Partners In service to America
2010-2011
This program year (2010-2011) Partners in Service to America will select 25 members 17 years or older. Qualities sought in potential members include: leadership, a positive attitude, willingness to work to accomplish improvements for their community, willingness to be supervised, high energy, assertiveness, initiative, ability to avoid alcohol and drug abuse.
Members will provide services to Red Lake Nation at the following service sites:
Education
Ponemah Elementary, Red Lake Middle & High Schools and the head start programs where members will teach various exercises and dances to students in the schools keeping them educated on the Diabetes Prevention and how to live Healthy Lifestyles.
Members will deliver meals to homebound elders, provide independent living assistance and social engagement to elders as a means of keeping them connected to their communities.
Meals prepared and delivered will be processed, packaged, and prepared by members. Members will be fishing, hunting, ricing, canning * preserving native foods, learning their traditions, customs and culture, planting community gardens, language, and all activities will rotating around the yearly traditional calendar of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians.
Community strengthening where members will be trained to recruit volunteers from the community to provide services for community needs. To be come contributing volunteers on a daily basis by attending the New Horizons Leadership Plenty training geared towards becoming involved in your communities.
Member Development where members will receive intense training in various areas such as self-esteem, work ethics, leadership, team building, life skills, civic engagement and CPR/First aid.
OVERALL: National service began here in 1993 where Members of the Summer of Service cleaned a local creek and created a park around their work. Since those first days, 350+ members have served 50,000+ children, 1,500+ preschoolers. Members also serve 350 elders meals on a daily basis. They planted over 8,000 trees, created an interpretive trail, tested water and wild rice in Nett Lake, Minnesota, helping that community to gain drinkable water and eradicate a type of milfoil. They cleaned hundreds of houses for frail elderly and delivered them water and food.
They mentor elementary and high school youth, increasing school engagement and enrichment by providing positive cultural role models. They are co-planners and presenters of EVERY positive community event.
Partners in Service to America are an integral part of life at Red Lake. Members volunteer and recruit for all community events and activities as needed. They coordinate and organize youth activities and events. During the 2008-2009 year they coordinated and organized a Halloween Party for youth, a guitar hero contest during the yearly Family Gathering, took youth to Water Park, and hosted a tubing event for disadvantage youth.
Red Lake AmeriCorps members are young single women and men, single parents, high school dropouts, college/tech students, baby boomers and are highly respected by their peers and community members. Each year over a 100 applications are submitted for 25 to 30 positions.
This year, AmeriCorps will be selecting 25 members. Applications are being accepted now at the AmeriCorps office beginning January 1, 2010 to May 30, 2010. |
