ITI Program: “This is one of the Best Trainings I Have Experienced”

February 25th, 2010 - Posted by OneStar Foundation - No Comments

Recently, we profiled the first training session of the Impact Texas Initiative’s first cohort of participants. In the article, we discussed the unusual style of the training session, and the great feedback it was getting. Today, we received the following letter from one of the participants. We could not be more delighted to receive this and learn first-hand about the benefit that this program is already having:

Jane, Jada and the OneStar Foundation,

I want to thank you for selecting me to participate in the second cohort of the Impact Texas Initiative. The first week of training was exceptional as were the leaders chosen. Many times, a room full of leaders can be overwhelming, especially leaders of non-profits who are so passionate. But this cohort found a healthy balance and worked together as a “team,” in all of the meanings of the word that we learned during training.

Barry and Joyce facilitated the material in a way that was engaging and extremely informational. This is one of the best trainings I have experienced, and I wish that our entire organization could participate!

Barry and Joyce commented early in the training that this is useful only if you go back to your organizations and implement. On my first day back in the office, I attended a local community group’s luncheon. It was there that the group’s leader introduced some changes that would be happening. I immediately started to think of what we had learned in training about teams and how change affects people. Like a good leader, the leader discussed the sense of urgency, the transparency that would be happening with communication and the rewards that would be given for top performers. As I heard a few people nearby start to mumble at the table next to me, I realized I was seeing the resistance to change already building. I do not know how this situation will end but I thought how great it would have been if everyone in the room could have been in training with me during that week!

I can’t wait for the next training session!

Rita

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OneStar Grantees Made MLK Day “A Day On, Not A Day Off”

February 12th, 2010 - Posted by OneStar Foundation - 1 Comment

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, our grantees did some amazing things for their communities. Scroll down to read about their MLK Day service projects:

