AmeriCorps Teams Kickoff Service

Oregon Campus Compact (ORCC) has partnered with 14 Oregon colleges, universities, and community partners to host 24 AmeriCorps Retention Project and VISTA Members across the state. 

Ten AmeriCorps Retention Project Members will develop mentor programs to match college student mentors with at-risk college student and youth mentees. The programs encourage high school completion and degree attainment by utilizing service-learning to provide academic enrichment and college exposure to disadvantaged, at-risk mentees.

Fourteen AmeriCorps VISTA Members will bring together campus and community stakeholders to address issues of poverty. By mobilizing resources, they will generate, develop, and implement ways for the campus and community to reflect on poverty and work toward solutions together. 

ORCC AmeriCorps Members met last week to officially celebrate the start of service. They’re inspired by the work of the 2011-2012 AmeriCorps teams and motivated to make an impact in Oregon. 

Cumulatively, the 2011-2012 teams

• Created and sustained 537 partnerships with community organizations.
  
• Recruited, trained, and coordinated 357 college students to mentor 2,140 at-risk mentees and complete over 12,000 hours of mentoring.
  
• Supported faculty from colleges and universities to facilitate over 9,000 hours of service by students in service-learning courses.
  
• Inspired more than 5,300 students, faculty, and staff members to volunteer for over 25,000 hours.
  
• Generated over $50,500 in monetary and in-kind donations. 

This is the third year of the ORCC Retention Project and the sixth year of the ORCC VISTA program. ORCC has strong partnerships with the Corporation for National and Community Service, higher education institutions, and Washington Campus Compact, which have made the success of these programs possible. 

Motivated by the belief that students have the power to change the world, ORCC activates higher education toward student participation in civic life. As the only statewide organization working with private, public, four-year, and two-year institutions, ORCC embraces its unique position to strengthen Oregon’s narrative of service and leadership. 

ORCC will release the AmeriCorps Retention Project and VISTA program Request for Proposals for the 2013-2014 service year in mid-November 2012. If you’re interested in learning more about ORCC, applying to host an AmeriCorps Member, or becoming an ORCC campus member, contact McKenzie Miller, Communications Coordinator at mckenzie@oregoncampuscompact.org or 503.406.3572.

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