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AmeriCorps Working on Disaster Recovery Projects in Wisconsin
Serve Wisconsin helped mobilize and coordinate volunteers to address recent natural disasters and to provide assistance to recovery projects from previous flood damages.
The team worked for a week with Team Rubicon completing disaster recovery projects in Adams and Juneau Counties. The team was comprised of multiple streams of National Service: AmeriCorps members and staff from multiple programs, AmeriCorps alumni, VISTA members, Senior Corps Directors and staff, and Serve Wisconsin staff. The projects they completed included cleaning out basements of flood damaged homes, cleaning debris from creeks, rebuilding homes, and repairing/restoring Glenwood Park in Kendall, WI.
Additionally, following recent storms in Northern and Central Wisconsin, Serve Wisconsin once again worked with Team Rubicon and local governments and agencies to engage AmeriCorps members and outside volunteers to help families and local communities recover from the storm damage.
Across the nation, AmeriCorps members provide crucial assistance to recovery efforts after tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, flooding, and other disasters. Serve Wisconsin is working to expand the ability of Wisconsin AmeriCorps programs and members to help respond to local disasters. The next recovery project is scheduled to take place between September 28 and October 6 in Langlade and Oconto Counties. Please save the dates and more information will follow.
For more information on the work that Serve Wisconsin is doing to facilitate the response for disaster recovery efforts or to express interest in participating in the upcoming project next month, contact Ruhamah Bauman at (608) 267-2359 or
[email protected]
For news coverage regarding the recovery projects in Adams and Juneau Counties this July, please read
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Farm to School AmeriCorps Members Impacting Students and Schools throughout Wisconsin
AmeriCorps members serving with the Wisconsin Department of Instruction Farm to School program in over a dozen counties throughout the state have been incredibly active introducing foods into classrooms, working with schools to incorporate more fresh and local produce into meals, fostering presentations by local farmers in classrooms, and supporting the use of nearly 300 school gardens. This May, Governor Evers proclaimed May 23 to be the first Wisconsin School Garden Day, with the AmeriCorps members from Farm to School being a vital support to the success of these gardens. Several Farm to School members and their programs were featured in local news stories over the past few months, highlighting all of their work with students in communities throughout the state. While the school year has wrapped up for the summer, the Farm to School members have continued supporting these programs and efforts and laying the ground work for new AmeriCorps members to continue supporting nutrition education and healthy eating at schools in Wisconsin.
Recent News Videos, Articles, and Posts on AmeriCorps Farm to School
- Kindergartners take part in first ever Wisconsin School Garden Day - Arbor Vitae, WI (Vilas County) - ARTICLE AND VIDEO
- Arbor Vitae-Woodruff Elementary take produce from school garden to the farmer's market - FACEBOOK POSTS
- Crawford County Farm to School teaches children about food waste - Soldiers Grove, WI (Crawford County) - ARTICLE
- AmeriCorps Staff Helps Get Local Food in the Cafeteria - New Lisbon, WI (Juneau County) - ARTICLE
- Local Students Learn About Herbs and Spices - Mauston, WI (Juneau County) - ARTICLE
- Partners in Education: Inspiration Acres - Howard, WI (Brown County) - ARTICLE AND VIDEO
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Busy Summer for AmeriCorps Members at WisCorps
The AmeriCorps members at WisCorps over the past few months have been incredibly busy completing conservation projects throughout Wisconsin and at two regional national parks and providing environmental education to children.
Conservation projects throughout the state have been completed by several different crews of AmeriCorps members. Roving Crew members spent this summer completing projects and rebuilding shelters in Copper Falls State Park in Ashland County, including restoring a bench that the Civilian Conservation Corps built in 1930s, as well as constructing bike trails in Plymouth in Sheboygan County. The American Sign Language crew, which includes members that are deaf or hard of hearing, has spent several weeks this summer rebuilding bridges throughout Fisher Creek Park in Manitowoc County and clearing streams in Ozaukee County to allow fish passage. The Mayor's Crews have spent the summer completing projects throughout the La Crosse area, where WisCorps is headquartered. Additionally, AmeriCorps members with WisCorps spent several weeks working at two regional national parks, Indiana Dunes National Park along the southern shore of Lake Michigan and Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior north of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Additionally, the AmeriCorps members that are part of the Environmental Education team have spent this summer providing conservation and environmental programming to children through summer day camps and coordination with local community organizations. Children have the opportunity to learn about and encounter local animals and plants, go on hikes through restored prairies and around wetlands, tour the garden maintained by AmeriCorps members, and gain a greater appreciation for nature through several other activities. Striving to open nature up to those with disabilities, WisCorps obtained an adaptive wheelchair with tracks to enable significantly expanded access for children or adults participating in these programs.
The following video was put together by AmeriCorps member Taylor Smith showing a montage of the environmental education programming WisCorps did this summer at their summer day camps:
https://youtu.be/83SJIZly4SM
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Celebration of AmeriCorps Service at Rib Mountain State Park
Seventy AmeriCorps members and program staff, family members, and other guests from five Northern and Central Wisconsin AmeriCorps Programs attended a Celebration of Service on July 31 at Rib Mountain State Park near Wausau. The potluck picnic included a performance by a local Hmong dance group, a scavenger hunt to locations throughout the park, activities with therapy dogs, a "service poetry" table, musical performances, and other activities to allow everyone to celebrate the achievements of members during their terms of service. As a reminder of their commitment to serve over the past year and beyond, AmeriCorps members were led to renew their AmeriCorps oaths led by Jeanne Duffy, the Executive Director of Serve Wisconsin.
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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.
Program information is also available on our
Serve Wisconsin
website.
We look forward to speaking with you!
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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 three vacancies for board members for the following appointment types:
- A representative of community-based agency
- 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
Apply to Serve - Governor Tony Evers. 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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Calendar: Upcoming Events and Key Dates
August
- August 12 - AmeriCorps Grant Writing Workshop (Pyle Center, Madison, WI)
September / October
- September 2 - Labor Day - State Holiday - Serve WI Office closed
- September 11 - September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance
- September 12 - 25th Anniversary of AmeriCorps
- September 16-20 - AmeriCorps State & National Symposium in Washington, DC - Serve WI Office closed
- September 28 - October 6 - Disaster Recovery Project in Langlade and Oconto Counties (exact dates/locations still tentative)
- October 11 - Opening Ceremony (Peck Center, Milwaukee County Zoo)
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