"New Programs Get Rolling" October 1995
Across the Northwest, new AmeriCorps partners are hitting the ground running to meet critical needs in local communities. These new AmeriCorps programs reflect the subtle shift in national issue areas and priorities. Last year, priorities for public safety were violence prevention and crime control; this year, community policing and victim assistance are the new public safety priorities.
For new programs, the national AmeriCorps priority for education is school success; environmentally, fewer new programs focus on natural environments and more on neighborhood environments. Under human needs, new programs focus on early childhood development, rather than independent living and community revitalization.
Oregon
Oregon's new programs reflect these shifts in emphasis, with projects in community policing, victim assistance, school success and neighborhood environments.
- Forest Grove High School's AmeriCorps Math Program addresses school success. One hundred fifty Forest Grove High School students are below grade level in math skills. Twenty AmeriCorps Members, primarily college students, will team-tutor groups of students at the high school once or twice a week during the school year.
- Parents as Partners in Springfield will have 20 Members focused on assisting parents with their children's learning process at Maple Elementary School.
Last spring, the school's Family Center sent a needs assessment to parents. Over 90% said their top priority was to support their children's studies.
To respond to this need, AmeriCorps Members will familiarize parents with curriculum and teach them how to tutor in reading, math, and science. They will also hold workshops on child development, bilingual outreach, and helping with homework.
- The AmeriCorps Members for Public Safety Project's 20 Members will work primarily in east Portland in three areas: graffiti removal, public transit rider assistance, and gang outreach. The project, focusing on community policing and victim assistance, is sponsored by the Multnomah County District Attorney's office, in partnership with Tri-Met and the Office of Neighborhood Associations.
- The Reduce Adolescent Pregnancy Project (RAPP), sponsored by the Oregon Department of Human Resources, will have 20 Members sited throughout the state, working to address Oregon benchmarks on school success, reduction in teen use of alcohol and drugs, and reduction in teen pregnancy.
- The Community Partnership to Stop Violence Against Women addresses victim assistance, and is sponsored by the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Its 21 Members will advocate for victims of violence statewide, by linking them with needed human services such as food, shelter, clothing and childcare; by insuring governmental agencies follow up with services; and by providing assessments, peer counseling, information and referral.
Six Members who are attorneys will provide legal counsel and try cases in court.
- Fostering Citizenship in Portland is one of 12 sites of a national direct program whose three Oregon Members work with recent Southeast Asian immigrants.
Members both teach and coordinate volunteer teachers of English as a Second Language; lead acculturation activities such as field trips to local government agencies, police departments, and public transportation; and teach citizenship classes for those about to take the Immigration and Naturalization Service test.
- Youth Volunteer Corps of America AmeriCorps Program and YouthBuild USA Multi-State AmeriCorps Initiative are two additional Oregon programs for which information was not available at press time. They will be profiled in the next issue.
Washington
Washington's new programs cover all the AmeriCorps priorities of public safety, neighborhood environments, early childhood development, and school success.
- Snohomish County Youth Reconnection Project's (SCYRP) 34 Members will focus on linking 12 to 19 year olds with community service opportunities, and existing literacy, afterschool and late night programs. Some Members will also work at a day services center for homeless teenagers in Everett.
- The Kitsap Community Action Program (KCAP), a Defense Conversion Assistance AmeriCorps Program last year, has focused on economically diversifying the county with projects such as a main street renovation, restoration of a World War Two battleship, and an archive of photographs and data on local sites used to attract film producers to the county.
This year, KCAP's 40 AmeriCorps Members, the Public Awareness Commitment of Kitsap, will focus on early childhood development, neighborhood environments and victim assistance.
Members with college degrees will teach parenting, anger management, conflict resolution and budgeting skills to low income parents, and will tutor individual children in Bremerton schools.
Other Members will assist at domestic violence shelters; remove graffiti; and work in community centers, supervising night basketball games and helping teenagers with homework.
- Child Care Resources in Seattle is a national direct program. Three AmeriCorps Members, working in partnership with the Seattle Department of Housing and Human Services and the Schools Out Consortium, will address school success.
Work will be under the aegis of a MOST Initiative (Making the Most of Out of School Time). The initiative, funded by the DeWitt Wallace-Readers Digest Fund, aims to improve the quality and quantity of afterschool care with sports and arts activities, computer camps, and community service projects.
Members will create a database of afterschool resources and train parents. The primary emphasis, however will be time spent with children. The initiative requires Members to spend 12 hours per week directly with children.
- South Puget Sound Intertribal Planning Agency is a planning grantee which will work to create mentor-based projects in four separate tribal communities. The Chehalis and Skokomish AmeriCorps projects are neighborhood and natural environment restoration projects; the Nisqually project assists elders in maintaining their independence, and the Squazin project focuses on school success.
Washington/Oregon
Montana
- AmeriCorps Green Lights Project is a national direct program sponsored by Bonneville Power Association and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Oregon and Washington Members will evaluate lighting efficiency in schools and public buildings, with priority given to low-income areas.
Members use EPA's Green Lights software to recommend methods to increase energy efficiency and save money.
- The 12 Water Watch Program-Green Corps Members will organize cleanups and educational activities at bodies of water in the Willamette Valley and Puget Sound areas.
These national direct AmeriCorps Members will work with partners such as Puget Sound Keepers, the Urban Planning Department at the University of Washington, and local water groups to recruit K-12 students in cleanups. Members will also visit schools to teach children about watersheds and ecosystems.
Idaho
- Montana Campus Corps is a new part of Montana Campus Compact. Campus Compact's goal is to integrate service learning into education at all levels.
Campus Corps Members will focus on creating opportunities for students and faculty to participate in early childhood intervention, environmental, and education-related community service activities.
The program will operate in rural and urban areas and in partnership with tribal colleges.
- Idaho Homestead Assessment System Project is a national direct program which assists rural homeowners in evaluating how their septic systems, manure handling, and lawn/garden maintenance affects their drinking water.
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