Conservation Trust for North Carolina is the host organization for AmeriCorps, a ten-month national service program in environmental education and outreach. The program is currently accepting applications for the 2017 service year, which will start on October 4, 2016 and end on July 21, 2017. AmeriCorps members will be stationed at host organizations around the […]]]>Conservation Trust for North Carolina is the host organization for AmeriCorps, a ten-month national service program in environmental education and outreach. The program is currently accepting applications for the 2017 service year, which will start on October 4, 2016 and end on July 21, 2017. AmeriCorps members will be stationed at host organizations around the state. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with the last day to apply being August 26th 2016.
The program seeks to reconnect people with the outdoors and to develop future leaders in conservation. AmeriCorps members will develop service projects that help remove barriers to environmental education throughout North Carolina, as well as help expand the diversity of backgrounds among conservation leaders in the state.
CTNC offer a living stipend ($13,470 over ten months), health insurance reimbursement (up to $150 per month), childcare assistance, and monthly professional development opportunities (individual trainings, conferences, career fair). Participants who complete the program may receive an education award of $5,775.
To find out more and to apply, please click here…
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They’ve encountered scorpions, lizards and the perils of navigating around the abundant cacti that dot Arizona’s Casa Grande Mountain landscape, but a team of 11 AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps volunteers say they’re enjoying building a new trail in the city’s most popular hiking park. “Every time we take a break, we sit down and […]]]>They’ve encountered scorpions, lizards and the perils of navigating around the abundant cacti that dot Arizona’s Casa Grande Mountain landscape, but a team of 11 AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps volunteers say they’re enjoying building a new trail in the city’s most popular hiking park.
“Every time we take a break, we sit down and stare across the desert. It’s absolutely beautiful,” said team member Forrest Potter.
The AmeriCorps team arrived in Casa Grande in mid-January and will remain through this month.
During their six-week stay, they’ll blaze new trails, install signs and do maintenance work on the mountain. They’ll also provide volunteer support at several city events.
By the second week in February, they’d already completed the new 1-mile Sun 1 Loop trail, which extends off the Ridge Trail.
In addition to enjoying the beauty of the desert and the thrill of spotting a yellow and blue lizard scurrying across the rocks, Potter said the team has encountered some challenges while working on the mountain.
“None of us are from the desert, so this is new to us,” he said.
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More than a decade ago, Kieran Roe sealed and stamped an envelope and dropped it in the mail. What he got back proved to be far beyond his expectations. “I couldn’t have fathomed everything that would come from it,” said Roe, executive director of Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (CMLC). Roe’s envelope contained a grant application […]]]>More than a decade ago, Kieran Roe sealed and stamped an envelope and dropped it in the mail. What he got back proved to be far beyond his expectations.
“I couldn’t have fathomed everything that would come from it,” said Roe, executive director of Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (CMLC). Roe’s envelope contained a grant application to the Corporation for National and Community Service with a proposal to initiate Project Conserve, a new AmeriCorps program in western North Carolina. “We were still a fledgling land trust. We only had a few staff and we needed help,” recalled Roe.
AmeriCorps was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. The program— often billed as a domestic version of the Peace Corps–engages adults in intensive community service with the goal of helping others and meeting critical community needs.
Members within AmeriCorps commit to part- or full-time public service positions among non-profit community organizations and public agencies. The proposal that Roe submitted was to establish positions to fulfill environmental and conservation needs in the region.
Roe’s application proved successful, and Project Conserve was born, hosting its first members in 2004. Making a difference is what has defined the program. Since CMLC initiated Project Conserve a decade ago, nearly 200 AmeriCorps members have completed service terms. Their collective contribution has exceeded an astonishing 410,000 hours of public service to western North Carolina communities.
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The program places members in service with one of 17 host site organizations working to protect the unique natural resources of the southern Blue Ridge Mountain region. Each member will serve 1700 hours during an 11 month term, from September 2015 through July 2016.
Please contact Amy Stout, AmeriCorps Project Conserve Program Director, with any questions at 828-697-5777 ext. 208 or [email protected].
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