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Join the District in Celebrating National Preparedness Month

District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty has proclaimed September National Preparedness Month (NPM) in the District of Columbia and urges citizens to take basic steps to be prepared including making a plan, making a kit, getting informed and becoming aware.

Throughout the month, Serve DC and other city agencies with an emergency role will offer opportunities in a variety of venues, including a series of FEMA-sponsored preparedness fairs at federal government agencies, outreach activities, trainings, and service projects.

Serve DC signature events include:

Tuesday, Sept. 8: Mass Casualty Exercise (Location: Fire Engine 24, 5101 Georgia Avenue, NW; Time: 6pm - 8pm)
Wednesday, Sept. 9: Commander Ready Kickoff (Location: Thomas Elementary; Time: 9:30am - 11:30am)
Friday, Sept. 11: Projects happening throughout the city in honor of the National Day of Service and Remembrance (Location: VA Medical Center; Time: 3pm - 5pm)
Saturday, Sept. 16: Golden Triangle BID Outreach Fair (Location: Farragut Park; Time: 12pm - 2pm)
Saturday, September 12: H1N1 Outreach at the Stadium (Location: RFK Stadium; Time: outreach begins at 6:00pm; with the kick-off slated for 7:30pm)

For more information on any of these events or a complete list of NPM activities during National Preparedness Month, please email Regina Moran or visit Serve DC's website.

Serve DC Engages the District to Turn a Day of Sorrow into a
Day of Service

Serve DC-The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism will mark 9/11 and the final week of President Barack Obama's United We Serve initiative, September 7-12, 2009, with service projects across the District. United We Serve is the President's nationwide service initiative designed to meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn. Launched on June 22nd, these 81 days of service culminate on September 11th with the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Serve DC will engage residents in meaningful service throughout the week with more than 65 events across the District. Special attention will be given to Friday, September 11th and Serve DC signature events are as follows:

Tuesday, September 8th: Mass Casualty Training Exercise. The DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) Department, Special Operations Division will provide a brief review of Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) disaster medical operations and provide a tour and overview of the mass-casualty exercise. Location: Engine 24, 5101 Georgia Avenue, NW; Time: 7:00pm
Wednesday, September 9th: Commander Ready Kick-Off. After graduating more than 1400 DCPS students in this youth-preparedness curriculum, Serve DC will celebrate this school year's Third Annual Commander Ready city-wide program launch. The event will include presentations by MPD, FEMS, DOH, HSEMA, and more. Location: Thomas Elementary School, 650 Anacostia Avenue, NE; Time: 9:30-11:30am
Thursday, September 10th: Night at the Ballpark. Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) in partnership with DC Fire and EMS Department (DCFD) will host the 2nd Annual Night at Nationals Ballpark.
Location: Nationals Park, 1500 South Capitol Street, SE; Time: events begin at 5:30pm; first pitch at 7:10pm
Friday, September 11th: Youth Service Opportunities Project (YSOP) Service Breakfast. Serve breakfast with YSOP to individuals experiencing hunger and homelessness in Washington, DC. Location: Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G Street, NW; Time: 7:00-10:00am
Friday, September 11th: Operation Kid Comfort. In conjunction with Greater DC Cares, Armed Services YMCA and Operation Kid Comfort, volunteers will work in teams to design and create quilts for children of deployed service men and women. Location: RFK Stadium, 2400 East Capitol Street, NE; Time: 9:00-12:00pm
Tuesday, September 8th: Mass Casualty Training Exercise. The DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) Department, Special Operations Division will provide a brief review of Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) disaster medical operations and provide a tour and overview of the mass-casualty exercise. Location: Engine 24, 5101 Georgia Avenue, NW; Time: 7:00pm

For more information please visit Serve DC's website or email Emily Batchelder.

Serve DC Joins DCPS to Engage Thousands of Volunteers
Beautifying DC Public Schools

On August 22nd, Serve DC - The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism joined DCPS to engage more than 2500 volunteers for the Fifth Annual DCPS Beautification Day - a citywide day of service designed to "spruce up" D.C. public school buildings and grounds in preparation for the first day of school.

Established in 2005, this year's event hosted volunteers from across the District at more than 100 schools and boasted partnerships with Alpha Phi Alpha, City Year, Cornell Club of DC, DC for Obama, Delta Sigma Theta, Embassy of Jordan, Girl Scouts, Hands on DC, Howard University Law School, Merrill Lynch, McLean Bible Church, Metropolitan Police Department, Office of Naval Research, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ward 4 Education Council Union, The Washington Capitals, Wesley AME Church, The White House, Young and Powerful, Young Education Professionals and Young Marines.

"DCPS Beautification Day is a unique opportunity to bring together groups from across the community to ensure that kids and parents alike are as enthused as the rest of the city to come back to school on August 24th," said Amy Ward, Executive Director of Serve DC. "Serve DC is thrilled to help remind young people that the entire community supports their success."

