AmeriCorps ACES MLK, Jr. Day of Service – January 21, 2013

Service As A StrategyService As A Strategy Richmond’s Newsletter on Volunteerism and Civic Engagement

Vol. 2, Issue 1—Jan & Feb 2013

To honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, AmeriCorps Action for Community En-hancement Services (ACES) members and staff worked alongside the New Jubilee Family Life Center and the Richmond Preparatory Academy’s “Dreamworks” initiative to plan and coordinate a day of service. The event, which was held at the Richmond Preparatory Academy included activities targeted to the students of both the Rich-mond Preparatory Academy and New Jubilee’s “Heroes and Dreams” program; alongside a host of mentors and community leaders.

The day’s itinerary included:

- Breakfast – sponsored by New Jubilee’s Heroes and Dreams Program

- Presentation on volunteering and service by Paul Manning, the City of Richmond’s Chief Service Officer

- Presentation and video documentary of students visiting the Martin Luther King monument in Wash-ington D.C. by Rev. Owen Cardwell - Executive Director of New Jubilee Educational and Family Life Center

- Community clean-up within a 3-block radius of the Richmond Preparatory School site.

- Activity stations for students and families included representation from:

* Neighbor-to-Neighbor * AmeriCorps ACES

* Richmond Police Department * Urban League Young Professionals

* VCU Office of Multicultural Student Affairs

The motivation behind this effort was to mobilize the community around continuing Dr. King’s legacy through mentoring and service. Judging from the energy of the students and City of Richmond staff, there is no doubt that objective has been met. Our task now is to heed the call and join the movement. Let us con-tinue striving forward to “Build the Best Richmond” possible by way of Service as a Strategy

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Department # of Employees Monthly Volunteer Hours (as of 12/11/12)

CLASS I: 1-20 EMPLOYEES

Treasurer’s Office 4 0

Press Secretary to the Mayor 5 3

Minority Business Development 5 0

Mayor’s Office 6 645

City Clerk 7 0

Retirement System 11 0

Budget & Strategic Planning 12 46.1

CAO’s Office 13 763

City Auditor 15 5

Human Services 15 865.5

Procurement Services 18 0

Animal Care & Control 22 11.5

CLASS II: 21-50 EMPLOYEES

City Council 24 0

Economic/Community Development 32 198.25

City Attorney 35 0

City Assessor 36 0

Human Resources 39 124.5

CLASS III: 51-100 EMPLOYEES

Finance 69 4

Commonwealth’s Attorney 77 0

General Registrar 78 0

City Library 84 122.5

CLASS IV: 101-300 EMPLOYEES

Information Technology 102 22

Planning & Development Review 106 73

Courts 112 0

Public Health* 123 0

Justice Services 207 0

Parks, Recreation & Comm. Facilities 260 1431.25

CLASS V: 301+ EMPLOYEES

Public Works 420 228

Fire & Emergency Services 435 57.5

Sheriff and Jail 459 0

Social Services (including the ECDI) 472 369.35

Richmond Behavioral Health Authority** 497 327

Public Utilities 730 109.5

Police 955 101.3

TOTAL 5,485 4,820.55

*Class IV Note: Including Richmond City Health District (Public Health) 123 employees.

** Class V Note: Including Richmond Behavioral Health Authority’s 497 employees.

100,000

90,000

80,000

70,000

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

Note 1: The groupings of de-

partments, per class, are based

on figures provided by DIT.

100,000 Service Hours The N2N Service Thermometer

below represents the City of

Richmond’s progress towards

reaching Mayor Jones’ goal of

100,000 service hours among

city agencies.

As of this Jan/Feb 2013 edi-

tion, the City of Richmond’s

collective service hours

(reported) is 4,820.55, 4.82%

of Mayor Jones’ goal.

100,000 Service Hour Challenge - Departments’ Monthly & Annual Totals

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Program Spotlight: The University of Richmond Bonner Scholars Program:

N2N and the Department of Human Services are proud to recognize the efforts and services of its two dedicated University of Richmond Bonner Scholars. Since 1993, Richmond's Bonner Scholars Program (BSP) has included approximately 100 scholars at any given time, making it the largest program in the national Bonner network. The BSP is a four-year commitment to sustained community engagement and social justice education. Typically, 25 students per class year are selected to be Bonner Scholars after a rigorous and exten-sive screening process.

The first Bonner Scholar to serve with the Department of Human Services/N2N is current U of R 4th-year student Kevin Wilson, who came on-board during N2N’s formulation stages. Kevin will graduate with Honors from the University of Richmond this May.

Joining Kevin Wilson this year is U of R freshman Austin Shepherd, an ambitious and precocious 19-year old who has decided to dedicate the next 4 years of his academic career to assist in furthering N2N’s impact. In addition to his commitment to the Bonner Scholars Program and N2N, Austin is also a proud member of the Lambda Chi Business Fraternity, which has agreed to volunteer with the City’s N2N Initiative. N2N is proud to have both of these bright and dedicated students in our service. There is no doubt that their dedication will be a tremendous asset helping realize Mayor Jones’ vision of “Building the Best Richmond.”

Human Services volunteer and U of R Student Kevin Wilson standing alongside a satisfied resident in the 7th District.

Human Services volunteer and U of R Student Austin Shepherd raking leaves in the 7th District.

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N2N Awards “Love Your Block” mini-grants: 3rd Sub-granting cycle

Love Your Block (LYB) is a nationally tested, high-impact service strategy in which Mayor Dwight Jones’ Administration engages with community members in revitalizing their neighborhoods one block at a time. Pursuant to receiving a $10,000 LYB grant from Service Nation, in partnership with the Home Depot Foun-dation, N2N will soon be awarding mini-grants between $500 and $1,000 (in the form of Home Depot gift cards) to more community-based entities. The application deadline for the third funding consideration is March 6, 2013. The application deadline for the fourth (should funds still be available) is September 6, 2013.

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Seasonal changes bring new challenges to the elderly and disabled, but also new opportunities for service. This year, N2N assisted in alleviating some of those needs by organizing a leaf-raking program. In congruence with Mayor Jones’ commitment to citywide service, representatives from seven city departments provided volunteer leaf-raking services from November 2012 through February 2013. As of February, 30 yards across 7 council districts have been cleared of leaves. In addition, city volunteers have accumulated over 100 hours in service, bringing the City of Rich-mond closer to its goal of 100,000 hours completed amongst city agencies. The success of this project would not have been possible without city employees, the city’s AmeriCorps ACES program, and N2N interns from the Univer-sity of Richmond.

N2N’s Leaf Raking Project

US Conference of Mayors and Corporation for National and Community Service to leverage National Day of Service and Volunteer Recognition

Mayors across this country use service every day to strengthen communities and tackle pressing problems and, on April 9, 2013, the Corporation for National and Community Service [CNCS] and the US Conference of Mayors will join May-ors all over the country in recognizing the impact of that service from the na-tional level. This year marks the first ever Mayor’s Day of Recognition for Vol-unteer Service. On behalf of Mayor Dwight C. Jones and his vision to “Build the Best Richmond”, N2N has convened both the city’s Office on Aging and Disabili-ties and Senior Connections to make April 9, 2013 not just a day of recognition, but also one of service. Specifically, 40 seniors and/or persons with disabilities will receive spring cleaning (both inside and/or outside) at their residences. In addition, volunteers will be serve at four of Senior Connections’ Friendship Café’s. N2N has collaborated with VCU and will utilize over 160 student and fac-ulty volunteers to assist with the various service projects on that day.

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Don’t Forget:

For more on these and other events, check out the N2N webpage or be sure to keep up with N2N’s weekly email updates.