CIVIC LITERACY PROJECT

The volunteers of the Civic Literacy Project believe that young people can be community assets and the force for civic renewal. Founded in 1997, the Civic Literacy Project provides youth with a positive way to be involved in their communities – through academic service learning that addresses locally defined community needs. With only three staff members, two AmeriCorps Promise Fellows, dedicated volunteers and a budget of under a quarter of a million dollars, the Civic Literacy Project has engaged tens of thousands of students around Indiana in service-learning projects – educating young people while they serve their community.

The Civic Literacy Project works with students, teachers, administrators, and college education departments around Indiana to embed academic service-learning into the curriculum, through three programs: Embedding Service-learning into Teacher Education, Indiana Service learning Compact, and Service-learning and Teaching Aligned to Reform Schools (STAR Schools). Working collaboratively with other agencies, the Embedding Service-learning into Teacher Education program helps college departments of education provide education majors with the opportunity to study, participate in, and teach service learning. Established by the Indiana Department of Education and the Civic Literacy Project, the Indiana Service-learning Compact is a consortium of school superintendents that are committed to service learning. Finally, the STAR Schools initiative helps to create long-term change in schools to make service-learning a core component of the school.

Though the Civic Literacy Project directly conducts service-learning programs, the majority of the service-learning projects occur at the school-level in communities throughout Indiana – from Gary in the north to New Albany in the south. As a part of the program, students first conduct an asset map of their community and talk with community members to determine the overlap between the community needs and the academic outcomes of the course, so the project has a valuable service and learning role. For example, in one project the elementary students wanted to help the senior citizens that volunteer at the school as tutors. After talking with the seniors, they started a computer literacy class that the elementary students taught to their senior friends.

Projects range from working on Habitat for Humanity houses or volunteering with animal shelters, to working with America Reads of Family Matters. They involve students from Kindergarten through College, and work with premature babies through senior citizens and all of the projects meet real community needs.

Most of the Civic Literacy Project initiatives have been sustained for three years and involve more than 20,000 students, and 5,000 adult volunteers throughout the state of Indiana. Quantitative evaluations of the programs show that they provide students with adults and friends to whom they can turn, as well as increasing their efficacy and self-concept. Ongoing research reveals a significant, positive impact on students’ attitudes toward school, grades, and attendance. After participating in service-learning projects, students are more intent on voting in election and participating in political life.

MIKE MIYAGISHIMA

Mike Miyagishima has been a certified police officer on a strictly volunteer basis since 1983. He assists with several law enforcement agencies, including the Las Cruces Police Department where he investigates and responds to numerous domestic calls in residential settings. He also assists with the investigation of shoplifting crimes at shopping malls and stores, travelling to the scene of robberies and burglaries, and guarding prisoners at medical facilities.

Mr. Miyagishima helps the New Mexico police during roadblocks, approximately one or two per month, inspecting up to 250 cars each time. For every vehicle stopped, he asks the driver for their driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of automobile insurance. He also videotapes many crime scenes for police records and volunteers for the New Mexico Special Olympics Torch Run.

His involvement with law enforcement has influenced his “Little Brother” to decide to pursue a career in law enforcement. Miyagishima’s Little Brother has been trained and is involved as an undercover person in a cigarette sting operation to see if vendors are involved in selling cigarettes illegally to minors.

Miyagishima is also active with the New Mexico Park Rangers. In service to their “boat patrol” operation at Elephant Butte Dam, Miyagishima searches for probable water and land violations, in-water or inland incidents, and assists in patrolling the area for safe boating. He also patrols the park to ensure that there are no substance abuse activities and underage alcohol usage occurring, and checks for legal fishing and deer hunting licenses.

In 1999, through the 444 hours and 6,284 miles of service performed by Miyagishima for law enforcement agencies, officers of the law have been able to protect and save many lives. The number of traffic vehicle accidents and fatalities has decreased and more vehicle owners now have insurance. There has also been a reduction in the number of stolen vehicles and domestic incidents. Proper assistance is now given to families of domestic violence. Crimes such as burglaries, shoplifting, and breaking and entering are on the decline as well, and cigarette and alcohol to minors have been curtailed. In addition, $5,700 has been raised for the New Mexico Special Olympics Torch Run, which has generated more than $20,000 over the last four years in donations.

Mike Miyagishima’s voluntary law enforcement service is a product of his participation in the New Mexico Mounted Patrol (NMMP), the only police reserve organization established by state statute known to be autonomous and independent of any regular policing agency. The function of the NMMP and its highly skilled volunteers is to “assist in the enforcement of law by cooperating with all law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies of the state of New Mexico when requested by them and under their direction and control.” NMMP recruits pay for their own equipment, including side arms and training ammunition, which can cost several thousand dollars.

