Two NYSAE member's organizations (Food Bank for New York City and United Way of New York City) are among 57 groups receiving assistance this year from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's just launched, first-ever NYC Civic Corps. The NYC Civic Corps is a key initiative of NYC Service, the Mayor's blueprint to increase service and civic engagement and respond to President Obama's call for a new era of national service. NYC Civic Corps members will work to help nonprofits and public agencies dramatically increase the number of volunteers they mobilize, and achieve greater results and have greater impact through a more strategic use of those volunteers. They will work to create sustainable volunteer management structures that remain in place after their year-long terms of service end.
"Today [July 30] we launch the NYC Civic Corps, a group of nearly 200 caring, dynamic people who will lead our efforts to help more nonprofits and public agencies tap more volunteers to produce more results for our neighbors in need. That's the promise of NYC Service," said Mayor Bloomberg. "With the launch of this exciting new initiative, we take another major step forward in our efforts to answer President Obama's call for a new era of service."
NYC Service was launched in April to meet the Mayor's State of the City pledge to lead the nation in answering President Obama's national call to service. The program has three core goals: channel the power of volunteers to address the impacts of the current economic downturn, make New York City the easiest city in America in which to serve, and ensure every young person in New York City is taught about civic engagement and has an opportunity to serve. NYC Service aims to drive volunteer resources to six impacts areas where New York City's needs are greatest: strengthening communities, helping neighbors in need, education, health, emergency preparedness and the environment. The NYC Civic Corps is a cornerstone initiative of this broader NYC Service plan.
NYC Civic Corps members will be dispatched in teams, typically comprised of three members, to 57 public and nonprofit organizations in order to develop sustainable, impact volunteer programs that engage more New Yorkers to tackle the City's greatest challenges. In focus groups conduced to develop NYC Service, leaders from organizations that use volunteers spoke powerfully about the need to engage more volunteers, but they also described significant financial and management challenges associated with doing so. Addressing this capacity gap at the local level is critical to maximizing the power of those who wish to serve, and thanks to this new partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service and its AmeriCorps Vista program, the NYC Civic Corps will address the gap locally. Stimulus funds have enabled the Corporation to dedicate 193 AmeriCorps VISTA slots to New York City. AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty and strengthen communities.
Nearly 400 public and nonprofit organizations and 800 individuals applied to be a part of the first-ever NYC Civic Corps. Members and host organizations were selected through a rigorous application process, screened by both the AmeriCorps VISTA program and a City committee formed by NYC Service. All participants in AmeriCorps VISTA programs receive a $1,129 monthly living allowance, health benefits, and educational awards, which can be used towards existing student loans or future education expenses.
The average age of NYC Civic Corps members is 26, with the youngest corps member aged 21 and the oldest aged 72. 171 members were born in the United States, and of those born outside the US, they were from China, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Guatemala, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Scotland, South Africa, Togo, Ukraine, and United Kingdom. 130 members are from New York State; 88 are from New York City. Civic Corps members are expected to join the organization they will be serving in the second week of August.
In addition to the assistance of the Corporation for National and Community Service, NYC Civic Corps benefits from contributions of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund and the Lizzie and Jonathan M. Tisch Foundation. NYC Civic Corps also benefits from a partnership with the Hands on Network and in-kind support provided by Gap, Inc. and the ABNY Foundation.
Other organizations being assisted by the new program include: Amigos del Museo del Barrio; Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation; Big Brothers, Big Sisters of NYC; Broadway Housing Communities; Catholic Big Sisters and Big Brothers; Catholic Charities NYC; Citizens Advice Bureau; Citizens Committee for New York City; Common Cents New York; Community Environmental Center; Community Health Action of Staten Island; Computers for Youth Foundation; CUNY Citizenship and Immigration Project; d/b/a Spoons Across America; The Doe Fund; Doing Art Together; DOROT; Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities; Episcopal Social Services of New York; FDNY Foundation; Federation Employment and Guidance Service; From Farm to Table; Girls Incorporated; Global Kids; Good Shepherd Services; Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement; Jewish Association for Services for the Aged; Jumpstart; Learning Leaders; Legal Information for Families Today; Long Island City Business Development Corporation; Mentoring USA; Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council; Moshulu Preservation Corporation; New York Cares; New York Legal Assistance Group; NYC Department for the Aging; NYC Department of Consumer Affairs, Office of Financial Empowerment; NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; NYC Department of Education; NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; NYC Housing Authority; NYC Mayor's Office of Operations; Phipps Community Development Corporation; Planned Parenthood of New York City; ReServe Elder Service; Safe Horizon; SCO Family of Services/Center for Family Life; Union Settlement Association; University Settlement Society of New York; Visiting Nurse Service of New York-Time Bank; Year Up!; Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association of Washington Heights; and YWCA of the City of New York.