AmeriCorps*NCCC Team comes to Connecticut!

Poised, hard-working and ready to GET THINGS DONE!

From the Woodbury-Middlebury Patch and Robin Lucas:

In cooperation with Pomperaug Heath District’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) unit, a team of AmeriCorps volunteers will dedicate two weeks of their summer to helping Woodbury and Southbury with public health programming; trail remediation; and community garden beautification.

AmeriCorps (sometimes referred to as the “domestic Peace Corps”) will be stationed here from July 30 through August 10, through a grant-funded initiative with AmeriCorps’ parent agency: the National Civilian Community Corps.  Pomperaug Health District MRC and the Torrington Area Health District MRC, are sharing the AmeriCorps volunteers during this deployment.  The team is currently completing a series of tasks in the Torrington area, centered around youth and preparedness education. Prior to that, the 10-person-team had assisted Habitat for Humanity in Camden, NJ.

Under the direction of Pomperaug Health District, AmeriCorps will partner with the Southbury Land Trust and the Southbury Conservation Commission for trail cleanup and site beautification in the coming weeks.  Also on the AmeriCorps task list is spending a day at Southbury’s Community Garden at Settlers Park.  The garden was created this year through the CT State Department of Public Health and the Connecticut Cancer Partnership’s ACHIEVE grant, administrated by the Pomperaug Health District.

The AmeriCorps team will also take to the streets of Woodbury in order to gather data and complete real-time surveys using IPads at various, high-foot-traffic locations.  The data will help drive upcoming public health and emergency preparedness programming efforts.

Woodbury residents are urged to participate in the survey when approached by an AmeriCorps volunteer; input gathered from a random sampling of area residents will be especially useful in helping to make Woodbury and Southbury healthier, more prepared communities.  All AmeriCorps volunteers undergo extensive background checks prior to deployment.  These young men and women, who range in age between 18 and 24, hail from various parts of our nation and represent a broad spectrum of demographics.  All volunteers serving on behalf of the Pomperaug Health District MRC/AmeriCorps will be identifiable by identification badges and/or branded AmeriCorps apparel.  For more information regarding the AmeriCorps team or the Medical Reserve Corps, please call Pomperaug Health District Director of Health Neal Lustig  or MRC Unit Leader Robin Lucas at (203) 264-9616.

AmeriCorps week Spotlight - Becca Constantine!

As part of AmeriCorps Week 2012, each day we’ll be spotlighting a service member or alum across the state! Today’s spotlight is on Becca Constantine!

Becca is the Connecticut Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA member in Fairfield University's Office of Service Learning. “I have the immense privilege of working with our amazingly dedicated and talented students to build meaningful partnerships with schools and other organizations in the greater Bridgeport community.” Becca says a highlight of her year has been helping develop a service-learning program that pairs service-learning students in English and Education classes with 1^st and 2^nd grade students at Cesar Batalla Elementary in Bridgeport. “The smiles on the children's faces after sharing a book with a Fairfield U. student are priceless!” she says.

Becca Also served in AmeriCorps NCCC in 2010 as a Corps member and Team Leader in the Atlantic Region, serving in Maryland, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Louisiana on environmental and disaster response & recovery projects, and shared this story with is - “One day, we were gutting two houses along a residential street in a quiet suburb. After spending hours pulling soggy insulation from under a very nice gentleman's floorboards, I went to check on how my other team members had spent their day. They had just finished their work and were gathered in the driveway chatting with the homeowner. When I approached, he turned to me and smiled broadly. He explained that he had started the day filled with skepticism, wondering how four young women (all were between 18 and 24) could possibly have the strength and tenacity to clean out his house in the wake of a life-upending disaster. They did, though, and had left his day and his world a bit brighter. "These girls," he announced, "are my heroes." He gave them each a big hug before we moved on to our next houses."

Becca has also coached swim teams, volunteered at an orphanage in Ghana and plans on pursuing a Master's degree in Education Policy and Leadership after her service year. “I hope to use the knowledge I gain during my studies to address issues of diversity in higher education enrollment and retention and to work toward the implementation of best-practice models for helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds succeed on college campuses."

Thanks for all you do Becca!! Great stuff!

Connecticut native volunteers in Arizona

Connecticut native and UConn alum Stephen Packard has been busy dodging lizards, scorpions and the heat while he's been building trails in Casa Grande Arizona with his NCCC team over the past few weeks, as featured in an article by the West Hartford News.

This is the first project for Team Fire Four, and up is work along with the Oklahoma Ranger District USDA Forest Service.

To read more about the project click here.

Connecticut native volunteers in Houston

Katie Hanchuruck of Connecticut is serving on an NCCC team (above) and recently volunteered at Houston's historic Olivewood Cemetery, clearing vegetation and restoring repairing plots. Click here for more on the project, or here for more info on AmeriCorps*NCCC.