Nominations Open for 2024 Governor's Service Awards

Nominations Due on March 18

Serve Wisconsin opened nominations for the 2024 Governor's Service Awards earlier this month! Nominations are due by Monday, March 18. The awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 15, at the Green Lake Conference Center.

The Governor's Service Awards honors outstanding national service members, volunteers, and programs. Past honorees have made significant contributions to Wisconsin through their service, with their generous service impacting the lives of countless Wisconsinites. Awards will recognize outstanding national service by individuals and programs serving through AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors and the tremendous impact volunteers make throughout the state by honoring a Volunteer of the Year from multiple categories of volunteer service.

When honoring the recipients of the 2023 Governor's Service Awards, Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez told the 2023 honorees that "each of you represents a different path and approach to service and are sharing your unique skills, experiences and insights in a way that allows you to have the greatest impact." She described that "whether you are working with individuals to advance their education goals, ensuring that people in need have access to quality, affordable health care, or being an agent of positive change for local families and communities, each of you is without a doubt, making a real, measurable difference in the lives of the people that you serve, and I thank you for doing that. So much of our local impact rests on the shoulders of dedicated volunteers and organizations like yourselves, and we could not have the reach and influence in this state without partners like all of you."

Award nominations are due on Monday, March 18, with the 2024 nomination form and information on past recipients available on the Serve Wisconsin website at https://www.servewisconsin.wi.gov/governors-service-awards, with specific resources listed below.

• Nominations Overview for 2024 Governor’s Service Awards 
• The overview includes information on nomination categories, award eligibility, the questions/prompts on the nomination form, submitting supporting materials, and the scoring process.
• 2024 Nomination Form 
• Nominations can be submitted by completing the online form available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WI2024GSA.

The nomination categories for this year are listed below, with descriptions on the nomination form.

• Volunteer of the Year (multiple categories for nomination by service type)
• AmeriCorps Member of the Year 
• AmeriCorps Program of the Year 
• AmeriCorps Alumni of the Year 
• AmeriCorps Seniors Volunteer of the Year 
• AmeriCorps Seniors Program of the Year 
• AmeriCorps Seniors Lifetime Impact Volunteer
• Marty Stein, Friend of National Service Exemplary Supporter

If you have questions about the nomination process for the 2024 Governor's Service Awards, please contact Kyle Clower at kyle.clower@wisconsin.gov.

Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services AmeriCorps Members Empowering Youth Voices while serving at Pathfinders in Milwaukee

For over 25 years, AmeriCorps members serving with the Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services (WAHRS) have been making a difference for youth experiencing housing insecurity. WAHRS AmeriCorps members often have specific expertise as youth with lived experience of homelessness. Serving in AmeriCorps provides an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience while gaining skills and a potential career path in youth services and community organization.

Many WAHRS AmeriCorps members at Pathfinders in Milwaukee also serve on the local youth action board, Power of Paths (POP). AmeriCorps member Davonta Sellers, who is part of the Pathfinders Street Outreach team, is currently serving as its President. Members serving on POP work hard to better the community and share their expertise. In the spring of 2023, POP members traveled to Madison and provided education about the need for improved services and support for youth experiencing homelessness. In September, Milwaukee County received a $3 million award under HUD's Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP), with this project being enhanced and driven by the voice of the POP board. The WAHRS AmeriCorps members participating in POP are part of a team meeting bi-weekly to develop the plan they would like to propose for how to utilize the money awarded to Milwaukee for YHDP. The lived experience of POP members is essential in developing a plan to address shortcomings in the various systems that make it harder for homeless and runaway youth to secure and maintain housing, find jobs, and much more.

In addition to drawing from their own experiences and those of the youth they serve in this large community effort, the members also do this within their service at Pathfinders itself. They recently drew on the expertise of the current clients that Pathfinders serves to address the challenge their staff had connecting with homeless and runaway youth when schools were not in session. Particularly during holiday breaks, the agency saw drastically fewer youth in the age range with whom they typically have the most contact. By meeting with different youth at Pathfinders – in the Drop-In center, during Power of Paths meetings, and homeless youth on the street, the AmeriCorps members were able to ask people with more current lived experience where they thought they could connect with homeless youth when school is out. The youth helped members identify different parks surrounding the high schools, public libraries, and various "hot-spot" corner stores and restaurants. When the high schools were closed due to winter break and finals, the WAHRS AmeriCorps members focused more on stopping by libraries and parks as the youth suggested they could make more one-on-one connections with different youth who fit into the POP program.

Based on feedback from a Pathfinders Aftercare Group of past residents, the WAHRS AmeriCorps members worked with youth to provide a spot that could highlight staff with pictures and names. AmeriCorps member Angelica Morales, currently serving her fourth term at Pathfinders, took on the project and painted a mural to be added to the agency's safe space that highlights agency staff. The creator envisioned the mural highlighting the Milwaukee Eastside, where the Pathfinders Youth Shelter is located. The project is still being developed and will include additional contributions from Angelica. The space also includes banners for Pride Month, Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage, and many more banners that highlight the history and contributions of people who made a change in their communities.