DOROTHY BROCKMAN

In the past 13 years, Dorothy Brockman has contributed more than 4,000 volunteer hours to help some of Greenville’s neediest children, teens, adults, and seniors lead healthier, safer, and more productive lives. In any given week, she may be involved in delivering food to the homebound, implementing a program to develop self-esteem in teenage girls, taking busloads of children to a concert or circus, or searching for funding for a floundering program. Her tireless efforts would be impressive for a woman half her age; and, at the age of 74+, “Ms. B” has set a new standard as an outstanding volunteer.

When Brockman retired from the City of Greenville Recreation Department in 1989, her position as a program specialist was not refilled. Brockman observed that as government funding for projects decreased the needs of inner-city residents remained high. So, she used the knowledge and contact she had gained as a city employee to serve the people who needed her most.

In looking for ways to improve the lives of inner-city residents, Brockman has never limited herself to one age or activity. Her skills lie not only in the creation of needed programs, but also in their continued success. The programs that she has initiated and continues to support illustrate the variety and scope of her volunteer involvement. For example, she helped erect small recreation areas enjoyed by thousands of children who live in inner-city neighborhoods. She also initiated the Senior Citizen’s Jamboree, now in its 47th year, a two-day event that draws more than 700 senior citizens for fitness and fellowship.

Brockman takes an active role in the First Summer Food Program, which is part of an ongoing partnership with Furman University and unites Furman students with inner-city children in an effort to broaden their experiences. She also spearheaded the creation of the Happy Heart Community Center, the first community center in the area for African-Americans that local residents of the Washington Heights Community came together to build. Along with this, Brockman initiated the Ivy Garden Club and is responsible for the community’s beautification process.

Brockman has long supported the Miss Parks & Recreation Pageant, one of the best nonprofessional pageants in the state and second only to the Miss South Carolina pageant. With an emphasis on self-esteem and education, many pageant participants have been awarded scholarships and go on to win high school and college titles. Several pageant participants have also pursued college and successful careers after finding a path from poverty through self-esteem.

Dorothy Brockman never sees a challenge, only an opportunity. When she delivers flowers to a shut-in person and notices that they have nutritional needs, she connects them with Meals on Wheels. When she sees children who are struggling in school, she gets them involved in a tutoring program at the community center. These acts not only define her character, but also set her apart as one who takes action to benefit her neighbors.

KARL LITTLE

Chief Petty Officer Karl Little always finds not only one, but many ways to be involved in his community. For instance, he has been a coach for Special Olympics, working with developmentally disabled adults in the cities of Portsmouth and Chesapeake, for the past three years. He has coached many athletes to victory in several sports, among them soccer, basketball, and bowling. This alone is impressive, but his service to the Special Olympics does not end there.

None of the Special Olympics athletes that Little coaches are able to drive, and many live in families that have no easy access to transportation. Little began picking up athletes in his own car and graduated to driving a van to accommodate a growing number of athletes needig this service. In addition to coaching, he drives this regular route to make sure everyone is included. For the past three years, his evenings and weekends have been devoted to ensuring that the athletes are able to participate and go for the gold!

Little has also volunteered with the Employment Services Unit of Mental Retardation Services with the Community Service Board in Virginia Beach. He recruited a group of comrades from the Naval Base to build wheelchair ramps, initially through the United Way Day of Caring. When the group could not finish the ramps on this day, Little worked evenings on his own to finish the project. His work allowed at least one wheelchair user to leave the house to go to medical appointments and another to leave and use the Handi-ride to go to work.

In Portsmouth, Little recognized an athlete’s grandmother’s inability to watch her grandchild compete because she was unable to walk down the steps from her house to the yard. Again, Little rounded up volunteers, including his wife, Sherry, to build a ramp for the grandmother. His goal is now to build two ramps every month for others needing assistance in Portsmouth. He has started the process of implementing this initiative by gleaning donated materials for ramps from the City of Virginia Beach and meeting with building officials in Portsmouth to coordinate the ramp construction effort. Little has also built ramp for patients at Maryview Hospital Outpatient Dialysis Unit in Portsmouth.

Saint Mary’s Home for Disabled Children in Norfolk is another agency that has been a recipient of Little’s volunteer service. He has built toys that bolt onto wheelchairs for children’s access, created splints, supports, and positioning devices for children with physical disabilities, repaired wheelchairs, painted and cleaned toys, among other projects. Little used to dress in a friendly, green, dinosaur suit, on loan from a local store, and visit with and dance for the children at Saint Mary’s. He continues to volunteer for this organization every week.

