Las Vegas Archives - Nevada Volunteers

Amass for AmeriCorps Update

Thank you to our amazing supporters that continue to help us spell AmeriCorps!

I found out about AmeriCorps from friends while attending the University of Nevada Las Vegas, who recommended the program to me because they knew of my desire to help others. After researching the program, asking questions, and speaking with National Service Alums, I realized that this was a perfect opportunity for me because of my skills and passion for helping people and my community.

I am a Site Coordinator for Communities In Schools within the United Way of Southern Nevada AmeriCorps program. I assist students with their homework, make sure they have their basic needs met, and guide them to graduate at a local high school and Community Center. Some of these basic needs include personal items, clothes, food for their families, paper, pencils and pens. If there is something that the student needs, Communities in Schools finds a way to help the student, which supports them in (more…)

A Whole New Look in Southern Nevada!

AmeriCorps Members from United Way of Southern Nevada and Luz Community Development Coalition make MLK Day, "A Day On, Not A Day Off."

Over 200 community volunteers joined AmeriCorps members from United Way of Southern Nevada and Luz Community Development Coalition to revitalize the City Impact Center in Las Vegas. City Impact Center is a community outreach center in the heart of Las Vegas that encourages, empowers and equips community members to better themselves and their families. The City Impact Center integrates faith-based solutions and mobilizes people to act in their community.

Volunteers spent the day cleaning up trash and overgrown plants, painting, or giving the Center a head-to-toe scrubbing. City Impact Center shines from the hard work of the volunteers:

A clean and freshly painted recreation center for youth after-school programs
A clean and freshly painted preschool with three inspirational and diverse murals to brighten the facility
Freshly painted parking lines for safety

(more…)

MLK Day: Hard Work Makes A Dream Come True

Bright and early on MLK Day, 35 Great Basin Institute Nevada Conservation Corps (NCC) AmeriCorps members gathered with volunteers from Habitat for Humanity to build a house for a family in need. Members spent the day helping the single mother create a home of her own, and worked tirelessly to clean up three empty lots surrounding the house so that she could feel pride in her neighborhood when she looked out her window.

Krista Johnson, NCC member, shared her experience, ” I was initially disappointed that I wouldn’t be working on the house and would be cleaning up trash and pulling weeds at a vacant lot across the street until I realized the view the family would have from the front would be that of the vacant lot. It reminded me that a house never stands alone; it’s always a part of a neighborhood, the way a person is never just a single person but part of a community. By helping beautify and improve the neighborhood, we were helping the family too. In the end, I felt great about our work on MLK Day.” (more…)

MLK Day 2011: A Day On, Not A Day Off

“Service above self will be the cornerstone of my administration as Governor,” Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval proclaimed. He joined approximately 70 AmeriCorps members bright and early in Las Vegas, Nevada on Martin Luther King Jr. Day morning to celebrate the Day of Service.

Partnering with Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas, Nevada Volunteers’ AmeriCorps members gathered together to build three special homes in honor of the 25^th anniversary of the holiday recognizing one of America’s great heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. More than 40 years after his death, Dr. King’s example continues to guide Nevadans in addressing the state’s most critical issues.

The event in southern Nevada brought together AmeriCorps State members from Great Basin Institute’s Nevada Conservation Corps, Luz Community Development Coalition, and the United Way of Southern Nevada, along with AmeriCorps VISTA members serving southern Nevada nonprofit agencies. The Governor jumped in to lend a hand with the AmeriCorps members, at one point even aiding them on the roof by nailing on shingles. (more…)

Roadpost # 10: Leaving Its Mark

It’s the 45^th anniversary of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). I am one of over 175,000 Americans who have joined VISTA since 1965, dedicating a year of their lives to tackling poverty and building capacity in our nation’s nonprofit sector. President Kennedy envisioned the program in 1963 and it was implemented by President Johnson two years later. VISTA is a program I am proud to be a part of for many reasons. Here is one of them.

VISTA, like all the national service programs, can be a life-shaping experience, especially for young people. I recently spoke with Alex Cherup, a Nevada VISTA alum, who is being sponsored by Nevada Volunteers to participate in the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in New York at the end of June. Alex is an outstanding young man who is passionate about service because of his VISTA experience. It gave him the chance to turn an aspiration into reality, and he still marvels at where it has brought him. (more…)

MLK Day 2010, Las Vegas

February 17, 2010
Nevada Volunteers
Video
0 Comments

National Service members joined together in Las Vegas to make Martin Luther King Day a Day On, not a Day Off by marching in the MLK Day Parade and doing a service project for Habitat for Humanity. AmeriCorps members from LUZ Community Coalition participated and provided this PowerPoint. Thank you Luis Calderon for creating the slideshow and organizing these inspiring quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.