  • Amarillo Independent School District (ISD) / Amarillo ISD AmeriCorps: Each AmeriCorps member planned lessons on the ideals of Dr. King, and presented them to groups of elementary school students.
  • AVANCE, Inc. – El Paso Chapter / AVANCE – El Paso AmeriCorps: The AmeriCorps members partnered with the local Children’s Health Insurance Program office to reach out to and educate local parents on health insurance options for their children.
  • Catholic Charities of Central Texas / CCCTX-ESDR AmeriCorps Case Management: Worked with Keep Austin Housed AmeriCorps Program and LifeWorks at the MLK Day of Wellness distributing shoes, coats, socks, meals, hair cuts, massages, hearing exams, referrals to services and more.
  • Casa De Amigos of Midland / STARS: The program held a Senior Fair, where they presented information to seniors on healthy living, general well-being and exercise.
  • Central Dallas Ministries (CDM) / N2 Texas Corps: AmeriCorps members held several projects, including repairing two homes with bcWorkshop and former Dallas Cowboys running back and 2010 Hall of Fame candidate Emmitt Smith; preparing meals for the homeless at SoupMobile; organizing the children’s library at Roseland Community Center; sorting CDM thrift store items; creating welcome bags for CityWalk@Akard’s new residents; and reflecting on Dr. King’s service.
  • Communities In Schools of Central Texas / CIS of Central Texas AmeriCorps: AmeriCorps members made 50 hats for terminally and chronically ill children through Happy Hats, adding a positive note to each hat. In addition, the members marched in Austin’s MLK Day march and rally.
  • City Year, Inc. / City Year San Antonio: Members participated in the city’s MLK Day march.
  • College Forward / College Forward Partnership for Higher Education: AmeriCorps members held five projects: working in The Caring Place’s food bank and thrift store; beautifying Copperfield Nature Trails; cleaning Guerrero Park; volunteering and playing with children at the Greater San Marcos Youth Council shelter; and cleaning and interacting with residents at the Southside Community Center shelter.
  • Communities In Schools – Dallas Region / CIS – Dallas Region AmeriCorps Program: Members met and discussed why Dr. King was important, the difference he made and how to put his spirit into action at schools and in their community.
  • Easter Seals Central Texas / ASSET*AmeriCorps: Members surveyed 13 apartment complexes for accessibility features; AmeriCorps*VISTA members will upload this data into the Access Texas Housing Web site. Members also repaired the wheelchair ramp and fence at an Accessible Housing Austin!-managed house. In addition, member Phillip C. earned a Certificate of Appreciation for his assistance with an MLK Day event at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
  • Front Steps / Keep Austin Housed AmeriCorps Program: Along with members from Catholic Charities and Goodwill, Front Steps’ AmeriCorps members hosted the annual MLK Day of Wellness, a four-hour homeless resource fair that gave shoes, socks, coats, backpacks, hygiene kits and various donated items to over 400 homeless individuals. They also provided foot care, eye exams, haircuts, massages, STD screenings, mini-case management sessions and information on accessing service providers.
  • Goodwill Industries of Central East Texas / TMC MentorCorps: Members gathered and distributed children’s books. They also participated in the 18th Annual MLK Commemorative March. In addition, they attended a banquet that honored mentors from different organizations from their community.
  • Harris County Department of Education / CASE AmeriCorps Kids’ Day Project: Members distributed AmeriCorps information at Houston’s MLK Day parade. In addition, members discussed the “I Have A Dream” speech and did an activity with children at the Jewish Community Center.
  • Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc. / Jumpstart Texas / Dallas: Members organized a canned food drive and donated the collected food to a local nonprofit and fellow AmeriCorps program, Central Dallas Ministries.
  • Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc. / Jumpstart Texas / Lubbock: Members worked on several projects: cleaning rooms at the Ronald McDonald House; gathering care package supplies to send to troops deployed overseas; playing Loteria and talking with a retirement community’s members; and beautifying a preschool and elementary school.
  • National Association of Community Health Centers / Community HealthCorp – Texas / Brownsville Community Health Center (BCHC): Members served food at the Good Neighbor Settlement House. They also gave free blood pressure checks and information about BCHC services at the Ozanam Center, a homeless shelter and services center.
  • National Association of Community Health Centers / Community HealthCorp – Texas / Valley Primary Care Network: Members visited a local nursing home, where they spoke to the residents about MLK Day, sang songs from MLK’s protest in Selma and recorded the residents describing their experiences with the civil rights movement.
  • Project Transformation / Project Transformation AmeriCorps: Community volunteers, staff, AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps alumni sorted book donations and organized a library at Wesley Rankin Community Center. The book donations were form from Barnes and Noble, which distributed 2,000 books to Project Transformation over Christmas.
  • Schulenburg Weimar In Focus Together Inc. / SWIFT AmeriCorps: Members conducted a food drive at grocery stores in Schulenburg and Weimar, then sorted and delivered the donations to the Weimar Community Food Pantry and the Schulenburg Area Food Pantry.
  • Texas A&M International University / TAMIU ADELANTE: AmeriCorps members from Laredo, Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Carrizo Springs, Crystal City, Cotulla, Zapata, Hebbronville, San Diego, Benavides and Edinburg provided educational activities on Dr. King’s actions, moments and events for students in third through seventh grade.
  • Texas A&M University / TAMU Colonias AmeriCorps Disaster Recovery and Preparedness / Del Rio: Members distributed food to parents while children learned about Dr. King through coloring books and storytelling.
  • Texas A&M University / TAMU Colonias AmeriCorps Disaster Recovery and Preparedness / Eagle Pass: Members created coloring books of Dr. King and distributed them to Seco Mines Head Start, They also read to children and taught them about Dr. King.
  • Texas A&M University / TAMU Colonias AmeriCorps Disaster Recovery and Preparedness / Laredo: In Webb County, AmeriCorps members distributed handmade blankets, clothing, toys and food baskets to 20 families living in colonias. Members raised the money for blanket fabric and sewing supplies and hand made these beautiful, warm blankets for the children and adults.
  • Texas A&M University / TAMU Colonias AmeriCorps Disaster Recovery and Preparedness / Lower Rio Grande Valley: Members and volunteers canvassed the colonias, speaking to over 1,800 people about the 2010 Census and how it impacts communities.
  • Texas A&M University / TAMU Colonias AmeriCorps Disaster Recovery and Preparedness / Western Rio Grande Project: Members developed an emergency goods response system that will help provide essential food, hygiene products and household items to families after a disaster. The project was launched in Fort Hancock and may be expanded to Canutillo and Socorro. In addition, materials were gathered to help 12 families.
  • Texas A&M University / TAMU Colonias AmeriCorps Disaster Recovery and Preparedness / Zapata County: Members visited a nursing home, where they talked to the residents and shared diabetes management information with them.
  • Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board / Collegiate G-Force / Texas A&M University – Kingsville: AmeriCorps members held educational arts and crafts project with the children at three Kingsville Housing Authority housing developments. The members led the children in learning about Dr. King as well as African-American inventors Garrett A. Morgan and George Washington Carver.
  • Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board / Collegiate G-Force / Texas State University: In the morning, members volunteered at the Greater San Marcos Youth Council Emergency Shelter, where they prepared breakfast and lunch for residents and played with children. In addition, members adopted and cleaned a San Marcos park; they will continue beautifying the park throughout the year.
  • Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board / Collegiate G-Force / University of North Texas: AmeriCorps mentors cleaned the interior and exterior of an adult day care center in Lewisville, preparing the facility for its opening next month.
  • Travis County Department of Human Services / Travis County CAPITAL AmeriCorps Project: Along with Waste Management, members worked on trail clearing, mulching and Chimney Swift tower installation on a wildlife trail.
  • United Way of El Paso County / HIPPY El Paso: Members divided up and worked on three different projects: cleaning and repairing a house for a local family; sorting food for a local food drive; and cleaning out the Westside Animal Shelter’s storage room and animal play area.
  • United Way of El Paso County / Ready for Disasters: Along with HIPPY El Paso and AmeriCorps NCLR Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe sorted canned goods and distributed them to the Salvation Army, the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, the El Paso Rescue Mission, the Center Against Family Violence and additional organizations.
  • University of North Texas / Texas HIPPYCorps: Members sorted cans and perishable foods for the North Texas Food Bank.
  • The University of Texas at Austin – Charles A. Dana Center / ACE AmeriCorps: Members cleaned the Austin Groups for the Elderly headquarters, beautifying a historical building while also organizing the materials of a nonprofit that provides classes, fun activities and free rides to Austin-area senior citizens.

