AmeriCorps

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elyse Ver Berkmoes Walter
Communications Specialist
(517) 241-0063 – office
(269) 845-2227 – cell
verberkmoese@michigan.gov
www.michigan.gov/mcsc

First Gentleman Daniel G. Mulhern helped spread the work of volunteers into Michigan‘s communities by swearing into service more than 400 AmeriCorps members from across the state at the 2008 Michigan‘s AmeriCorps Member Celebration. The event, hosted by the Michigan Community Service Commission, helped prepare AmeriCorps members for their year of service and celebrated the courage of their commitment.
WHAT: The Member Celebration provided an opportunity for all current Michigan’s AmeriCorps members to come together for a day of training, networking, and motivation. The annual Celebration helps members gain a new perspective on the impact their AmeriCorps service has on communities throughout Michigan.

Mulhern Granholm

Through the day’s events, members understand they are part of a significant national movement. Members participate in professional development workshops on leadership, service project planning, and other topics relevant to national and community service. Members also hear dfrom keynote speaker Susannah Cowden.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:Michigan‘s AmeriCorps is often described as the domestic Peace Corps. Individuals, called members, take on the toughest challenges facing communities by serving within nonprofit organizations, schools, and other agencies throughout the state. They tutor and mentor children, help the homeless, feed the hungry, protect the environment, and more.

In a 2007 report released by the Michigan Community Service Commission, Michigan’s AmeriCorps members:
- Completed over 700,000 hours of service and training.
- Recruited nearly 24,000 volunteers who served more than 188,000 hours.
- Impacted over 120,000 students, citizens, and volunteers.

Michigan Community Service Commission builds a culture of service by providing vision and resources to strengthen communities

Communities

through volunteerism. In 2008-09, the MCSC is granting more than $5.3 million in federal funds to local communities for volunteer programs and activities. The MCSC is funding 18 AmeriCorps programs and 24 Learn and Serve programs. The Governor’s Service Awards, Mentor Michigan, and Volunteer Investment Grants are also premier programs of the MCSC. The MCSC is housed in the Michigan Department of Human Services, whose mission is to assist children, families, and vulnerable adults to be safe, stable, and self-supporting. The Corporation for National and Community Service grants the federal funding the MCSC administers. For more information visit www.michigan.gov/mcsc and www.cns.gov .

Michigan CTF

CTF is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of
child abuse and neglect. CTF works in partnership with its 72 local
councils to serve all of Michigan’s 83 counties. Local councils are
independent, community-based organizations

Michigan

that identify needs and
facilitate collaborative prevention programs for children and families in
their communities. The CTF board is administered through Michigan
Department of Human Services. Since 1982, the fund has raised over $60
million and has provided support to more than six million children and
families.

For more information, please go to www.michigan.gov/ctf

Pamela Jo

would like to congratulate Megan Root as the recipient of the 2008 Down the River Scholarship in memoriam of “Pamela Jo from O-hio!”

The scholarship committee was thrilled to receive Megan’s application and surprised by how aligned her enthusiasm is with Pam’s.  There simply wasn’t a more qualified, accomplished, and promising applicant in the pool.

Hailing from Kenton, Ohio Megan and Pam share the passion to learn through continued education.  Megan now attends Ohio Northern University

ONU logo

with plans to study Pharmacology.  We thank Megan for her application package and appreciate those who cast recommendations for her.

On behalf of the OMIA Foundation, congratulations Megan and keep on learning!

The main focus of my study at Michigan State University will be health, aging, and the life course with an emphasis on cognition.  The Western Michigan University Comparative Religion Program had a department chair enamored with cognition during my undergraduate tenure there.  I was influenced greatly by Dr. E. Thomas Lawson’s worldview and immeasurably impressed that he provided his time to sit with me during my first semester to discuss my academic future.  He personally guided me to a bachelor’s of arts in comparative religion, with a double major in philosophy, including a concentration on professional ethics.

It was a multidimensional tract that possessed the subject of religion, and through critical thinking, I was able to synthesize and apply my learning to courses on subjects like desire and belief.  Social and biomedical ethics were practical courses where I could apply my knowledge to specific situations.  I carried over the theme of applicatory education to my graduate work in public administration.  I will always recall sitting in Dr. Rudolf Siebert’s “Religion In Revolution” class on September 11, 2001.  It was then that I realized I was not simply studying world religions, but also the governments, history, sociology, and social structures that combine to form nations.  This coursework and academic process has prepared me exceptionally well for graduate study at Michigan State University.

I would like to work with Nan Johnson because I an interested in specializing in aging and the life course, rural sociology, and research methods.  I see interrelationships with patients, families, and caregivers, and older-adult migration between rural and metropolitan counties daily at my work with hospice.

I am also encouraged by Stan Kaplowitz’s specialization in social psychology, especially of attitudes and communication.  Communication is a big piece of our hospice volunteer training at McLaren Visiting Nurse and Hospice.  Mr. Kaplowitz’s view of cancer patients’ desires for communication of prognosis information will enhance my ability to work within hospice with patients of similar diagnoses.

Brown University’s Sociology program really appeals to me and I hope that Maryhelen MacInnes’s training from that department will carry over to instruction at Michigan State.  The research areas of health and illness, disability, family studies, and demography are fascinating to me.  The impact of illness and disability on family form and function is something I would like to study.  I would be interested in taking her course(s) in family and medical sociology.

