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Public Allies - Milwaukee Celebrates its 25th Anniversary
On April 15, 330 people gathered to celebrate the contribution that Public Allies Milwaukee has made to the city and to recognize key individuals, AmeriCoprs members, and organizations for the impact that they have made for a quarter century!
AmeriCorps members with Public Allies work to improve the lives of the people of Milwaukee through placements with nonprofit organizations where they help build the capacity of organizations to address critical community needs such as youth development and education, workforce development, environmental issues, arts programming, and community health.
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Celebration of Service at Beaver Creek Reserve
Over forty AmeriCorps members and program staff from throughout the state came together at the Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall River, WI to complete Earth Day service projects and celebrate the terms of service of members nearing their end. Over the course of two days, multiple projects were completed around the reserve, including clearing trails, painting and cleaning cabins, and other upkeep and maintenance on the grounds. When not completing service projects, members and staff enjoyed hiking on the reserve and the opportunity to come together with other programs to celebrate their time with AmeriCorps.
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Twin Service -
Serving Students in Two AmeriCorps Programs
While there are many ways that we think of twins as being similar, making a simultaneous decision to dedicate a year to national service working with students through AmeriCorps is typically not one of them. Taylor and Jessie Zimmerman though did make that decision, as they were looking for an opportunity to build upon their skills working with youth in the Madison area after they both completed their master's degree in social work. While both wanted more direct experience putting their coursework into action working with youth, they chose different AmeriCorps programs and ages of students being reached for their service. Taylor has spent her term of service with AmeriCorps serving with Partners for After School Success (PASS) and working with high school students, while Jessie has served with Schools of Hope and worked with elementary students.
AmeriCorps had always been on Taylor's radar as a way to give back in a meaningful way, as "it was always on my bucket list to join a program such as AmeriCorps. I wanted to take my personal experiences and learning and apply it to giving back to a community." She has cherished the supportive environment she found with PASS that has brought together people with different interests and backgrounds and has given her the opportunity to connect to both young people and the city of Madison through direct service.
The favorite aspect of Jessie's AmeriCorps service with Schools of Hope AmeriCorps has definitely been working with the kids, finding that "as much as you are teaching them, they are definitely teaching you just as much. They remind you of the importance to smile, laugh, and just find a way to enjoy each and every day. They always have something to share and teach us if we take the time to listen."
While both are with different programs, Taylor describes how "it is always great to have someone to share what occurred throughout our day to day service in our programs and be able to relate to both the accomplishments and sometimes the struggles we encounter. Since being in AmeriCorps together we get to share in similar but separate experiences and go on this journey together. We have always been a pair and it is nice to continue our journey together through AmeriCorps." This journey of having a positive impact is set to continue, as both plan on finding ways to continue working with youth and families in the social work field, hoping to continue making a difference for communities and the lives of others.
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Teach For America AmeriCorps members clean Milwaukee waterways
As part of a service project for Earth Day, 50 Teach For America-Milwaukee AmeriCorps members participated in the 23rd Annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup on April 21. They were joined at their site by AmeriCorps members from Reading Corps and by thousands of other citizens during the day as they worked to remove debris from Milwaukee waterways. At the end of the spring cleanup event, thousands of pounds of trash were removed from the water, including one sandbox, one swimming pool, two mattresses, two bicycles, four shopping carts, forty-one tires, and several other large items.
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Welcome to Ruhamah Bauman, our new Program Officer!
Ruhamah Bauman is bringing a passion for service built around her experiences in national service through multiple pathways, having served for two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA member and having most recently worked as a program officer at the Corporation for National and Community Service office based in Milwaukee. During her first year with VISTA, Ruhamah focused on resource development through donor stewardship, grant writing, and fundraising events at Habitat for Humanity-Sheboygan. She then served a second term as an AmeriCorps VISTA Leader at Habitat for Humanity-Wisconsin, where she recruited, trained, and guided over 20 members statewide. During her time with CNCS, she managed an extensive portfolio of Senior Corps sponsors, AmeriCorps VISTA sponsors, and other agency initiatives. This experience was highlighted by her work developing new project sponsors, providing extensive technical assistance, conducting compliance monitoring, and helping Wisconsin to be nationally recognized for its participation in the 2018 National Service Recognition Day. Ruhamah is currently the lead program officer for the Afterschool, Volunteer Wisconsin, and Recovery Corps programs through Marshfield Clinic, the Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services, and Blugold Beginnings at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, as well as leading the further development of the Disaster Service Corps and our disaster response efforts here in Wisconsin.
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Serve Wisconsin launches its redesigned website
Serve Wisconsin has launched a redesigned website to provide improved navigation and accessibility across multiple platforms and devices. To access the updated version of the website, please go to
www.servewisconsin.wi.gov.
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Serve Wisconsin releases its 2017-2018 Annual Report
Serve Wisconsin has released its annual report for the previous AmeriCorps program year, showing our AmeriCorps members in action and detailing the impact they have to improve the lives of the citizens of Wisconsin. An digital copy of the annual report can be found
HERE and on the Serve Wisconsin website. For questions regarding the annual report or to request a paper copy, please contact Kyle Clower at
[email protected].
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Interesting in serving as a member of
the Wisconsin National and Community Service Board?
For those interested in taking an active role in promoting national service and volunteerism in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin National and Community Service Board currently has five vacancies for board members for the following appointment types:
- A representative of community-based agency
- A representative of local government
- A representative of local labor organizations in the State
- An individual between the ages of 16 and 25, inclusive, who is a participant or supervisor of a service program for school-aged youth, or of a campus-based or national service program
- An open seat where the individual would meet any of the slot descriptions in state statute for one of the other appointed members
Those interested in serving are required to complete an application to the governor for the appointment. The online application for applying for a board position can be found HERE
, with additional information on the application process found at
https://evers.wi.gov/Pages/Application_Process.aspx
. If you are potentially interested in serving on the board and have any questions, please contact Serve Wisconsin Executive Director Jeanne Duffy at
[email protected]
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Become an AmeriCorps Member Today!
If you wish to engage in meaningful community service and acquire job skills, consider joining AmeriCorps!
To learn more about AmeriCorps or if you are ready to join and have questions about which program is right for you, contact us! We are happy to answer your questions and help you explore the different opportunities available.
We look forward to speaking with you!
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Calendar: Upcoming Events and Key Dates
May
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May 29 - AmeriCorps member Celebration of Service (Madison, WI)
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May 30
- Program Evaluation and Development meeting (Madison, WI)
June
- June 6 - Governor's Service Awards Ceremony (10-11:30am Monona Terrace, Madison, WI)
- June 6 - Wisconsin National and Community Service Board meeting (Monona Terrace, Madison, WI)
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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