Federal Grants Helping PennSERVE to Create More Than 2,200 Community Service Opportunities

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 2,200 community service opportunities for Pennsylvanians will be available through $9.9 million in federal AmeriCorps grants, Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Vito said today. The funds are distributed through PennSERVE: the Governor's Office of Citizen Service.

"These opportunities will provide our citizens with the opportunity to learn new skills and enable them to make their neighborhoods better places to live," Vito said. "Citizen service is a great way to participate in something of which you can be proud. It's also one of the best ways to make a difference in your community – making it a better place to live, work and play."

PennSERVE: The Governor's Office of Citizen Service is responsible for the administration of AmeriCorps programs. The $9.9 million in federal grants have been distributed to 17 AmeriCorps organizations across the state. In cooperation with AmeriCorps, PennSERVE engages residents 17 years old and older in intensive service to meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, homeland security and other areas. In exchange for performing one year of service, AmeriCorps members earn an education award that can be used to pay for college or repay qualified student loans.  

"The Department of Labor & Industry and PennSERVE are proud of participants' work promoting volunteerism and community service, and we look forward to the work yet to be done," Vito said. "These grants give PennSERVE members a chance to enrich their corners of the world; one person, one neighborhood at a time."

Since 1994, more than 31,000 AmeriCorps members in Pennsylvania served more than 39 million hours. During the same time period, more than 640,000 men and women joined AmeriCorps nationally, and gave more than 774 million hours of service to their nation.

After completing their service, AmeriCorps members typically remain actively engaged in their communities. Not only can they be counted on as volunteers, but they also run nonprofits, marshal resources within their communities to address difficult issues and many pursue public service careers.

For more information on PennSERVE: the Governor's Office of Citizen Service, visit www.dli.state.pa.us/pennserve.

Media contact: Troy Thompson, 717-787-7530

Editor's Note: A list of AmeriCorps grant recipients with the counties they serve follows.

Allegheny County

Allegheny County Department of Human Services-KEYS Service Corps

Grant amount: $1,040,000

Positions created: 122

Working with community partners, KEYS AmeriCorps members provide youth mentoring and student academic assistance as well as community service/service learning projects, and volunteer generation. Contact: Helen Wachter, Program Coordinator, 412-350-5227.

Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council

Grant amount: $129,993

Positions created: 10

Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council is a national leader in adult education and family literacy. They provide education programs to adults and families in the Pittsburgh area as well as other cities around the nation. Contact: MaryRose Walko, Program Coordinator, 412-661-7323.

Allegheny and Philadelphia counties

Jumpstart for Young Children Inc.

Grant amount: $320,453

Positions created: 174

In cooperation with local universities, AmeriCorps members serve in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to build school readiness skills of low-income preschool children.  Contacts: Angela Gordon, Pittsburgh Site Director, 412-648-5867; and Gillian Sharkey, Philadelphia Site Director, 215-204-3347.

Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties

Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8: PA Mountain Services Corps

Grant amount: $1,397,344

Positions created: 145

The PMSC partners with non-profit and government organizations across 17 counties to provide tutoring in math and reading, after school and educational activities. Contact: Carol Overly, Program Director, 814-472-7690.

Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Clearfield, Erie, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer and Venango counties

Keystone SMILES Community Learning Center

Grant amount: $1,482,095

Positions created: 173

AmeriCorps members will implement school success, school readiness and America Reads initiatives using a service-learning model providing services to community children's centers, school centers, school districts, and other agencies in partnership with Clarion University. Contact: Joyce Fosdick, Executive Director, 814-797-1184/2127.

Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Schuylkill and York counties

United Way of York County- SecureCorps

Grant amount: $229,190

Positions created: 53

Working with community partners, SecureCorps will help local nonprofit agencies prepare to offer services during a disaster and assist the business community in effectively engaging in those services via donation management and volunteerism.

Contact: Christy S. Renjilian, Sr. Director of Community Initiatives, 717-843-0957.

Butler and Lawrence counties

Family Services of Butler Memorial Hospital

Grant amount: $518,359

Positions created: 66

Through Butler Memorial Hospital and with 20 plus partner human service agencies, AmeriCorps members enhance family, child and adult support services; family wellness; community recreation, and other human services. Contact: Karen Zapp, Program Coordinator, 724-284-4894.

