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Highland Street Corps News
Winter 2013
Ambassadors at Opening Day 2013
Message from the program manager

Krystal Hope In early September, the sixth generation of Highland Street Corps Ambassadors of Mentoring, an AmeriCorps initiative of Mass Mentoring, were sworn into service. With more than 1,200 AmeriCorps members serving across Massachusetts, there is so much to look forward to. Our AmeriCorps members are strengthening programs that in turn are strengthening communities.

For the 2013-14 service year, we have 22 host sites, and one-third of them are new sites. We also made a concerted effort to provide increased resources to Western Massachusetts, and as a result are serving three new programs in the region. We also retained talented Corps members, as we have three second-year Ambassadors serving this year.

Thanks to a continuation AmeriCorps grant, we have released our 2014-2015 RFP to host a Highland Street Corps Ambassadors of Mentoring (see below for more details). In our goal to support you, RFP technical assistance calls will be scheduled to help orient new and returning agencies to our application.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what this current Corps of Ambassadors brings to the mentoring field, and to attracting another diverse group of host sites through the 2014-15 RFP process. Check out my blog post for more details on this service year.
 
Sincerely,
Krystal Hope
Program Manager,
Highland Street Corps Ambassadors of Mentoring
In This Issue
Host a Highland Street Corps Ambassador of Mentoring in 2014!

We are so pleased to have released the Request for Proposals (RFP) to host a Highland Street Corps Ambassador of Mentoring for the 2014-15 program year. These full-time AmeriCorps members are placed at mentoring programs and youth-serving organizations to help them create higher-quality mentoring relationships with more at-risk youth. The Ambassadors help programs become more efficient and strong; lead and support volunteer recruitment efforts; and enhance or create systems to support marketing, recruitment, match support, mentor/mentee training, or program development. Apply now - the deadline is Feb. 6!
MMP Ambassadors celebrate Opening Day

Ambassadors at the Greater Boston
Food Bank
The Massachusetts Service Alliance hosted the 2013 AmeriCorps Opening Day at the Reggie Lewis Center on Nov. 8. This ceremony marks the official beginning of the AmeriCorps service year, and more than 1,000 AmeriCorps members serving in Massachusetts attended the event. Wendy Spencer, CEO of the National Corporation for Community Service, lead the crowd in the pledge of service as well as encouraged Corps members to serve with determination and commitment. After the ceremonies, members participated in a local service activity. The Ambassadors of Mentoring elected to serve at the Greater Boston Food Bank, sorting through food and household goods for distribution to local food shelters. The entire day was nothing short of a success, and helped kick off another amazing year of service!
Youth Mentoring Day 2014 - The Mentor Effect

This year, Youth Mentoring Day at the State House will integrate a new theme: The Mentor Effect and its role in strengthening communities across Massachusetts. The communities of Holyoke, Worcester and Roxbury/Dorchester will be recognized for their representation of The Mentor Effect through the innovative work of mentoring programs and the support of businesses, community organizations, media, and local government. Mass Mentoring Partnership will act as overall lead for the event, with the Ambassadors responsible for creative day-of planning. The Corps has divided into four groups, including a basic logistics group, in order to ensure that the event and theme are smoothly integrated and creatively displayed:
  • A community recognition team will research, interview folks and gather information about the communities being recognized, in order to highlight all the ways mentoring is strengthening those communities
  • A marketing team will tell the stories of these communities, through creative projects and media before and at the event
  • An audience engagement team will develop and implement an interactive component led by youth from various programs across Massachusetts
  • A logistics team will manage the execution of the event and oversee tasks including registration, room setup, and food and beverages for guests

The Ambassadors play a vital role in the success of Youth Mentoring Day year after year, and with Mass Mentoring as a guiding force this year, it's sure to be the best yet!
Wheelock College announces scholarship opportunity for current and former Ambassadors

Wheelock College is pleased to announce a one-time scholarship opportunity for current Ambassadors and alums of the program. Current and former Ambassadors can apply for a 1.5 year accelerated master's degree in organizational leadership and receive a scholarship of $7,275. The full cost of this program, designed for professionals who work in or desire to work in the nonprofit and social sectors, is $29,1000. This one-time opportunity is for students starting in January 2014 and graduating in May 2015. For more information or to apply, contact Irwin Nesoff at inesoff@wheelock.edu or 617.879.2170.
New host site Reader to Reader already experiencing impact

