News from SUNY Cortland

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SUNY Cortland Seeks Volunteers for New Federal AmeriCorps Program

CORTLAND, NY (07/23/2008; 1052)(readMedia)-- Thirteen AmeriCorps volunteers will be recruited from across the country to spend a year in Cortland County helping with a variety of community revitalization and improvement initiatives.

The 13 AmeriCorps volunteers - equivalent to 11 full-time workers - will help 10 agencies that serve Cortland County starting this fall, said the project director, Professor Richard Kendrick, who chairs the Sociology and Anthropology Department and directs the College's Institute for Civic Engagement.

A federal grant awarded to SUNY Cortland and the community from the Corporation for National and Community Service supports the project.

"Each year, AmeriCorps offers opportunities for adults of all ages and backgrounds to serve through a network of partnerships with local and national nonprofit groups," explained Kendrick, who worked closely with the College's Research and Sponsored Programs Office to secure the $199,900 in AmeriCorps funding and Educational Benefit Awards for the project.

"The AmeriCorps members and the volunteers and students they recruit will be enlisted to meet important needs of the Cortland community for economic development and for expanding services to its at-risk population of children and youth," he said.

Each year, AmeriCorps offers 75,000 such opportunities around the nation. AmeriCorps members tutor and mentor disadvantaged youth, fight illiteracy, improve health services, build affordable housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, manage or operate after-school programs and help communities respond to disasters.

Cortland's AmeriCorps program is one of only three new sites funded in New York state this year, Kendrick said.

Locally, the volunteers will work in a variety of roles with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Cortland, Cortland City Youth Bureau, Cortland County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Cortland County Youth Bureau, Cortland Downtown Partnership, Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District, Family Counseling Services, Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture, Seven Valleys Health Coalition and the YWCA.

The award includes both a $148,000 federal AmeriCorps grant and a $51,900 Educational Benefit Awards grant, Kendrick said. The funding is renewable for two additional years, meaning the award represents an approximately $600,000 boon to the Cortland community.

"This is great news for our community," he added. "The value of these eleven positions for the community is in the neighborhood of $500,000 per year, or $1.5 million for a three-year period. The agency's cost to support each full-time person works out to a little over $2,000 per year. I came across an estimate of the value of an AmeriCorps volunteer as over $40,000 per year."

Some AmeriCorps volunteers will begin serving in Cortland County in October, said Manny Lann, who directs the Cortland County Youth Bureau and will serve as the project coordinator for AmeriCorps in Cortland. He is currently accepting names and numbers from prospective local volunteers who have completed at least a high school education.

"We'll get back to them as soon as the application process is underway," Lann said. To get on his list or for information about volunteering as an AmeriCorps member at any of the above mentioned agencies, call the Youth Bureau at (607) 753-5067 or email Lann at elann@cortland-co.org or contact the Cortland County Youth Bureau, 60 Central Avenue, Cortland, NY 13045.

"The benefits of being an AmeriCorps volunteer are, number one, to assist the community in meeting important needs," Kendrick observed. "Number two, to obtain important job skills and experience that one might use if young to start a career. And, number three, if retired, for that person to use the skills acquired over a lifetime on behalf of the community."

Full-time members who complete their service earn a Segal Education Award of $4,725 to pay for college, graduate school or to pay back qualified student loans. Members who serve part-time receive a partial award. AmeriCorps members also receive a stipend during their term of service, and full-time members are eligible for benefits such as health care.

Volunteers perform 1,700 hours of service over their year with AmeriCorps, which is roughly like a full-time job with several weeks of vacation, said Kendrick.

"Some of the AmeriCorps jobs will be more specialized than others," he added. "Some involve educational programming with young people, for example, on environmental issues. Other jobs involve helping with recreational programs over the summer months. Some volunteers will be recruited to help with child care programs."

Some volunteers may find themselves working with a community assessment team on the ongoing Cortland Counts community assessment process, operated by the Seven Valleys Health Coalition, said Kendrick, who serves on the Community Assessment Team.

"In fact, every job will require at least a high school education and the program managers are seeking individuals with a variety of specialized skills," Kendrick said. "People can come from across the country and we will advertise for the volunteers on the AmeriCorps Website, which anyone can access anywhere. We intend to recruit locally, as well."

A recruitment fair for interested volunteers featuring representatives from all 10 agencies will take place in the fall at the Main Street SUNY Cortland facility at 9 Main Street, which also houses the Cortland Downtown Partnership offices. The facility will later serve as the orientation location and meeting place for AmeriCorps members.

Kendrick thinks the community won the grant for several reasons. Cortland may have improved its chances by already having been awarded one volunteer from a similar Corporation for National and Community Service program called VISTA, Kendrick said.

He also thinks the AmeriCorps officials endorsed the close, cooperative relationship among SUNY Cortland and the agencies involved. The College's significant financial commitment to fostering close community ties through its Main Street facility was another plus.

"That's a site where College and community members can interact on a number of educational and community outreach projects," Kendrick said. Additionally, SUNY Cortland previously attracted two large federal Department of Housing and Urban Development grants to support programming for its ongoing Community Outreach Partnership Center.

"The commitment of the College over the years is an enormous factor in our success and contributes to our ability to attract this funding," Kendrick said.

"Last fall, New York's former first lady, Silda Wall Spitzer, chose the SUNY Cortland campus as the site to launch the ‘I Live New York' campaign and to publicly announce its objectives of mobilizing the human resources of New York state to meet compelling community needs," he said. "With this AmeriCorps proposal, SUNY Cortland, the College's Institute of Civic Engagement and the Cortland community build upon a history of working together to meet similar objectives in Cortland County."

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