Centre County

Centre County Youth Service Bureau

Grant amount: $155,214

Positions created: 12

CentreServe AmeriCorps members provide youth mentoring, substance abuse prevention education, and after school educational activities to Centre County youth and families as well as life skills education and academic assistance to youth in residential placement. Contact: Alison Turley, Program Coordinator, 814-880-5069.

Clinton, Lycoming and Potter counties

Lycoming-Clinton Counties Commission for Community Action, (STEP) Inc.

Grant amount: $260,000

Positions created: 25

Community Connect AmeriCorps Program is a collaborative project between STEP Inc. and Lycoming County Health Improvement Coalition. Partnering with various non-profit agencies and schools in Lycoming and Clinton counties, members will serve in various capacities at individual sites that address youth development and leadership, education (including pre-school and K-12), at-risk youth, health and housing. Also, members as a team will identify and provide opportunities for youth to become engaged in their community, service-learning activities and volunteer generation. Contact: Charlene Hamilton, Program Coordinator, 570-601-9673, [email protected].

Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties

Union-Snyder Community Action Agency - C.O.R.E. Susquehanna

Grant amount: $364,010

Positions created: 37

C.O.R.E. Susquehanna, centered in Snyder County, partners with approximately 20 non-profit service sites in seven central Pennsylvania counties to help provide solutions for a range of human service and educational needs. Contact: Dennis Huratiak, Program Director, 570-374-8938/0181.

Philadelphia County

City Year Inc.

Grant amount: $2,415,000

Positions created: 210

A metropolitan program utilizing young adults, ages 17 to 24 years, from diverse racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds for a year of service. Service focused on after school programming, high school initiative with the School District of Philadelphia, and literacy training through School District. There is also a focus on developing youth leadership and citizenship skills. Contact: Rex Carney, Deputy Director External Affairs, 267-386-7028.

Communities in Schools of Philadelphia, Inc.

Grant amount: $429,000

Positions created: 33

AmeriCorps members are strengthening the educational technology infrastructure of Philadelphia schools and bridging the digital divide. Members provide service to enrich academic after-school programs, provide technology training and resources for students and families, and support teachers and school administrators. While serving, members complete apprenticeships and receive certifications as Computer Support Specialists. Contact: Naomi Levine, Manager, AmeriCorps Program, 267-386-4600.

Philadelphia Education Fund

Grant amount: $137,000

Positions created: 20

The Philadelphia Education Fund is an independent non-profit organization that works to improve the quality of public education for underserved youth throughout the Philadelphia region. Contact: Carol Fixman, Executive Director, 215-665-1400 ext. 3313.

Philadelphia Youth for Change, Inc.

Grant amount: $124,248

Positions created: 10

AmeriCorps members will improve access to technology by refurbishing donated computers, and providing technology training and support to low-income individuals, schools, faith-based and community organizations in Philadelphia County. Contact: Lark Rambo, Director of Civic Engagement, 215-627-8671 ext. 22.

Teach for America

Grant amount: $802,497

Positions created: 330

AmeriCorps members will provide classroom instruction and enrichment activities focused on overcoming in under resourced communities in Philadelphia County. Contact: Mike Wang, Executive Director, 215-592-926.

Statewide

PA Campus Compact (PACC)

Grant amount: $84,680

Positions created: 500

The PACC seeks to develop and support community service, service-learning and civic engagement programs at higher education institutions. Members work to bridge campus and community through projects in the areas of tutoring and mentoring, volunteer matching, disaster relief, and more. Contact: Charlene J. Gray, Executive Director, 717-796-5072 ext. 2.

Trustees of the University of PA Scholars in Service to PA

Grant amount: $50,722

Positions created: 287

College students will serve as AmeriCorps members at nonprofit organizations to support local education and other human needs that target various beneficiaries throughout the commonwealth. Contact: Hillary Kane, Director, 215-573-2379.

Total positions created: 2,207

Total amount of grant funds: $9,939,805

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry