Written by Kathleen Egan, Cross-Stream/Inclusion AmeriCorps*VISTA
Hello Learn and Serve Blog readers! My name is Kathleen Egan and I am the current Cross-Stream/Inclusion AmeriCorps*VISTA serving with the Michigan Community Service Commission. During my term of service, I am helping to support and facilitate collaboration between the three “streams” of national service, including AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve, and Senior Corps. I am also doing outreach to various organizations and groups to promote service as an opportunity for people with disabilities. The disability community is a talented, diverse, and largely untapped pool of volunteers that can use service as a way to build skills and explore career opportunities.
I can easily fill this blog up with any number of cross-stream and inclusion initiatives and stories (and maybe I will at a later date!), but today I’d like to focus on telling you about the Michigan’s AmeriCorps LeaderCorps. I am the AmeriCorps*VISTA representative on LeaderCorps and serve as the chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Team.
LeaderCorps is made up of one representative from each of the Michigan’s AmeriCorps*State programs, as well as representatives from AmeriCorps*VISTA and AmeriCorps*National programs. LeaderCorps members meet in person a few times each year and participate in monthly conference calls. LeaderCorps members serve as liaisons between their individual programs and the Michigan Community Service Commission. Each member is required to do two outreach presentations about AmeriCorps, a service project that engages the disability community, and assist with the coordination of AmeriCorps Week (May 14-21) activities in their communities. Members are also charged with promoting and participating in national days of service such as National Volunteer Week, Global Youth Service Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, and Make a Difference Day.
All LeaderCorps members serve on one of three Leadership Teams: Outreach, Diversity and Inclusion, or Alumni and Citizenship Engagement (also known as A.C.E). Each team creates their own goals and works toward promoting AmeriCorps to the general public, and keeping current and past AmeriCorps members connected to their communities and one another.
Each Leadership Team has a number of exciting things going on, but I’ll just share some of the highlights. The Diversity and Inclusion team is gathering photos and stories of service that demonstrate the impact of AmeriCorps members and programs on Michigan communities. These stories will be featured in a print and online publication that will be distributed during this year’s AmeriCorps Week.
The A.C.E team has created a Michigan’s AmeriCorps Alumni Facebook page to keep alumni connected with current news and events, as well as information about upcoming service projects in their communities.
The Outreach team is designing the second Michigan’s AmeriCorps newsletter, which is shared with members, alums, program sites, and friends of AmeriCorps. You can check out their first newsletter, which provides an overview of all Michigan’s AmeriCorps programs at http://michigan.gov/documents/mcsc/Winter_2011_LeaderCorps_Newsletter_347342_7.pdf.
Each member is also responsible for posting to the Michigan’s AmeriCorps LeaderCorps Blog. This is a great way to hear about what’s going on throughout the state from a variety of programs. I encourage you to follow or check in on the blog from time to time at http://miacleadercorps.blogspot.com/, and enjoy the inspiring stories members have to share.
Michigan’s AmeriCorps LeaderCorps is a team of 26 members committed to spreading the word about national service and making their communities stronger. Now I ask of you: how can we adapt this to service-learning in Michigan? At the Service-Learning Sustainability Symposium in February, the idea of a group that supports and encourages Learn and Serve schools and teachers was introduced. Do you believe this model is adaptable for this? Or perhaps it could be re-tooled for your own leadership team at your program?
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