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President Obama called on all Americans to help in our nation’s recovery by volunteering in their communities this summer in a video message released by the White House and the Corporation for National and Community Service. The President’s call to summer service launches United We Serve, a sustained effort to expand the size and impact of volunteer efforts in addressing tough challenges facing the nation. The United We Serve initiative kicked off yesterday on June 22, with a speech from Michelle Obama at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, and runs for 81 days through a new National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11. Community HealthCorps staff Jason Patnosh, Gerrard Jolly, Randy George and Pamela Ferguson will be at the conference representing NACHC, along with 4,000 service and volunteer leaders, to map out strategies to increase the impact of service in solving community problems. Please see NACHC's press release last week here and visit the Community HealthCorps website for more information.
NACHC is encouraging all health centers to participate in this initiative.
To make it easy for Americans to get involved, the President is urging Americans to visit Serve.gov, a website managed by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Visitors to Serve.gov can type in their zip code to find local volunteer opportunities, recruit volunteers by posting their organization’s projects, or get ideas for creating their own projects with friends, families, and neighbors. To encourage participation in service this summer and beyond, the Serve.gov website features a new All for Good volunteer matching platform that allows people to search for volunteer opportunities based on location and interests. The site allows users to sign in with their primary social network and includes social media applications to share volunteer opportunities with friends and see what activities they are participating in. We encourage everyone to upload their volunteer opportunities whether it is for one time projects or ongoing activities. This is also a great opportunity to promote your National Health Center Week events in August if you are using volunteers for any of your events. Remember to also list your Health Center Week events at www.healthcenterweek.org. NACHC has also provided the following tools to implement the United We Serve initiative in your health center:
Tools for Use in Community Health Centers: (click links to download each document)
- Flyer promoting United We Serve
- Prescription Pad Flyers: These flyers allow volunteers to post their activities for all to see. It is a great way to demonstrate community involvement, show you are part of the larger campaign, and let volunteers take pride in any and all kind of activities. We encourage you to share these at community events and establish a centralized location at your centers for all to see the impact on the community. These can also be used for great photo opportunities; and the information in them can be used in reports and funding proposals.
- Volunteer Tracking Sheets: The Volunteer Contact Info sheet helps you keep track of volunteers’ contact information. The Volunteer Activity Tracking Sheet will help you to track their impact/activities. The data for this can be pulled directly from the Prescription Pad flyers as they are posted. Please submit tracking forms as service is conducted throughout the summer. This information could be requested at any time by the Corporation for National and Community Service or the White House. Anticipated reporting dates will be July 31, August 31, and September 18, so please submit information in a timely manner before then. Please make an effort to submit all final tracking forms to the contacts listed below by Friday, September 18, 2009. Thanks in advance for your support!
- 81 Project Ideas for the 81 Day Campaign: Besides the resources at Serve.gov we have also attached a list of potential roles and activities for volunteers.
The documents listed above may also be downloaded directly from our "Program Site Resources" page, located in the left navigation bar, or at this link: http://www.communityhealthcorps.org/documents.cfm
Contacts (Community HealthCorps):
Jason Patnosh, Associate Vice President/National Director – jpatnosh@nachc.com
Pamela Ferguson, Director of Training and Technical Assistance – pferguson@nachc.com
Howard Liebers, Program Officer – hliebers@nachc.com
Vanessa Respicio, Grants Assistant – vrespicio@nachc.com
Please visit the Community HealthCorps website for more information.
Follow us on Twitter: @NACHC or @CommHealthCorps.
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