PowerCorpsPHL Newsletter
February 2014
Photo by Christine Boegemann
This January, PowerCorpsPHL went to Brooklyn and networked with Green City Force.
PowerCorpsPHL members kicked off the new year by serving their communities, meeting other service members and developing their professional skills. 

From participating in this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to traveling to Brooklyn, NYC to meet members of Green City Force, PowerCorpsPHL has been branching out and we are so excited to share where we've been and what we've been up to in this very first addition of our new, monthly newsletter!
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

PowerCorpsPHL members served their communities alongside volunteers all over the city of Philadelphia in recognition of MLK Day. We had members at three different sites. 
  • Corps members joined PhillyRising and buildOn volunteers in leading a variety of service activities at Furness High School. They wrote letters to veterans, decorated cards and flower pots for women living in shelters, cleaned out overcrowded office spaces and painted a room and an office in the school.
  • Corps members joined PhillyRising volunteers in service at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in North Philadelphia. Volunteers cleaned up the outside of the rec center and gave the interior a fresh coat of paint.
  • Corps members served alongside community volunteers at Papa Playground. Together, they cleaned up the park, performed maintenance work and painted.
Photos by Christine Boegemann
Above: Derek M. instructed students in decorating flower pots. Left: Donnell R. and Akeem M. clean up the MLK Rec center. Right: Nadira H. shows a young volunteer how to paint using her hand print.
 
PowerCorpsPHL visits Green City Force and Brooklyn Bike Park

PowerCorpsPHL members took a trip to Brooklyn to meet members of Green City Force, the program that inspired the creation of PowerCorpsPHL. Corps members exchanged stories of their backgrounds, their goals for the future, and the ways service has impacted their lives. 

Before heading home to Philly, PowerCorpsPHL and Green City Force stopped by the Brooklyn Bike Park to learn about the pop-up pumptrack and urban garden housed on this formerly-vacant lot.
 
Since November, PowerCorpsPHL crews have been serving with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation to build out the first
Career Boot Camp
 
On a snowy Saturday, PowerCorpsPHL members participated in a Career Boot Camp facilitated by PhillyRising's Bennie Ruth. The event covered a variety of career preparation topics, including: goal setting techniques, resume writing, online job searches, maintaining a professional presence online, and job interview strategies.

Engaging SERVE Philadelphia VISTAs as professional coaches, corps members also had the opportunity to receive one-on-one guidance and support writing and revising resumes.
Photo by Christine Boegemann
Left to right: PowerCorps member Tikir T, SERVE Philadelphia VISTA Caroline E., and Bennie Ruth present at the Career Boot Camp.
 

 

About PowerCorpsPHL

PowerCorpsPHL is an innovative, new AmeriCorps program designed to address Mayor Michael A. Nutter and Governor Tom Corbett's environmental stewardship initiatives as well as the City of Philadelphia's youth workforce development and violence prevention priorities.

Corps Member Reflection

 

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Photo by Al Cassidy
Mike F.

 

"One thing that I love about PowerCorps is that you are around nature, and you learn respect for
the environment.
You learn how to structure yourself
as a person."

 

- Mike F., PowerCorpsPHL member

 

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