Beautification efforts typically include landscaping, trash pickup, light painting, and landscaping, but this year - thanks to a unique collaboration with the White House and Washington Capitals Charities - six schools also received school supplies and will continue to partner with those entities throughout the school year. In celebration of this partnership, schools were visited by the White House's Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement Valerie B. Jarrett and the Washington Capital's Coach Bruce Boudreau, in addition to numerous staff from both entities who worked throughout the day.

"This is important for the kids to see that people care about them and their schools," said Boudreau. We hope the kids come to school on Monday and see all of the changes and hopefully they will get excited about school."

For more information regarding DCPS Beautification Day, please email Emily Batchelder.

Mayor's Summer of Service Participants
Get Ahead by Giving Back

Even as the summer was slowing down, the Mayor's Summer of Service (MSOS) participants were kicking it into high gear - working hard at community service projects across the District. Serve DC - The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism, in conjunction with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), created MSOS as a creative opportunity to introduce more than 100 young people in Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's 2009 Summer Youth Employment Program to meaningful community service in the District of Columbia.

Since June, participants have been working in every Ward of the city under the supervision of NCCC - building more than 25 community vegetable gardens at recreation centers and parks; tutoring low-income children at Amidon Elementary School through Heads Up DC, working with military families at the University of the District of Columbia summer camps; building playgrounds; clearing and cleaning trails with the National Parks Service; and sorting more than 15,000 lbs of food at the Capitol Area Food Bank.

"I can't tell you how impressed I've been with caliber of work and cooperation this group has shown throughout the summer," said Jessie Baldwin, a Crew Leader and supervisor with NCCC. "I think they've taught us as much as we've taught them."

When they weren't at service projects, MSOS participants spent time cultivating personal and professional development skills. Each Friday, participants met as a large group to foster teambuilding and host speakers and lecturers - topics include professionalism and job skills; college visits and admissions; health and wellness; and appropriate self-expression.

MSOS participants tackled several large-scale service projects during the program's final week - August 17th through the 21st - to showcase this summer's hard work, including a youth-homelessness information and awareness-raising session and service project in conjunction with Virgin Mobile and Sasha Bruce; Community Emergency Response Team training and certification; and assisting the Department of Parks & Recreation cleaning and beautifying Walter Pierce Park.

"We are quite fortunate that Mayor Fenty allowed us to think outside of the box and engage youth in such creative ways this summer," said Amy Ward, Executive Director, Serve DC. "The success of this program is a great indication of how service and volunteerism can introduce individuals to endeavors they might not have previously considered and change a child's life."

Learn more about the Mayor's Summer of Service program.

Serve DC Receives Funding to Support
Higher Ed Service-Learning

Serve DC - The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism will expand upon a successful history of developing and expanding AmeriCorps and K-12 Learn and Serve programs by managing a consortium of higher education institutions through the Learn and Serve America Higher Education program. This summer, Serve DC was awarded funding in the amount of $860,570 by the Corporation for National and Community Service to support service-learning in higher education at three Washington, DC universities. Georgetown University, the George Washington University and the University of the District of Columbia will share resources and best practices as they engage students in service-learning activities that will meet local needs and help address some of the capacity issues faced by local nonprofits as a result of the current economic downturn. Primary objectives include: (1) instilling an ethic of service and leadership among DC college students; (2) providing economic support and development to strengthen the nonprofit and social services sectors; (3) developing long-lasting and mutually beneficial university-community partnerships throughout the District.

Higher Education Institutions are well positioned to equip college students with the tools and skills necessary to embark on a path of lifelong civic engagement through meaningful experiential learning opportunities that connect directly with coursework. Students have the ability and capacity to fulfill personal developmental goals during their college careers and address real-world challenges facing local nonprofit organizations in the current economic downturn through innovative social entrepreneurship. Serve DC is ecstatic about this opportunity and thanks the Corporation for National and Community Service for their support in this initiative.

For more information please email Jaime Spilken, Learn and Serve Program Officer.

CERT Trains District Youth in Emergency Preparedness

Serve DC's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training reaches out to every segment of the city during the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program. CERT's Emergency and Disaster Training is brought to the participants throughout the city, including the Mayor's Youth Leadership Institute (Howard University), the Mayor's Public Safety Group (UCC) and the DC Firefighter Women's Associations' Girls Camp (DC Fire Academy) and Serve DC's Mayor's Summer of Service Teams.

Almost 400 participants receive training in how to take care of themselves, their family, their community, and their city in times of disaster or emergency. The curriculum includes Fire Safety; Emergency and Disaster Medicine; Light Search and Rescue; and Terrorism. At the end of the exercise, participants receive a Certificate of Completion and a backpack filled with emergency supplies. Many of these young people become dedicated volunteers - a key component of the CERT program.

