Creating Leadership and Service Opportunities

Summary

The Director of the Spanish Speaking Unity Council relates her first experiences with the NCLR AmeriCorps program and reports the progress of the program. Ms. Murrington explains the tremendous opportunities and the resources the AmeriCorps program has provided to her community.

Description

It has been several years since that eventful day when Hugo Cardona and Jorge Hinojosa convinced me that the Spanish Speaking Unity Council (SSUC) needed to become part of the NCLR AmeriCorps grant. Since the grant was due to be submitted within the next week, we had to quickly assess the situation and make a decision. We were excited about implementing an AmeriCorps program, but nervous about how to come up with the required matched funding for the grant. Our previous experience with an AmeriCorps grant was as a host site for one member. That involvement was very positive and allowed us to participate in the first year (2001) of a grant made possible through the California Governor’s Office on Service and Learning, in celebration of the newly established holiday for César Chávez ’ birthday. So, we decided to take the leap and go from 1 member to 12 members as part of the NCLR program.

After deciding to become part of the NCLR AmeriCorps grant we began to realize what a tremendous opportunity this was going to be for our community. We developed goals based on Workforce Development, building on our existing employment program that targets limited English proficient clients from seven language groups: Spanish, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Mien, Cantonese and Mandarin. AmeriCorps members are assigned to various program areas within the Unity Council that are paid work experience host sites for our welfare-to-work employment participants. In addition the AmeriCorps members assist in the employment clients by providing tutoring and mentoring in the community colleges’ classes that include ESL, VESL, computer training and job readiness classes. Because many of our welfare-to-work clients have low literacy levels, AmeriCorps members also provide individual and small group tutoring. Recently the Unity Council obtained its One-Stop Career Center designation and now the AmeriCorps members also assist clients in accessing career and employment services.

The other important factor in considering taking on this program was the leadership development component. The Unity Council saw this as an opportunity to recruit local youth who are vested in the betterment of our community, and who obviously would benefit from the leadership development experience and the education award money. As we began to do the outreach to recruit our members, we knew that the benefit of doing the program would far outweigh the concern that we had about the where we would get the matching funds. We are extremely pleased with our newly recruited members — they are diverse and reflect our community, exactly what we wanted to accomplish.

Community service events are also a part of the members’ activities. To date the members have participated in two community events and they are currently preparing the third event. The event in January was in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.. The members brainstormed different ideas and finally decided to plant a tree in honor of Dr. King in a local garden, so there would be a lasting memory within our community of this great civil rights leader. In addition, at the tree planting site, a poster board was converted into a collage of the life and teachings of Martin Luther King Jr.. The members are now working on creating a placard that with be placed at the foot of the tree.

The second event was a community tree planting festival dedicated to the life and teachings of César Chávez. In addition to the event, AmeriCorps members are currently assisting in the second implementation of our César Chávez service learning project that involves partnering with several of our local schools. Last year we worked with local schools to promote the life and values of César Chávez, to ensure that the legacy of this great Latino leader lives on in our community. We are proud that our efforts resulted in the children and youth creating significant public art projects and an incredible children’s book about the life of César Chávez. This year our AmeriCorps members will be working with the local schools on similar projects that will continue to educate our community about the life and values of César Chávez.

Currently the members are planing an event for “Dia del Niño. They will work closely with the local community park alliance to plan an after school events at the park on April 30th that is traditionally the day of the child in many Latin American countries. The event will be family oriented and include entertainment, educational activities, games, prizes and piñatas.

The AmeriCorps program has proven to be an excellent opportunity for the youth in our neighborhood and will become a resource for developing the future leaders of our community.