Many of our grantees submitted service project photos to us. Visit our MLK Day album on Facebook to view them!

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Staff Stories: “I Volunteered On MLK Day”

February 1st, 2010 - Posted by OneStar Foundation - No Comments

AmeriCorps members and College Forward participants volunteered together this MLK Day. (Courtesy of College Forward.)

Nicole Watson, Strategic Communications Specialist at OneStar Foundation, is one of millions of people volunteered on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year. She talked with the OneStar Blog about her experience, and about the importance of volunteering as a youth.

Why did you choose to volunteer on Martin Luther King Jr. Day?

The main reason I decided to volunteer was to give back to my community on a day that commemorated a leader who passionately believed in making our nation a better place.

How did the service project you participated in impact your community?

I participated in United Way Capital Area’s 2010 Martin Luther King Day of Service on Saturday, January 16, 2010. United Way convened about 700 volunteers to work with local organizations that hosted MLK Day service projects throughout the Austin community. The day started with a kick-off ceremony at Huston-Tillotson University, featuring a keynote speech from Dr. Richard Reddick, a professor at The University of Texas at Austin, and a moving performance from The Cipher – Austin’s Hip-Hop Project. After the kick-off ceremony, people went to the location of their projects.

The project I worked on was with College Forward, a program that works with economically disadvantaged high school students who are transitioning to college. We joined the Copperfield Neighborhood Association to clean up the Copperfield Nature Trail in north Austin. Along with the neighborhood’s residents, staff members, volunteers and College Forward students removed two truckloads of litter and three flatbed trailer loads of underbrush.

How did your service project celebrate Dr. King’s legacy?

I think that the project I served in celebrated Dr. King’s legacy by reminding me how important it is to participate in making my community a better place. The project helped ensure that the trail was accessible for residents and visitors to enjoy the trails, ponds and greenbelt with friends and family.

College Forward participants cleaned up the Copperfield Nature Trail on MLK Day. (Courtesy of College Forward.)