For more information on the CERT program, please visit Serve DC's website.

Serve DC Proudly Announces 2009-2010
AmeriCorps*State Sub-Grantees

Serve DC - The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism is proud to announce AmeriCorps*State Grant Awards to eight different District of Columbia organizations to house over 480 AmeriCorps Members. Through the Corporation for National and Community Service, Serve DC has awarded over $3.1 million in AmeriCorps funding to these organizations for the 2009-2010 program year.

AmeriCorps Members will serve in the following organizations helping the District meet vital community needs: Center for Inspired Teaching, City Year Washington, DC, Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso (FAN), Heads Up, Jumpstart for Young Children, Latin American Youth Center, Playworks, and the Youth Power Center. Two of these organizations, FAN and Center for Inspired Teaching, are new AmeriCorps*State sub-grantees in Washington, DC. Center for Inspired Teaching is the first Professional AmeriCorps Program that Serve DC has supported.

The organizations receiving funding were selected in a highly competitive process conducted by Serve DC, which plays a key role in promoting volunteering and administering AmeriCorps programs in the District. Last month President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, landmark legislation that will increase opportunities for Americans of all ages to serve, put AmeriCorps on a path to grow from 75,000 to 250,000 annual positions by the year 2017, and strengthen social innovation and volunteer generation in America's nonprofit sector.

2009 Serve DC Service-Learning Institute a Success

On August 11th-12th, Serve DC - The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism hosted the 2009 Service-Learning Institute in partnership with America's Promise Alliance and State Farm Insurance. This two day professional development training on Service-Learning brought together over 70 teachers, administrators, community practitioners and national service program directors. Participants left with the understanding of the key characteristics of high quality service-learning, as well as how to use service-learning as an effective retention and recovery strategy to combat dropout rates.

Panel discussions centered on intergenerational service-learning, school-partnerships with service-learning and national trends in service-learning. Participants also were able to experience hands-on service-learning activities focused on greening and the environment. Additionally, middle school educators were engaged in a separate breakout session in which they discussed connecting school standards with service-learning objectives.

Serve DC received positive feedback from session evaluations and participant quotes included:

Today was awesome! Everything will be used to frame an effective Service-Learning component of my campus.

Amazing Diversity of speakers! Very knowledgeable speakers!

Today was great! All presenters were engaging and provided concrete examples and inspirational stories.

Serve DC would like to thank all of our speakers and panelists, especially Teri Dary and Terry Pickeral for serving as the lead trainers for the 2009 Service-Learning Institute. A special thanks to Elaine Leibsohn and Kathy Havens-Payne from America's Promise Alliance and State Farm Insurance, respectively. Their contributions both programmatically and financially were instrumental in the success of this year's Institute.

For more information please email Jaime Spilken, Learn and Serve Program Officer.

Serve DC AmeriCorps*State Programs Graduate Members

Throughout the months of May and June, Serve DC AmeriCorps*State Programs graduated more than 250 AmeriCorps members. Graduates include minimum-time, half-time, and full-time participants within City Year Washington, DC, Heads Up, Jumpstart, and Sports4Kids. These members completed more than 247,000 hours of service to the Washington, DC community in the capacity of tutors, mentors, coaches, and role models. These members worked primarily in more than 40 Washington, DC Public Schools and Public Charter Schools to motivate, educate, and inspire DC's youth.

Serve DC still has AmeriCorps*State programs operating throughout the summer with approximately 140 additional members set to graduate by the end of August 2009. With additional funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Serve DC will be hosting 481 AmeriCorps members for the 2009-2010 Program Year.

Save the Date for DC AmeriCorps Leadership Council

DC AmeriCorps Leadership Council
Date: Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Academy for Educational Development/Greeley Hall, 1825 Connecticut Ave NW (Dupont Circle north)

The DC AmeriCorps Leadership Council, sponsored by Serve DC - The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism, will be hosting a kick off and recruitment event on October 7th. The DC AmeriCorps Leadership Council is comprised of current AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps alums who meet once a month to plan events for AmeriCorps members, past and present, within the district. To RSVP for the event, please email dcalc@americorpsalums.org.

Free Emergency Preparedness Training Available

Serve DC's DC Citizen Corps program provides Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training to individuals who live or work in the District of Columbia. The purpose of this initiative is to provide citizens with emergency preparedness training to better prepare themselves, their families, and their communities to handle emergencies.

Classes include Disaster Preparedness; Fire Safety; Medical Operations I & II; Light Search and Rescue Operations; CERT Organization/Incident Command; Disaster Psychology; and Terrorism and CERT (All units must be completed for certification).

When: Monday-Friday, September 21-25, 2009
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Where: 441 4th Street NW, One Judiciary Square, 11th Floor Conference Suites