gov and click on the Summer of Service box.

For more information, contact Amanda McDonald 801-715-6717

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2012 Lt. Governor’s Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet

2012 Lt. Governor’s Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet
Judge Valdez to keynote event honoring 11 state volunteer award winners, including the Sister of St. Benedict

 SALT LAKE CITY- Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell and the Utah Commission on Volunteers will present eleven State Volunteer Service Awards and celebrate volunteer efforts throughout the state at the Lieutenant Governor’s Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet on April 25 at the Davis Conference Center. These awards, presented annually as part of the Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service, celebrate the extraordinary volunteer efforts of Utahns across the state.

The two most prestigious awards being the Lt. Governor’s Civic Volunteer of the Year Award and the Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The 2012 Lt. Governor’s Civic Volunteer of the Year Award will be presented to Lennie Don Porter, former Escalante City Mayor and long-time volunteer firefighter. Mr. Porter has met many needs in his community, through his involvement in civic affairs as well as in his capacity as a first-responder.

The 2012 Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to The Sister of the Order of St. Benedict. Sixty- six years ago, compassion for the sick and suffering brought the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict to Ogden for the purpose of founding a hospital. When the hospital was sold, it brought an end to their sponsorship in the hospital, but the sisters were undeterred and their volunteer efforts have grown exponentially since then.

 “These honorees are a powerful force for good in our communities,” said Lt. Governor Greg Bell. “They are a shining example of the transformative power of service on those who serve as well as the communities around them.”

The Commission is pleased to have the banquet keynote speaker will be Judge Andrew Valdez, Third District Court Judge. Judge Valdez will be addressing the importance of volunteerism in Utah as well as in his personal life.

New to the Banquet this year is the Transforming Communities Recognition that will honor President Ann Millner and the Weber State University Community Involvement Center for their work in transforming the community in Northern Utah.

Media are encouraged to attend the evening’s activities: Private reception for honorees at 5:45pm in the Zephyr Room and the Banquet Program begins at 6:30pm in the Expo Center at Davis Conference Center.

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2012 Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service General Session

2012 Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service General Session
Tammi DeVille to keynote Conference Luncheon on Wednesday

SALT LAKE CITY- The Utah Commission on Volunteers will be hosting the Lt. Governor’s Conference on Service April 25 at the Davis Conference Center. The Conference is dedicated to improving volunteer management in Utah and attendees represent the nonprofit, government, faith-based, and corporate sectors.

Lt. Governor Greg Bell will kick off the 2012 Conference on Service, April 25^th at 8:30 am.  Additional morning keynotes are Natalie Gochnour from the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce and Kaira Esgate with Reimagining Service.  Each will be speaking to the impact volunteers have in addressing community needs.

The general session day will be filled with over 30 workshops for the 600 attendees to choose from, each of which was chosen to represent the varying needs of conference attendees. Workshop topics are centered on volunteer management in Utah, the #1 state in the nation for volunteer rates.

Lt. Governor Bell and the Utah Commission on Volunteers are pleased to announce that the 2012 luncheon keynote speaker will be Tammi DeVille, author of Changing the World on a Tuesday Night. Her book focuses on people in the United States that are making a big difference in their communities, through small acts of service. DeVille will be highlighting some of the volunteer work done in Utah during her address and is scheduled to speak at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 25.

 “In keeping with the 2012 Conference on Service theme, Volunteerism: Changing Communities, we are thrilled to have a keynote that can speak to directly to the impact the volunteering has,” said Susan Hayward, Community Outreach Manager with the Utah Commission of Volunteers. “Tammi is uniquely able to highlight volunteer efforts in Utah, as well as those in her book, in a way that will appeal to all of our attendees.”

Media are encouraged to attend any of the conference’s events.  For more information, contact LaDawn Stoddard 801-815-3251

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The Commission on Volunteers Invites Youth to Participate in Utah’s 2012 Global Youth Service Day

The Commission on Volunteers Invites Youth to Participate in Utah’s 2012 Global Youth Service Day

Salt Lake City – From April 20-22, 2012, the Utah Commission on Volunteers will join with youth organizations throughout the state to encourage youth to participate in Global Youth Service Day (GYSD).

Established in 1988, Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world and the only day of service dedicated to children and youth. It is an annual campaign to mobilize millions of children and youth globally and locally to improve their communities through service and volunteering.

“Engaging youth in volunteering creates a foundation of service that lasts a lifetime,” said Lt. Governor Greg Bell. “If we can get our young people to serve in their the communities now, Utah will continue to be a state filled with kind, charitable individuals prepared to serve and help others, well into the future.”