During the workday, Little is a Chief on the staff of Surface Warfare Development Group at Little Creek, and is a second-generation Navy professional. He is also a committed husband and father. But, his evenings and weekends are filled with volunteer projects through which he touches people’s lives in a meaningful way.

THE CORNELL TRADITION

The Cornell Tradition program, with 600 talented and creative undergraduate student members and a supportive staff, was designed in 1983 to recognize and reward outstanding students who were working and serving. The program provides financial assistance to Cornell University undergraduates who complete at least 75 hours of service and leadership and 250 hours of paid employment each year while maintaining their grades. Over the last five years, Tradition Fellows have averaged 166 hours of campus and community service annually per student – which equals nearly 100,000 total hours per year.

To help support the Tradition’s staff and to give youth voice and leadership to programming decisions, a Student Advisory Council of 12-15 Fellows is organized each year. This Council develops and manages a variety of service activities for the other students in the program. There is a wide range of service projects: monthly food preparation and delivery at a weekend soup kitchen, regular educational programs for youth and families at the Sciencenter, semesterly blood drives, semi-weekly “bingo nights” at a nursing home, an ongoing computer assistance service for local non-profits and retired faculty, and many one-time efforts such as food drives, holiday parties, and neighborhood clean-ups.

Special opportunities offered by The Cornell Tradition staff also encourage students to offer their service and leadership to the community – from Ithaca to around the globe. The “Community Action Fellow” program supports a limited number of students each year who want to design and implement an independent project in cooperation with a non-profit agency in Ithaca to meet a community need. The “Menschel Public Service Internships” support students who want to intern with a non-profit organization anywhere in the country.

The Student Advisory Council activities and those administered by the staff, however, do not begin to capture the full range of what Tradition Fellows are doing. The magic of the Tradition is its flexibility – students can pursue their own interests and activities and remain eligible for the program. They are not limited to, and are encouraged to move beyond, the activities that are provided through the program. Tradition Fellows also serve as organizers and designers of community gardens, care-providers for individuals and families facing HIV/AIDS, tutors and mentors through numerous after-school and community center programs, language assistants for refugees, and more.

All of the Fellows’ service activities respond to important community needs, whether it is children in need of an adult friend or safe activities, or senior citizens in need of companionship. The service builds connections between Cornell students and Ithaca residents, two groups who often remain isolated from one another. Tradition Fellows serve on their own schedules, but their service is ongoing, spanning the academic year and continuing for up to four years.

TIFFANY RAE LEY

For the past nine years as a 4-H member in DeWitt County, Texas, Tiffany Ley has been actively involved and recognized as a leader in community service, citizenship, and leadership projects to benefit others. Her main effort was in October 1998, when she was challenged to involve 4-H families to help with flood relief efforts in her hometown.

On the morning of October 19, 1998, it was determined that the Guadalupe River was expected to overflow its banks and cause possible flooding in the rural town of Cuero. Officials were taking precautions, but with less than an hour’s warning the river had swept through and more than 2,000 homes and businesses were completely destroyed. The officials were desperate for volunteers to aid in the rescue efforts, so when Tiffany’s parents realized their home was safe, Tiffany called several other 4-H members to go to the Red Cross shelter to volunteer.

As 4-H Club President and County 4-H Chairman, Tiffany involved other youth to plan and implement more than a dozen projects and activities to help local families in need. During the months that followed, Tiffany spent more than 750 hours on flood relief efforts. The Red Cross put her to work in the shelter kitchen and she prepared meals for hundreds of people. She also performed other tasks including cleaning, watching young children while parents were taking care of business, dispensing necessary supplies to families, and just being there to listen when someone needed to talk.

Tiffany assumed leadership of working with other 4-H families to manage the distribution of clothing, furniture, and supplies that arrived in an 18-wheeler truck. Tiffany helped families create new wardrobes and furnish their homes. She spent many hours each day helping to manage the center, while spending off-hours cleaning flood victims’ homes, gathering baby food and diapers, and making care kits for victims in the shelters. Tiffany said that the hardest part was the sadness she experiences seeing so many close friends and community business leaders with nothing left and no place to live.

Even after a year, many people still tell her how much they appreciated what the 4-H program did for them in their time of need. Several of those families have now joined 4-H as a result. Throughout the experience, Tiffany and the other 4-H members learned that importance of working together as a team and using available resources.

