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| AmeriCorps Update
04.07.2014
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| IMPORTANT DEADLINES + EVENTS
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| April 6-13, 2014
April 7-13, 2014
April 11-13, 2014
April 17, 2014
April 17, 2014 FFRs/deobligations due. All programs’ midyear Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) are due to OneStar, regardless of program start date. This FFR will cover all costs incurred from your program’s start date through March 31, 2014 as well as any unexpended funds that your program will be deobligating. Please submit the FFR and deobligation form online at
http://www.tfaforms.com/173824.
April 27-29, 2014 National Service School Improvement Symposium (Washington, DC).
Click here for details.
April 30, 2014
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| All-Grantee Meeting Survey, Presentations, and Photos Thank you to all who attended the 2014 AmeriCorps*Texas All-Grantee Meeting (AGM)! It was great to see all of you, and we hope you enjoyed our time together last week. Please see below for the following important information:
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| Videos + Photos of Wendy Spencer at National Journal LIVE in Austin Thanks to all who attended or watched the recent National Journal & The Atlantic's 'A New America: How Millennials Are Sparking Change' Town Hall underwritten by Microsoft in partnership with the IC2 Institute held on March 25, 2014, at which Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS, was a featured speaker.
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| Texas Featured in National Service Inclusion Brief The Institute for Community Inclusion has published a new Institute Brief. This brief, "
Indicators of Inclusive Service and Volunteer Organizations," provides examples of how disability inclusion is often seamless and intentionally woven throughout many nonprofit organizations – including a focus on OneStar Foundation and AmeriCorps*Texas programs!
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| National Service School Improvement Symposium (April 27-29, 2014)
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is convening a National Service School Improvement Symposium to engage CNCS grantees and community leaders in dialogue and training to turn around persistently low-achieving schools. Attendees will include AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Social Innovation Fund grantees as well as community partners. Sessions will run on Sunday, April 27 and Tuesday, April 29, 2014.
Register today for the National Service School Improvement Symposium. Registration closes soon! Dates to Remember: - Friday, April 4: Final day to
book a room in the hotel block
- Thursday, April 17: Final day to
Register
- Sunday, April 27: Symposium sessions begin at 11 a.m. (
View agenda)
- Monday, April 28:
Grad Nation Summit sessions begin at 8:30 a.m.
- Tuesday, April 29: Final Symposium and Grad Nation Summit sessions (8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
TWO GREAT OPPORTUNITIES:
This gathering also coincides with the
2014 Annual Building a Grad Nation Summit so participants are encouraged to register for both. (Participants must register for each event separately.)
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| G-489 Disaster Volunteer Management Training OneStar is excited to announce a new and FREE training opportunity that may interest AmeriCorps program staff and/or AmeriCorps members. As the state service commission, OneStar is partnering with the Texas Division of Emergency Management to offer a 1-day certification course entitled G-489: Management of Spontaneous Volunteers in Disasters using FEMA curriculum. Our first public offering of the course will be this Friday, April 11th at the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School Building in conjunction with our Texas Disaster Volunteer Generation Initiative (TDVGI) Grantee Kick-Off but others are welcome to attend. This will be a fun and interactive course that we hope will leave participants better prepared to manage large numbers of incoming volunteers in times of disaster, which is an ideal role for AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members to play if activated in a disaster. TDEM hopes to offer this course 2-3 times per year, but we wanted you to be aware of this opportunity next week before Hurricane Season starts on June 1st.
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| America’s PrepareAthon! CNCS is proud to be one of six national organizations partnering with FEMA for the spring launch of America’s PrepareAthon! (AP!) Join us for a
National Day of Action on April 30, 2014. The PrepareAthon! campaign is directed as part of Presidential Policy Directive 8: National Preparedness. On April 30, and throughout the spring, America’s PrepareAthon! activities will focus on preparing individuals, families, workplaces, K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, houses of worship, and community-based organizations for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. Participation can include being a part of community emergency planning, hazard-specific drills, group discussions, and exercises. AP! is a nationwide, community-based campaign to increase emergency preparedness and resilience through hazard-specific drills, group discussions, and exercises. AP! provides individuals, communities, and organizations with action-oriented guidance to: - Practice the steps necessary to prepare for and stay safe during a disaster or emergency,
- Learn about mitigation measures, protective actions, and community plans (e.g. alerts, warnings, evacuation, and sheltering), and
- Contribute to whole community preparedness planning.
Get involved by registering as a participant in America’s PrepareAthon! at
Ready.gov/prepare, and stay tuned into the discussion on Twitter by following
@PrepareAthon.
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| IS Announces Latest Figures for Value of Volunteer Time Independent Sector announced last week that the 2013 estimate for the value of a volunteer hour is $22.55—a 41-cent increase from 2012, up 1.9 percent from the previous year.
The
value of volunteer time provides one way to measure the impact millions of individuals make with each hour they dedicate to making a difference. The release of this important figure comes in time for
National Volunteer Week, which takes place April 6-13, 2014. “The 40th anniversary of National Volunteer Week is a great time to recognize the extraordinary value that volunteers add to nonprofits and the lives of the people and causes they serve,” said Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector. “Forty years ago, we could never have imagined the tools that now exist that give volunteers immense choices and opportunities to contribute to the causes closest to their hearts."