Reflecting on her experience serving with WAHRS at Pathfinders, Angelica explained, "when I first decided to apply for AmeriCorps, I really didn't know what I was getting into. I envisioned that I would stay for a year, but then a year turned into two, then three and now I'm currently in my fourth and final year with AmeriCorps. I never imagined working with youth until I landed at my service placement at Pathfinders Youth Shelter. They welcomed a stranger into their home and the staff greeted me with all the support I could have asked for. Being placed with Pathfinders Youth Shelter opened my eyes to working with at-risk and unhoused youth here in Milwaukee. I have been a listening ear to our young people that haven't had anyone to listen to them. I have been an advocate for those whose voices were not being heard. I have been someone that they could identify with as someone who is a person of color. I have gained skills to be calm during a crisis and I have been able to problem-solve and find solutions throughout my shifts. With my continued training with AmeriCorps and WAHRS, it has truly guided me to be the change that I want to see in this world. I am so honored to have had the privilege to be in service with AmeriCorps and Pathfinders Youth Shelter."

Serve Wisconsin offering funding to support volunteer engagement in rural Wisconsin

Serve Wisconsin invites non-profit organizations, Indian Tribes, local governments, schools, institutions of higher education, and state agencies to apply for mini-grants ranging between $2,000 and $4,500 that focus on strengthening volunteer engagement in rural areas of Wisconsin, where nearly 30% of the state’s population resides. Rural communities are defined as having populations of fewer than 2,500 residents.

Funding can be used to support or promote general volunteerism, volunteer trainings, volunteer engagement, or agency capacity building through volunteerism. Serve Wisconsin encourages applications from rural communities working with older adult volunteers and youth-led volunteer programs. If awarded, the last day to incur expenses reimbursable by the mini-grant grant will be September 30, 2024.

The application for these grants is currently open. Serve Wisconsin will begin reviewing first-round applications on March 15, and awarded entities will be notified by March 30. Subsequent applications will be accepted after March 15 and will be reviewed on the 15th of each month through either June or until all funds are awarded.

For more information on how to apply for these mini-grants please visit the VGF page of our website: https://www.servewisconsin.wi.gov/volunteer-generation-fund.

If you are interested in learning more about the Volunteer Generation Fund, please contact Rachel Donaldson at rachel.donaldson@wisconsin.gov.

Service story from AmeriCorps member with the

Green Bay Conservation Corps

February episode of The S-Files podcast

This month on The S-Files, we explored the service story of AmeriCorps member Julie Wilson, who is serving this year with the Green Bay Conservation Corps. Check out this month's episode below and you can access all of the episodes on The S-Files podcast series website.

Serving with the Green Bay Conservation Corps between Wildland Firefighting Seasons

In this episode of The S-Files, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Sam Greenberg, who is serving this year with the Green Bay Conservation Corps. Sam discusses the service he has done this winter with the Green Bay Conservation Corps while he is between seasons fighting wildland fires in the American West. He describes his service over the last few months, which has primarily focused on clearing invasive plant species from parks and public lands in Green Bay, and participating in community outreach efforts and volunteer projects.  Listen in to learn about how Sam has brought his experience to his AmeriCorps service with the Green Bay Conservation Corps and participating in its leadership pathway program and the difference he hopes to continue to make in the future. (listen to the episode here)

Deadline for NCCC AmeriCorps Concept Papers for Projects in September-November 2024 is April 30

The deadline for submitting a concept form is April 30 for nonprofit organizations and government agencies interested in working with an AmeriCorps NCCC team this year between September 13 and November 12, 2024. Information on the application process is available in their Request for Proposal (RFP) for 2024 service dates.

AmeriCorps NCCC teams are 18-26 year-olds traveling regionally to help communities meet their critical needs by completing projects that typically last 6-8 weeks. NCCC partners with a variety of nonprofit organizations, government entities (federal, state, or local), educational institutions, neighborhood associations, Native American Tribal Councils, and community-based or faith-based organizations to complete projects that address compelling community needs. These projects address five main service areas: natural and other disasters, energy conservation, environmental stewardship and conservation, infrastructure improvement, and urban and rural development.

As an example, the Aspen 2 AmeriCorps NCCC team partnered with Pringle Nature Center and the Kenosha County Division of Parks in May-June 2023 to construct three new features in the nature playground and improve the accessibility of the nature playground and park trails to wheelchair users. Additionally, the Oak 2 AmeriCorps NCCC team partnered with Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Department in May-June 2023

to assist with management and improvement needs within the Ozaukee County Park System and habitat restoration areas by planting trees, removing invasive species, trail construction and maintenance, native prairie and wetland seeding, and completing environmental monitoring projects.

For those interested in taking an active role in promoting national service and volunteerism in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin National and Community Service Board has one vacancy for a board members for the following appointment type:

• A representative of local labor

Those interested in serving must complete an application to the governor for the appointment. The online application 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 interested in serving on the board and have any questions, please contact Serve Wisconsin Executive Director Jeanne Duffy at jeanne.duffy@wisconsin.gov.

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