Thank you Wisconsin for volunteering on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

Thank you to Wisconsin citizens from across the state who made a difference as part of the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service, which is the only federal holiday designated a National Day of Service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. Throughout Wisconsin, people took part in projects honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of selflessness and service, joining with Americans across the country to step up to make communities more equitable and take action to create the Beloved Community of Dr. King’s dream. 

You can learn more about a small sample of the activities volunteers did throughout the state by reading the articles below about some of the projects that Wisconsin AmeriCorps members volunteered during or organized.

For those looking for ways to volunteer to build upon this legacy of service, visit the Volunteer Wisconsin website to find service opportunities at https://www.volunteerwisconsin.org/.

Serve Wisconsin recognized with 2022 Outstanding Partner in Community Health Award by Marshfield Clinic Health System for over twenty-year partnership with their AmeriCorps programs

This January, Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) announced that Serve Wisconsin was being honored as a recipient of its 2022 Outstanding Partner in Community Health Awards in recognition of our over twenty-year partnership working with their AmeriCorps programs. This award honors organizations and individuals that have a history of working closely with the MCHS Center for Community Health Advancement to address the most pressing community health needs throughout their service area.

“Without the direct involvement from these key partners, our work would not be as effective…It is the nature of community health that work is done collaboratively with members of the community,” stated Jay Shrader, vice president of community health for MCHS, when announcing the recipients for 2022 on January 20. “These awardees exemplify the highest level of partnership and achievement of the most significant outcomes, and this is one way we can acknowledge and thank them for their commitment to improving the health of our communities.”

The following week, Marshfield Clinic Health System staff presented Serve Wisconsin staff with the 2022 Outstanding Partner in Community Health Award while attending our 2023 New AmeriCorps Program and Staff Boot Camp.

Serve Wisconsin would like to thank Marshfield Clinic Health System for being such a dedicated partner in service for over two decades. We are now in our 23rd year of collaborating with MCHS. Marshfield Clinic's current AmeriCorps programs are MCHS Community Corps, whose AmeriCorps members help nonprofits and public health organizations increase their capacity to address local health needs, and MCHS Recovery Corps, whose AmeriCorps members serve as recovery coaches for individuals with substance abuse disorders. 

We are greatly appreciative of the creativity and dedication that MCHS has shown in adapting and creating AmeriCorps programs to meet the needs of communities. Thank you for your partnership and the tremendous impact your AmeriCorps members have had for the people of Wisconsin. We look forward to continuing our partnership.

For more information about the awards, access the Marshfield Clinic Health System Recognizes Outstanding Partners in Community Health press release.

Chippewa Fresh Start holds open house to celebrate most recent home built by their AmeriCorps members

The AmeriCorps members and staff with the Chippewa Fresh Start program through Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council celebrated the completion of the construction of their most recent home on Thursday, January 26. The home in Fall Creek, WI, will now be sold to a low-income or moderate-income family in Eau Claire County with support from Western Dairyland.

Chippewa Fresh Start AmeriCorps members from the current and previous program years completed the construction and finishing of the home while also working on achieving high school diplomas/HSEDs, developing career goals, improving self-esteem, and alleviating barriers to economic self-sufficiency.

Chippewa Fresh Start program director Shayne Gerberding explained that the open house provided “a day to reflect on the past year in a half building a house. Really to celebrate all the accomplishments of our youth.” Describing the role of the program, she explained that “we’re here to teach them how to overcome challenges, how to problem solve and how to get the job done…The beauty of our program is that we see so many successes. Successes can look like moving into an apartment for the first time, just being a good renter, maintaining jobs, and things like that.” 

Describing the experience completing the home construction, AmeriCorps member Bryan Monts-Johnson explained that “honestly, the most rewarding thing was sitting on the carpet, for like half an hour just talking, about where we were months ago until now.”

AmeriCorps member Cha Thao-Degro described his service journey with Chippewa Fresh Start, saying “my friend Christian referred me to this, saying it might be a good fit for me because I wasn’t doing good in school.” Describing being back on track to graduating high school and completing the home construction, she reflected that "I feel pretty accomplished; I feel pretty proud. I like the outcome of it; it's pretty nice. I'm just happy that a family is going to be here; they're going to raise their kids, live the rest of their life here, maybe." 