In 2011, there were over 38 service projects from Utah registered on the Global Youth Service Day website, www.gysd.org, which involved almost 1,500 youth. This year, the Utah Commission on Volunteers hopes to see an increase in those numbers. One of the participating organizations this year is The Utah Federation for Youth. Their service projects this year include Columbus Center After School youth participants painting murals at the Senior Citizen Center in South Salt Lake, SSL Youth City Council planting trees at Fitts Park, the Academy for Math Engineering, and Science hosting a dental care benefit event for low-income populations, and youth in South Salt Lake translating emergency informational materials from the Fire Department into other languages.

“Service should be the base of humanity. We all should be looking for what we can do for others, projects large and small are of equal importance and this experience for the youth is great," said DeBee Stidham, Utah Federation for Youth representative. “Involving youth in service through Global Youth Service Day, can be the start of something that will grow to become part of their lives.”

Planning is underway for youth-led projects that address challenging local, national and global issues such as environmental conservation, childhood hunger and civil rights. Examples of local projects planned for Global Youth Service Day 2012 include:

The Living Planet Aquarium: The Living Planet Aquarium has planned four unique service events that will be held April 20^th  to 22nd that center on environmental cleanup and restoration. Projects will take place at the Jordan River, Wasatch Hollow, the Living Planet Aquarium and Hidden Hollow and hundreds of youth are expected to be involved. Contact Melissa @ (801) 495-4888 for more information.

Real Life in Salt Lake City: At Real Life in SLC, an afterschool youth mentoring program designed to help refugee youth become acculturated to life in Salt Lake City by forming friendships with Utah youth of the same age, refugee youth will assemble backpacks and write letters to new refugee youth that will be arriving in Salt Lake City in 2012. Contact Julia @ (801) 467-4417 for more information regarding this April 20th GYSD project.

Service to the World: Held on Saturday, April 21st from 11-2 PM at the BYU Wilkinson Student Center, Service to the World will be working with youth on projects that will ultimately be sent to a schools in Uganda. Projects include file folder games that teach colors, arithmetic, multiplication, division, shapes (lots of coloring), hand puppets, hygiene kits, blankets, hats, nutrition posters, and public health education posters and books. Contact Martina @ (801) 857-5969 for more information.

 To learn more about Utah’s 2012 Global Youth Service Dayvisit www.volunteers.utah.gov or contact Amanda McDonald, Utah Commission on Volunteers Program Specialist at 801.715.6717. For more information on Global Youth Service Day, visit www.gysd.org.

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2012 Commission on Volunteers Award Winners Announced Judge Valdez to keynote event honoring 10 state volunteer award winners .

2012 Commission on Volunteers Award Winners Announced Judge Valdez to keynote event honoring 10 state volunteer award winners .

SALT LAKE CITY- The Utah Commission on Volunteers have announced the recipients of the 2012 State Volunteer Recognition Awards:

• The Sisters of St. Benedict, Governor’s Lifetime Achievement
• Lennie Don Porter, Lt. Governor’s Civic Volunteer of the Year
• Vivint, Corporate Volunteer Program of the Year
• Draper Parks & Trails, Government Volunteer Program of the Year
• The Happy Factory, Nonprofit Volunteer Program of the Year
• Brianna Toone, AmeriCorps Member of the Year
• Michele Nicks, AmeriCorps VISTA Member of the Year
• Bobbie Maberry, Encore Volunteer of the Year
• Michelle Groncki, Adult Volunteer of the Year
• Steven Darrel Olsen, Youth Volunteer of the Year

The 10 state award winners will be honored April 25 at the 2012 Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet. The banquet is the culminating event of the Lieutenant Governor’s Conference on Service and will honor and recognize the achievements of some of the most outstanding volunteers and volunteer programs in Utah.

The Utah Commission on Volunteers is pleased to announce that the 2012 banquet keynote speaker will be Judge Andrew A Valdez, Third District Juvenile Court Judge in Salt Lake City. Judge Valdez will be addressing the importance of volunteerism in Utah as well as in his personal life. Valdez is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 25.

 
“The 2012 state volunteer award winners showcase some of the inspiring volunteer work taking place in Utah” said Lt. Governor Greg Bell. “These award winners are a powerful force for good in the community and I am pleased to honor them.”

In addition to the 10 state volunteer award winners, Ann Millner & the Weber State University Community Involvement Center will be honored with the Transforming Communities Recognition for their work in Northern Utah.

Media are encouraged to attend any of the Conference on Service and Volunteer Recognition & Awards Banquet events. For more information, contact Geoffrey Fattah at (801) 386-4755.