Since Cuero has a long history as the site of many beautiful wildflowers during the springtime and, after all the flood devastation, the wildflowers still emerged to make the land beautiful again. Six months after the flood, Tiffany sent a letter and a bill to her State Representative proposing that Cuero/DeWitt County be made the Wildflower Capital of Texas, which was passed. In addition, Tiffany was appointed to serve on Governor George Bush’s Texas Youth Action Council – a group of 25 Texas teens who are working on various community service projects for 1999-2000. She was selected to serve in a leadership role with the Texas delegation at the National 4-H Congress in Atlanta in November 1999. In the end, Tiffany learned more than she ever though possible about volunteering, being a leader and serving others – and it all started with a flood.

EMMA TIBBS

Emma Tibbs is serving her second year of a two-year term as President of the Fayette County Neighborhood Council, an umbrella organization of neighborhood associations in the county. This group, which has qualified for 501(c)(3) status, is entirely a volunteer organization; there is no paid staff, no office, and no agency director.

Tibbs has taken this group, which represents neighborhoods of all types, and made it a positive community force. She has spoken to countless neighborhood associations, often at evening meetings, served on numerous committees that influence government decisions, and presented the neighborhood point of view to civic and government groups.

The established neighborhoods of Fayette County, urban and rural, rich and poor, have felt for many years that their needs were being ignored. Tibbs has started several new programs and activities since becoming President of the Neighborhood Council. As a result of her work, there is now a representative at most Urban County work sessions, where important legislative decisions are made. The Council also has representation on many government and quasi-government committees. Generally, this representative is Tibbs herself because she is willing and able to commit her time to understanding complex issues.

She has been successful in bringing neighborhood issues before the general public and before the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG). She initiated a Sewer Study completed by the Fayette County Neighborhood Council that provides documentation of the sanitary sewer overflows in Fayette County from 1993-98. The Kentucky Division of Water and the LFUCG are currently using this study to address the program of sanitary sewer overflows in Lexington. Under Tibbs’ leadership, the FCNC was able to convince the County Health Department to publish a pamphlet with instructions for safely cleaning up after sanitary sewer overflows.

Another example of Tibbs’ achievement is the institution of a Mediation Ordinance for the city of Lexington. This idea was first proposed in a presentation given at a citywide seminar for neighborhoods sponsored by FCNC. The city was receptive to its adoption, and Tibbs was a member of the committee that drafter the ordinance and hired the first mediator.

Tibbs was also instrumental in the formation of the Community Police Action Committee (C-PAC), a board of citizens, representing Council Districts, that fosters cooperation between citizens and the police. She has spearheaded two citywide seminars for neighborhoods. The first concerned itself with organizational problems facing neighborhoods and the second with the city’s storm water problems and possible solutions.

Tibbs’ input into the Herald Leader Community Section, which features neighborhoods and neighborhood problems and successes has insured that people all over the city and state are aware of the worthwhile activities of the neighborhood associations and their ability to affect solutions to problems. Hundreds of citizens have attended the Citizens’ Police Academy, one facet of C-PAC, and, as a result, are more knowledgeable about the department’s Community Policing Program. Mediation is available as an alternate solution to problems between neighborhoods and developers as a result of Tibbs’ work on the Mediation Ordinance.

Tibbs even found time to initiate a “Caring Neighbors” program whereby neighborhood associations are encouraged to provide services to their elderly and/or ill residents to let them know that their neighbors care. The services range from raking leaves, snow removal and prescription pickup.

To access more information about the Fayette County Neighborhood Council visit: http://community.kentucky.com/realcities/fcnc

INTERAGES BRIDGES INTERGENERATIONAL MENTORING PROGRAM

Children who are new to America or are first-generation Americans face a multitude of difficult problems. Particularly vulnerable are those children who grow up in immigrant families where English is not spoken. One only has to visit any school in the Long Branch Community of Montgomery County, Maryland to see that need. This area (also known as the “Blair Cluster”) is the most densely populated, culturally diverse and economically deprived area in Montgomery County. More than half of all students in the Blair Cluster schools are eligible for free and reduced meals (the average for other county clusters is 25%). Long Branch has the largest concentration of low-income households. These children are reportedly at serious risk for dropping out of school, getting into drugs or joining gangs.

The “Bridges” mentoring program is one of Interages’ intergenerational programs designed to match caring senior adult volunteers with immigrant children. All mentors are over age 55 with several currently over 80. Now in its 10th year, Bridges works with the schools that are most heavily affected by the steady stream of immigrants to this area. Bridges targets children who have been in this country for less than three years and many of them are here only a couple of months when they enter the program.