What did you learn from participating in your service project? How has it influenced you?

I learned two things during my MLK Day service project:

1) Our group effort had impact. Due to the size of our group, we were able to accomplish more tasks involved with maintaining the trails than the residents could have done alone. This demonstrated the amount of impact a dedicated group can have.

2) The importance of instilling an ethic of community service at a young age. I was already familiar with College Forward through their involvement with AmeriCorps*Texas, but after getting involved on a personal level, I was inspired when I saw how involved the students were. I was unaware that, as part of their high school programs, students are required to complete community service hours. I think this is very important because for me, my community service involvement started at a young age and I have held on to it as an adult. I still remember volunteering with my mother when I was a child; those experiences have positively affected my life and my choices.

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Watch the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Webcast on Service

January 21st, 2010 - Posted by OneStar Foundation - No Comments

JustGood.tv, which broadcasted our Texas Social Innovation Initiative video conference, recently held another great online event. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, JustGood.tv broadcasted the MLK Day Virtual Town Hall, a conversation that spanned several cities across the country. Various speakers in Atlanta, Washington D.C., New York City, Sacramento, Phoenix and St. Louis discussed the work of over 70,000 nonprofit organizations, and how that work is capturing the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

For more information on the MLK Day Virtual Town Hall and to view the event’s schedule, visit HandsOn Network’s MLK Day 2010 Web page. This online event was sponsored by Points of Light and HandsOn Network.

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Mark Your Calendar for Service Events and Deadlines

January 5th, 2010 - Posted by OneStar Foundation - No Comments

Happy New Year! As you break out your 2010 calendar, make sure you add the following events and deadlines to it. These are just some of the many service-related events going on this year:

  • January: National Mentoring Month. The Web site NationalMentoringMonth.org has information about finding mentors, serving as a mentor, partnering with mentoring organizations and more.
  • January 15: Deadline for Coccia Award Nominations. The first-annual Gladys Marinelli Coccia Award through Youth Services America honors young female social entrepreneurs. More information on eligibility is available here.
  • January 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Day. What will you be doing for the first national service day of 2010? Find or post a project through MLKDay.gov or Serve.gov.  In addition, an online project toolkit is available at MLKMobilization.org.
  • January 29: Deadline for Disney Friends for Change Grants. Disney and Youth Service America will distribute 150 $500 grants toward projects that engage children’s service projects focusing on the environment. More information can be found here.
  • February 22: Deadline for Get Ur Good On Grants. Youth Services America and celebrity Miley Cyrus are sponsoring 100 $500 grants for youth services projects to take place on Global Youth Services Day. More information is available here. 
  • March 24-27: National Service-Learning Conference. This year, the country’s largest service-learning conference will be held in San Jose, California. Visit their Web site to learn more and to register.
  • April 18-24: National Volunteer Week. Points of Light sponsors this weeklong celebration of volunteering. Start planning your project now!
  • April 23-25: Global Youth Services Day. Be a part of the largest youth-oriented service-learning celebration in the world. Visit GYSD.org to post your project or find a project.
  • May 1: Join Hands Day. This national service day brings adults and young people together to make a difference in their communities. Go to JoinHandsDay.org to find or post a service project.
  • May 9-15: AmeriCorps Week. What are you doing for AmeriCorps Week? AmeriCorpsWeek.gov can help you find a project, post a project or get ideas for creating a project. The Web site also offers tools to help you spread the word about your AmeriCorps Week project.
  • September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. Officially designated by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, this day is a nationwide opportunity to strengthen communities and bring people together through service. More information can be found on Serve.gov.
  • October 23: Make A Difference Day. USA Weekend magazine began this day of service for people of all ages. Find or post a service project through their Web site.
  • November: Family Volunteer Day. Sponsored by Disney and Points of Light, this event encourages families to get involved in volunteering together. Information on the 2009 Family Volunteer Day can be found here.
  • Various dates: Grant deadlines. Don’t forget to check ServiceWire.org for different grant opportunities and their deadlines!

Are there additional service-related dates that you have already added to your 2010 calendar? Share them with us in the Comments section!

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