Media Coverage of Chippewa Fresh Start Open House

• Eau Claire Leader-Telegram - Chippewa Fresh Start unveils a new house built by at-risk youth program
• WEAU NBC 13 - Fresh Start program helps at-risk youths by teaching them how to build
• WQOW ABC 18 - 'I feel pretty proud': At-risk young adults build a new house

College Possible Milwaukee AmeriCorps members participate in multiple projects for MLK Day of Service

Every Martin Luther King Jr. Day, College Possible Milwaukee commits to a day of service and volunteers in honor of Dr. King’s legacy and vision for the Beloved Community: a community in which everyone is cared for and is absent of hunger, poverty, and hate. His vision serves as a call to action and inspires them to spend what many consider a day off as a “day on” each year. On this day, College Possible Milwaukee AmeriCorps coaches and leadership staff volunteered at organizations across Milwaukee.

At Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, a group of team members helped sort and package shelf-stable items to be distributed to food pantries, programs, and families across Eastern Wisconsin. Collectively, they helped package 5,000 pounds of food.

Another group spent their morning at the Urban Ecology Center, picking up trash along the Menominee Riverwalk and participating in other indoor activities. Together, they helped clean up Milwaukee’s greenspace and served as stewards of the land.

“The UEC by the Menominee River is one of the first places I remember seeing myself, a Native American, reflected in art and educational plaques here in Milwaukee,” says Megan Keller, an AmeriCorps College Coach, “I felt honored to be able to serve as a steward of the land and water there on MLK day as my people have done for time immemorial. To do it with my amazing College Possible co-workers and to contemplate how we can foster a love for and service towards not only our human brothers and sisters but for animals and our mother earth as well was powerful and inspiring.”

In the afternoon, a few team members attended the King Day Celebration at the King Center. They helped set up and take down the event, usher, and celebrate Dr. King’s life. At this event, members of the Milwaukee community shared what Dr. King’s legacy meant to them through speech, performance, and art.

This day was an impactful and inspiring kick-off to the year of service ahead. AmeriCorps Community Partners Team Member Erik Zawodniak says, “I have known about Dr. King since my elementary school years, and every MLK day since then has just been another day off—until now. This was a “day on” and the first MLK day that has truly meant something to me.”

Green Bay Conservation Corps leads MLK Day of Service project on local community trail

On Monday, January 16th, 2023, the Green Bay Conservation Corps (GBCC) gave back to the community for MLK Day of Service by hosting a volunteer event along The Sgt. Benjamin Edinger West Side Trail in Green Bay. Despite the rainy weather conditions, the Green Bay community joined together to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call to service to improve their community trail by removing invasive species. GBCC AmeriCorps members taught volunteers to identify and remove invasive plant species using hand saws and loppers to restore the natural health and beauty of the trail.

Media Coverage of Green Bay Conservation Corps MLK Day Project

• WBAY ABC 2 - Volunteers see Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a day of service
• WGBA NBC 26 - Green Bay and Appleton communities honor MLK with Day of Service

AmeriCorps members with MCHS Community Corps help lead MLK Day projects across Wisconsin

The AmeriCorps members with Marshfield Clinic Health System – Community Corps are placed in nonprofits and public health organizations across the state to increase their capacity to address local health needs. Many of them led or participated in service projects for Martin Luther King, Jr., National Day of Service locally with their host site organizations, with the below project descriptions by AmeriCorps Community Corps members serving as a sample of their projects throughout the state.

Jenifer McKenzie – serving at NAMI Inc. of Manitowoc County

In honor MLK Day of Service, United We Serve and NAMI Manitowoc County co-hosted a food drive with The Salvation Army of Manitowoc County to help restock the Food Pantry. My supervisor, NAMI Manitowoc County Board President Donna Firman, and I chose the Food Drive not only because of the pantry's need, but also because of how important healthy nutrition is to mental wellness. I reached out to The Salvation Army and they were so excited to have us partner with them in this effort...I sent out a bulk email asking local business owners if they would like to participate. I created flyers/signage listing drop off dates or the option of having items picked up from their business. Donna helped me construct a press release and made an appearance on the Breakfast Club radio show along with Jenny Moffitt of The Salvation Army to speak about the Food Drive and the reasons for it. I posted the event on the NAMI Manitowoc County Facebook page as well…Three local businesses, Jim Reif Builders, Community First Credit Union, and Crescent Woolen Mills Co. donated 700 pounds of food. Many other businesses responded and asked us to keep them in mind for future donations. The nonperishable items were all dropped off at The Salvation Army of Manitowoc County and will now go to benefit those who need it most in Manitowoc County.

Sarah Webb – serving at Volunteer Center of Racine County, Inc. in Racine

For Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I held a Youth Mental Health Awareness Event for youth volunteers 11-18. Twenty youth volunteers participated in the even. We had guest speakers from NAMI, Rogers Behavioral Health Kenosha, LBGT Center of SE Wisconsin, The Phoenix Wellness Center, Mount Pleasant Police Department, and Sheepish, Youth volunteers learned about different mental illnesses, signs of a person being suicidal, what a Crisis Intervention Officer does, and information about the LBGTQIA community and how having to hide who you really are affects mental health. Lastly, youth volunteers learned techniques to help with stress and anxiety and how to meditate.

Grace Hammer – serving with the Cassandra Voss Center at St. Norbert College in De Pere

For the National MLK Day of Service, I was a part of the St. Norbert College celebration. I went to the talk titled Leaning in: A discussion about race and bias through the lens of MLK's principles of nonviolence. I got to engage in conversation with a number of the campus community, faculty, staff, and students about each of the 6 principles of nonviolence and what they mean to us. We also talked about how we can use them to continue MLK's legacy in the work that he was doing. I learned so much about my campus community peers, and my favorite thing of the day was getting to engage with them deeper on the topic of race. I did this because it ties into the work that I am doing at my host site, the Cassandra Voss Center. I even got to see some of the students who we have working here at the event, and it was wonderful to engage with them deeper and have this learning experience together.

Tim Hirsch – serving at Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I transcribed documents of the Freedmen’s Bureau from the 1860s by using the Smithsonian’s Digital Volunteers Transcription Center. I wrote a social media post with my site supervisor sharing my service with the museum’s community, which shared why my service was relevant and impactful and invited others to join me. Among the stories I transcribed was one about a general who was interested in a horse named Don Juan. More revealing though, was one whose author attended a Black church service in Little Rock. After the minister performed the service, he shared how the church had hired eight teachers for twenty dollars. After explaining the budget, the congregation was 170 dollars short, and after their contributions were counted, they had 40 dollars more than needed. There were also documents listing the services hired by Freedmen’s Bureau agents, who performed them, and how much they were paid. Those records may be of those people’s first wages, an incredibly important moment in their lives and also an indication of how they were treated during their transition to freedom.

Maddie Kinscher – serving at Central Rivers Farmshed in Stevens Point

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day fell on Central Rivers Farmshed's Badger Box distribution. It was a rainy Monday, quite unpleasant for staff and volunteers, as we worked outdoors. We gave away 200 boxes, 36 going to a low-income housing unit and the rest to the public and some of our volunteers. It was the most we gave away at once, and we still wrapped up in an hour and a half. There are still more people who can be served in our area. Badger Boxes largely serves those who are working, make too much money for federal programming, but not enough to meet their basic needs. We also serve university students, seniors with constrained incomes, veterans, single parents, and families. Part of me believes this is the type of community support MLK would support, with community members distributing regionally sourced food to their neighbors. Badger Boxes is a program I love to lead and participate in, and I don't want it to go anywhere anytime soon. I do wish that something can change upstream to resolve the poverty problem. I hope to be a part of that change in the years to come. In the meantime, I am doing what I can to relieve hunger now. I am grateful to be a part of this process and meet the people who are positively impacted by the program in the present.

WisCorps supports The Hunger Task Force Kane Street Community Garden for MLK Day of Service project

Wanting to give back to their community In recognition of the call to service by Martin Luther King, Jr., the AmeriCorps members, and staff at WisCorps engaged in a day of service at The Hunger Task Force Kane Street Community Garden in La Crosse.  WisCorps assisted by counting and cataloging crates of seeds for the upcoming growing season. WisCorps AmeriCorps member Shelby Chapman, currently serving at the garden, organized the project. The community garden produces an average of 30,000 pounds of fresh, organically grown vegetables each year that are distributed for free to community members.

Milwaukee Christian Center YouthBuild AmeriCorps members volunteer at Carson Academy of Science for MLK Day of Service

Milwaukee Christian Center (MCC) YouthBuild AmeriCorps members put the construction and home finishing skills they have learned during their service to use this year on MLK Day at the Carson Academy of Science. Each year, the city of Milwaukee chooses a school to help beautify on MLK Day. MCC YouthBuild AmeriCorps members joined the effort and helped build bookshelves and traced and painted murals throughout the school.