Alesia Montgomery’s research and outreach related to K-12 and adult education, school-to-work transitions, work/family issues, transnational networks, and “virtual” communities are all subjects that apply directly to my non-profit OMIA Foundation that enhances the lives of children by expanding the scope of learning.  The interplay of “virtual” communities amongst K-12 teachers and administrators can broaden curriculum.

Aside from the OMIA Foundation, my previous research on charter schools as a student at Central Michigan University has assisted my exploration on how and why (and at what costs to families and communities) middle class black parents navigate metropolitan areas to find beneficial settings for their children.  My previous research in that area included new methods by which music can be used to diversify education rather than simply the migration of minorities to other schools within or outside respective districts.

I would like to study with Harry Perlstadt to learn how he views medical sociology, health care delivery, evaluation research and organizations/occupations.  His research on international, federal, state and local agencies and private foundations apply directly to my interest of effective public policy.  Community health delivery, health education, substance abuse and violence prevention are vital areas of research that apply directly to the formation of solid public policy.  My experience with the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Intervention Services (HAPIS) office within Michigan’s state government coincides with an interest in Mr. Perlstadt’s HIV-AIDS research.

I am interested in Barbara Schneider’s joint appointment in educational administration and sociology.  Her research focus on how the social contexts of schools and families influence the academic and social well-being of adolescents as they move into adulthood can be directly applied to my work with the OMIA Foundation.  Her research on how schools can become more effective in reducing persisting academic achievement gaps among children of different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds not only can enhance the function of the OMIA Foundation, but is directly related to my graduate paper “Music In Classrooms Increases Diversity.”  I share concern with Ms. Schneider on issues of social justice and inequality.  I would like to have a discourse with Ms. Schneider about her understanding of societal conditions and interpersonal interactions that create norms and values that enhance human and social capital.

I would call on Dr. Zhenmei Zhang’s expertise of life course and aging, family and health, and social demography.  Dr. Zhang’s focus on the effects of social relationships (parental and marital history) on both physical and mental health in later life and the role of gender in moderating the impact of social relationships on health is something I would delve into while at Michigan State University.  Her research of racial/ethnic differentials in a variety of health outcomes, including chronic health problems, functioning problems, and active life expectancy is something that applies directly to my work at hospice.  I share her interest of how socioeconomic status over the life course contributes to racial/ethnic health disparities.  That is something I see at hospice and would like to study at Michigan State University.  My cognitive theory studies at Western Michigan University would help me grasp and expound upon Dr. Zhang’s investigations of the risk factors of cognitive impairment among the aged population in China.  I would focus on the elder population in the United States.

I need to enhance my comprehension of issues within my current employment at hospice.  I would like to study sociological phenomena and theories at Michigan State University because I believe that such research would assist me to accomplish my career goals.  My intellect can only grow while at Michigan State University.

I have studied sociological topics like gender, women, and health previously within my course work research of comparative religion.  An interdisciplinary examination, through the Sociology graduate program at Michigan State University, would increase my knowledge of vital sociological theories exponentially.

I witness conflict in end of life decisions on a daily basis.  I can either continue to do so with my current skill set, or continue to grow at Michigan State University and better approach situations within my employment at hospice.

My vocational and educational focus has been the life course and I understand the connection between early childhood education and subsequent life results.  I would like to examine aging, the life course, and elder sociology more in depth at Michigan State University.  I believe it would benefit my performance at hospice, my knowledge of important subject matter, and my peers and instructors in the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University.

citation: http://kind.lapeer.org/

What began as a dream: providing services to children and their families at the first sign of difficulty, long before they are expelled from school, seen in juvenile court and/or placed outside of the home; become reality. For past ten years, Kids In New Directions (KIND) has been providing prevention and early intervention services to Lapeer County children and their families.

Unlike the entrance criteria required by many agencies, children do not have to establish themselves as “high risk” before they can receive the help KIND has to offer. KIND accepts children and their families when problem have the potential or just begin to arise.

Although KIND has made changes to it’s program over the last ten years, supporting children and families for success has remained constant.

One Kind Story

Known as the terror of the school, first grader Tim* experienced outbursts of anger and frustration. He hit and kicked most of his classmates, along with a few school personnel. He spent large amounts of time in the bathroom and running down the hall. Schoolwork frustrated Tim and his performance was poor.

Having recently moved into his dad and step mom’s home, his parents were unsure of what to do about Tim’s behavior. They were without direction or unity concerning this situation and it had become a source of contention between them.

KIND’s involvement began with assisting Tim to control his impulsiveness. In addition, the KIND worker helped Tim with his schoolwork. Tim’s interest in computers was soon evident. He was rewarded with additional computer time when he was able to comply with classroom rules and schedules.

Tim’s work on the computer helped him read better. As his reading level increased, his frustration level decreased. He became more able to control his anger and frustration.

When KIND’s contract ended, step mom volunteered to go to the school and help Tim with his extra computer time. They became a team, both celebrating the daily victories of success.

(*Child’s name has been changed for confidentiality purposes.*)

The OMIA Foundation can work with you to bring local history into your classroom. Tired of the same old Western Civilization lectures?   Get a local historian into your classroom!   Local Historians are volunteers who bring unique, fun, and locally relevant history lessons to the children at your school.

From the local level, to city and state histories, the Local Historian will provide:

• pictures, postcards, and photos
• well thought out lesson plans
• a fun connection between history and what students see daily

The Local Historian Program of the OMIA Foundation is staffed predominantly by senior volunteers.   This makes the Local Historian Program unique for both teachers and retired seniors.   Contact us!   Call (810) 732-1772 or email if you are interested in becoming a Local Historian.   We would not exist without you.   And, students are eager to hear your stories!