The mentors act like friends and “guides to America” for these children. Thirty mentors meet with their proteges once a week throughout the school year. At three schools (one elementary school and two middle schools), 10 pairs meet after school in classrooms where they engage in educational and fun-filled activities building a close and trusting relationship. On any given day, one can see pairs reading newspapers, playing educational games, doing homework, reading books together, writing stories, doing crossword puzzles, activity sheets, or a craft about an upcoming holiday. The children are eager to have their senior friends return each week. For one hour a week, they know there is some consistency in their life. These seniors do whatever they can to help the children with their acculturation. The children begin to connect to the larger community through the support and confidence they receive from this relationship.

In the majority of the cases, mentors continue to meet with the children for two to three additional years as part of the weekly Bridges mentoring program. Many of the pairs see each other outside of the structured weekly program for a variety of activities during the year. The mentors help the students to understand and become comfortable with their community by taking them to local points of interest. There are mentors from the first class 10 years ago that are still in touch with their first proteges. One mentor occasionally has lunch with his former protégé from 8-10 years ago that has now graduated from high school and seeks advice about the world of work. Another mentor is helping her first protégé fill out an application for the local community college.

Bringing senior adults together with at-risk kids helps two groups of people to have a positive impact on one another. The struggling immigrant children certainly benefit from the experience, support, and wisdom of their elder American friends and the seniors feel valued and have a purpose in helping their young friends.

JOANN HAMMITT

At the age of 68, Joann Hammitt volunteers 40-50 hours per week and helps operate a 200-acre farm. She has always been involved in her community and hopes to continue her tireless dedication to volunteer activities in Webster County, Iowa.

During the last year, Hammitt bought food for needy families through St. Paul’s Church Mission House and art supplies for an after-school program. She secured funds for computer supplies and paper for needy families. She also raised $350 to buy prescriptions for children, funds for two fire departments, and $14,000 for a high school student requiring a liver transplant. Hammitt also serves on the boards of two fraternal organizations, for which she coordinates funding for volunteer projects as a liaison between volunteers and the fraternal organizations.

People who need help in Webster County often contact Hammitt, because she is known for having a generous heart. When one of her neighbors called her because she needed food for her three children, Hammitt contributed from her own cupboard.

Her volunteer work with 4-H, Camp Fire Boys & Girls, and teaching classes for Sunday school, Bible school, and confirmation, Hammitt is well known among the kids in her community. She leads the annual Christmas Tree Giveaway, which provides gifts of clothes and toys for children in need. Last year the project provided more than 400 gifts to kids in the community. As a gifted quilter, Hammitt bundles infant clothes and other baby items in her handmade quilts for new babies whose families are in need.

Hammitt has originated many annual fundraising events, in addition to volunteering for lesser known organizations, such as the Fort Dodge Historical Foundation and for Operation Christmas, a program that helps people pay their utility, medical, and food bills during the holidays. Perhaps the quality that stands out most of all about Joann Hammitt, however, is that she never stops volunteering.

KIM CHU

Kim Chu recognized the language barriers for Chinese immigrants who enter NYU Downtown Hospital for treatment or volunteer purposes. She became the first Chinese volunteer at the hospital and translates for patients and doctors. When she began, she worked full-time, but still found time to volunteer on weekday evenings and weekends. She started more than 30 years ago, and today, she is still an active volunteer at this hospital. She is now retired, but comes in at 6am several times per week to work in the Emergency Room.

NYU Downtown Hospital (NYUDH) is situated in a community area where most Chinese immigrants settle in the United States. Therefore, NYUDH serves as a primary health care facility for these Chinese residents. Bilingual support is necessary and crucial for the hospital to provide its services to these individuals and the community. Bilingual support has not always been available at NYUDH. Years ago, Chinese volunteers were virtually non-existent, and the number of hired interpreters in out-numbered by the needs of the hospital by more than a thousand times. Without interpreter help, hospital staff has extreme difficulty in conveying medical procedures to these patients and making inquiries into their medical history.

In 1965, when Kim Chu started volunteering at NYUDH, most patients were first generation Chinese immigrants and had no concept of volunteerism. In her 34 years of service, Chu has helped to reduce the language and cultural barriers and is continually bridging the gap of the Chinese community and NYUDH in health care. Her major responsibility is still being a Cantonese translator as well as a “hostess” of the hospital. As a hostess she directs patients and visitors to appropriate departments. She also contributes her service at the information desk and answers inquiries from the general public.

Kim Chu’s volunteer service has paved the way for many Chinese volunteers at NYUDH. Currently, NYUDH has more than 300 Chinese American volunteers. In addition to helping the staff and patients, Chu also trains new volunteers.