AmeriCorps members with Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics come together to volunteer at Second Harvest Foodbank for day of service

In recognition of the legacy of service of Martin Luther King, Jr., the AmeriCorps members with the Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (WAFCC) completed a service project this January at Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin in Madison. The WAFCC AmeriCorps members, who serve to increase access to healthcare services for low-income and uninsured patients at clinics throughout the state, came together to complete an afternoon of service supporting Second Harvest. During their project, they bagged, organized, and boxed several thousand bagels and hundreds of pizzas to be distributed to those facing food insecurity. 

Service stories from AmeriCorps members with the Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics

January episodes of The S-Files podcast

This month on The S-Files, we explored the service stories of three AmeriCorps members serving this year with the Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. Check out these episodes below and access all of the podcast episodes on The S-Files podcast series website.

Expanding Health Care Access for Black Men with the Wisconsin Association of Free & Charitable Clinics

In this episode, we are exploring the service stories of two AmeriCorps members, Paige Hill and Kamya Moultry, who are serving with the Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics at the Perry Family Free Clinic in Madison. Paige and Kamya describe the different ways that their service supports the goal of the clinic to provide quality healthcare for uninsured and under-insured Black men and all who are impacted by disparities in healthcare in the local community. Paige discusses how as a Public Health AmeriCorps member, her service focuses on directly working with the patients in different ways and looking at the social determinants of health that impact the patients. Kamya describes how as an AmeriCorps VISTA member, her service focuses on expanding the capacity of the clinic to serve the public, including community outreach, partnerships with other nonprofits, and assisting with grant writing. Listen to learn how Kamya and Paige are working to expand health care access and how their AmeriCorps experience and the memories they have made will carry over into their continued work to help others in the future. (listen to the episode here) 

Charting a New Course while Helping Others with the Wisconsin Association of Free & Charitable Clinics

In this episode, we are exploring the service done by AmeriCorps member Amber Scarborough, who is serving with the Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (WAFCC) at the St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy in Madison. Amber describes how she helps patients accessing medications at the pharmacy, as well as working with individuals that would like to donate medications and working on outreach efforts to increase awareness about their services. She also discusses how she is assisting at the Food Bank at St. Vincent de Paul each week, and the connections and ideas it has brought to her efforts supporting the pharmacy. Amber later describes how she came to her AmeriCorps service with WAFCC despite not having a background in health, as she was seeking a new direction from the graduate program she had been completing. Listen to learn how Amber is striving to help address the societal issues she had studied through her service helping uninsured individuals access medication and how her service as a second-generation AmeriCorps member is helping her explore new paths to help others in the future.

 (listen to the episode here)

New Program and Staff Boot Camp 2023 provides AmeriCorps training for new staff and organizations

This January, thirty-three people from current and potential AmeriCorps programs in Wisconsin participated in the New Program and Staff Boot Camp, which provides training for new staff at existing programs and organizations developing a new AmeriCorps program.

The Boot Camp covered several topics, including an overview of the larger landscape of AmeriCorps and national service, rules and regulations, program management, site management, compliance, and enhancing the experience of our AmeriCorps members. This boot camp is hosted every year as part of the cycle of trainings and workshops hosted by Serve Wisconsin to provide support for its AmeriCorps programs.

Deadline for NCCC AmeriCorps Concept Papers is March 2 for projects in July-September or August-October 2023

AmeriCorps NCCC teams are 18-24 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.

For example, the Cedar 3 Team of AmeriCorps NCCC members served between September 19 and November 8 at YMCA Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya to assist the Greater Green Bay YMCA. They completed several projects at the camp, including improving trail systems, renovating the amphitheater, and building new campsites.

Nonprofit organizations and government agencies interested in working with an AmeriCorps NCCC team either between July 14 and September 8, 2023, or between August 11 and October 12, 2023, need to submit a concept form by March 2.

The deadline for submitting concept form for working with a team between September 15 and November 7 or between October 19 and December 15 is May 2, 2023. . Information on the application process for these upcoming periods is available in their Request for Proposal (RFP) for 2023 service dates.

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

• A representative of business
• A representative of local government
• 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.