Information submitted by Dennis Quinn, 
director of mentoring programs at Reader to Reader
 
Reader to Reader: Read, Think, Share
Program model: middle and high school students matched with college-age mentors to discuss young adult literature in an online forum
Corps involvement: first-time host site
Corps focus: recruitment, mentor orientation, match evaluation
 
As a small organization, we are always looking for ways to expand our capacity to serve more students within our budget. The Ambassador of Mentoring opportunity was a perfect fit - it focused on all the areas where support is so important, and our Ambassador, Rebecca Cubells, has already helped us to grow into new schools and provide more mentoring.
 
Her project scope includes recruitment, mentor orientation and match evaluation. Last year was our biggest year to date, hiring more than 80 mentors for the academic year. Knowing that we'd need at least 100 mentors this year, we developed the Ambassador's scope based on previous experience. Adding an Ambassador immediately brought a skilled, motivated person into our organization. We have a more diverse pool of mentors thanks to Rebecca, and she brought in five new male mentors in her first month - a huge boost for us. She also made it possible to interview, screen and train more mentors than ever before - our number of mentors is more than 25 percent higher this year.
 
Organizations hosting an Ambassador for the first time - or planning to - should look carefully at what they need in order to expand capacity, and use that as a guide. They should also be aware that they share the time of their Ambassador with other service projects, and should make plans for the time their Ambassador is away at training, service week, and retreats. This program is an amazing opportunity for small organizations that are looking to increase their capacity but may not be able to take on the financial strain of a full-time employee.
 
For more on Dennis's thoughts, check out his blog post
Corps accomplishments

Rachel Lee, Cambridge Family and Children's Service
(CFCS)
Rachel is implementing CFCS's new Heads Up initiative that matches youth with adult mentors who share the experience of living with a family member with a mental illness. A few weeks ago, Rachel presented a two-hour mental health training to a group of 10 foster mothers. The training included a PowerPoint presentation and group activities that defined types of mental illnesses, statistics, causes, effects of stigma, and treatment. In the future, Rachel and her program hope to host an additional training for foster mothers, possibly including a Q&A session with a member of CFCS's Advisory Committee.

Katie Ginsburg, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay (BBBSMB)
Katie is the program site coordinator at BBBSMB and is working to launch three new partnerships in order to build BBBSMB capacity. Her first successful partnership, called the Gordon Program, recently launched in October. In partnership with Gordon College's Office of Community Engagement and the Gloucester Housing Authority, Gloucester mentees are bused to the Gordon College campus where they spend time with their mentors and explore college life. Katie played a crucial role in this new partnership, and she hopes it will be as successful as the Boston College program that BBBSMB also supports.
Alumni successes: Nate Pally from Taunton Area School to Career (TASC)
 
Completing two years of service at TASC from 2011-13 was a transformative experience for me that opened many doors. I had known I wanted to make a transition from working in a corporate environment to a non-profit setting, and this experience provided me with training in all areas of non-profit leadership, with many meaningful professional development opportunities, making me an asset at my service site.
 
I always treated my role as an Ambassador as a regular full-time job, and my executive director recognized my contribution by offering me a permanent role as the business outreach specialist when the position became available. I now manage my old program, the Career Mentor program, and serve as the site coordinator for a new mentoring program called Bridge to Employment. Here, we partner with DePuy Synthes Companies of Johnson & Johnson and provide mentors for high school students from their sophomore to senior years. We give them access to career exploratory experiences with a focus on S.T.E.M. and a goal of helping them to enroll in higher education to pursue health careers.
 
My new role also has me serve as the supervisor for our new Ambassador, Derek Parker. I feel like I've come full-circle at my organization and transitioning into this role allows me to guide Derek during his year of service. I've been in his shoes and understand the challenges of balancing two roles, both in the Corps and at the host site. I hope the contributions I made during my two years of service will be sustainable and that Derek will continue to impact the program through his time at TASC.
 
Submitted by Nate Pally, '11-'13
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