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| AmeriCorps Alums Launches ServeAYear.org AMERICORPS ALUMS recently joined with ServiceNation and 17 of the country’s leading national service organizations in an effort to make a year of service part of the American way of life. The campaign will connect the stories and impact that AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps alumni are making every day on some of our nation’s toughest issues -- from disaster relief and veteran reintegration to college access and childhood nutrition -- to the writers and producers in Hollywood who are ready to tell these stories. Our goal is simple, but ambitious: We envision a day when young Americans turn to each other and ask, “Where will your year of national service be?” Over the next three years, ServiceNation will lead this initiative, engaging entertainment companies and TV show executives in an effort to integrate powerful stories of service by AmeriCorps members and alumni into the scripts of their shows. Only two weeks ago, AmeriCorps was
mentioned in an episode of HBO's True Detective, a direct result of this effort. In the coming months, the campaign plans to roll out other partnerships with humorous digital platforms, YouTube stars, social-minded brands, athletes, celebrities and more successful integrations that will help tell the story of national service in America.
To learn more about our efforts, check out the campaign website: www.serveAyear.org.
Learn more about the campaign here.
Find out who else is working with us on this historic campaign.
We also want to hear from you --
share this exciting news with your friends and family on social media using the hashtags #serveAyear and #alumsnow. Tell us what you think or if you have a great idea about how AmeriCorps or AmeriCorps alumni could play a role in your favorite show!
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| New Online Form for Mid-year APR The Mid-year AmeriCorps Progress Report (APR) is due to OneStar for all AmeriCorps*Texas grantees on April 17, 2014. Please note that we have changed the reporting format of this year’s APR to an online system, powered by Google Forms. To complete your report, please click below to view the following: If you would like for me to send you additional documents for reference, such as your organization’s previous APR report, report review, or your 2013-2014 eGrants application in order to reference the performance measures you must report on, please contact your assigned OneStar Grants Officers.
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| Healthy Texas Week It’s time again for
Healthy Texas Week! From April 7th through April 13th, we are celebrating health, while demonstrating to all of Texas that we are committed to making healthy the norm in our state.
Start planning now! Last year, nearly 800,000 Texans participated, so this year, help us reach 900,000! During Healthy Texas Week (#HealthyTXWeek), visit
http://www.healthytexasweek.com/ to commit to take action. Healthy activities can be fun and simple, such as a Healthy Potluck or a Family Fitness Night!
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| 130 Texas Mayors Recognize National Service! Wow, what a day! On April 1, 2014, national service made history, as more than 1,760 mayors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico united in support of national service. Together, these mayors represented more than 110 million Americans, or one-third of the U.S. population. OneStar would like to share and echo the words of CNCS Texas State Office Director Terry Gunnell: “By the time the dust settled and April 1st was over, 130 Texas mayors participated in the 2014 Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service--more than double last year’s number! I want to express my thanks and gratitude to each of you: without your first-hand knowledge of the communities your programs serve, we could not have reached – and far surpassed- our goal. Along with the 130 proclamations and the numerous events held across Texas, the following Extension of Remarks was inserted into the Congressional Record: HON. BILL FLORES of TEXAS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Tuesday, April 1, 2014 Mr. Speaker, today in the City of West, Texas, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, better known as RSVP, is being honored for their service. I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation for all help they have provided to our community. RSVP has a rich history of giving back. As volunteers, their service adds to the well-being and preserves the health of our community. In the wake of the tragic fertilizer plant explosion in West, RSVP came to the aid of a community in need. Following the explosion, volunteers with the organization staffed the call center, food distribution headquarters, and the donations management center. Their leadership, experience, and support aided in providing relief to those affected and were a tremendous help throughout the recovery process of this disaster. We are truly thankful that RSVP was able to organize and assist in such a quick and efficient manner, and we know that those affected by the explosion truly appreciate their efforts as well. RSVP Volunteers do their part to add value to the world and work to leave it a better place. During a time in which our country faces tough challenges, it is encouraging to see that we still have strong groups like RSVP who work together to solve problems, and to pitch in to strengthen our communities and improve others’ lives. I am appreciative of the work that RSVP volunteers do and commend them for all of their hard work for our community. God bless the continuing work of RSVP and God Bless the United States of America. Congratulations again on a great success with the 2014 Mayor’s Day of Recognition of National Service!”
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| Civic Reflection Training Services Request Form OneStar is pleased to periodically offer Civic Reflection training services to grantees, national service programs, and eligible organizations throughout the state of Texas. The two types of services offered are Civic Reflection Discussions and Civic Reflection Facilitation Workshops. Civic reflection uses short, thought-provoking images, video or readings from literature, history, or philosophy to open up important questions in civic life and explore the underlying values and beliefs that drive our shared work in the world. AmeriCorps programs have utilized the practice of civic reflection as a tool in such areas as member development, staff development, and member retention.
Reasonable Accommodation Request Form OneStar may have funding available to support grantees with reasonable accommodation requests for members and/or potential members. If you need to request funds to provide a reasonable accommodation for a member or potential member, please complete the request form at
http://www.tfaforms.com/167676.
Updating Program Contact Information If during the year, you have any changes, additions, or deletions to your program’s contacts, please update your program’s Authorized Representative Form (ARF) by visiting
http://www.tfaforms.com/159770. This site allows you to add, remove, and/or update contacts at any time and you only need to enter the contact information for the person(s) you need to update. As a reminder, OneStar requires the following roles to be designated and corresponding contact information to be on file: - Legal Authorized Signatory
- Primary Program Contact
- Primary Fiscal Contact
- Secondary Contacts (Primary or Fiscal) – as applicable
Please note that it is a grantee requirement to update this form within 10 working days of a change in your program’s key personnel assigned to your AmeriCorps project.
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