Every year Oom Yung Doe (Mt. Lebanon and Squirrel Hill locations) hosts a kick-a-thon in which the money raised is given to a cause or organization of their choice. The students and instructors kick as many times as they can nonstop for 20 minutes. Typically, the total amount of kicks is 20,000 – 30,000. The students, instructors and the chosen organization collect pledges for every kick. Lump sum pledges are also accepted.
Oom Yung Doe has graciously decided to donate 100% of this year’s kick-a-thon pledges to the Washington Avenue Foster Houses. The KEYS Service Corps AmeriCorps program under the Department of Human Services, Office of Community Services in partnership with the Foster Independent Living Program (ILP), will be renovating two houses in Braddock as part of a pilot program to create affordable independent housing for foster care youth who have aged out of the system. These houses were purchased by the non-profit, Braddock Redux, and are being made available to the Foster ILP. There are empty lots next to this duplex. The plan includes converting these into urban farms where the young adults will work. This will provide local produce to the community, a variety of hands-on learning experiences for the young adults, and will act as a positive way to engage community residents. A third house also purchased by Braddock Redux will house two urban farmers who will act as mentors to these young adults. KEYS AmeriCorps members, ILP staff, volunteers and the ILP young adults will be doing basic renovations to their houses, and will prepare the abandoned lots for farming.
The work on the houses will include: painting, removing the carpet, basic cleaning, bathroom tiling, minor repair to one ceiling, turning the attics into bedrooms, painting the outside of the houses when the weather is better, and basic outdoor grounds work. The two houses need: 1 updated furnace, 2 water heaters, 2 stoves, 2 refrigerators, and 1 washer to be shared between the two houses.
All donations will be used to turn these buildings into homes for our foster youth and to begin work on our Urban Farms.
The kick-a-thon will take place at the Mt. Lebanon location on Wednesday, March 26 at 7p.m. and at the Squirrel Hill location on Saturday, March 29 at 11a.m. Oom Yung Doe will be presenting the donations in the form of a check at their annual banquet on Saturday, April 5 at 4p.m. Students and instructors from the school will also be volunteering their time to assist in the renovation process at The Foster House during National AmeriCorps Week (May 11 - May 18).
If you are interested in pledging for the Kick-A-Thon or volunteering your time at The Foster House, please feel free to contact the AmeriCorps KEYS office at 412.350.2739.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
AmeriCorps Alums Pittsburgh Chapter is Back in the Game!
Ok, so I know it's been exactly 16 days since our last post but there has been sooo much going on in the AmeriCorps KEYS office and in the community in general! I just don't even know where to begin! There are awesome things in the works! With that being said, instead of overwhelming you all in one post about a ton of stuff, I've decided to attempt to stick with one topic per post, rather than going on tangents and digressing...which clearly I'm about to do, so let's just get to the point shall we?
AmeriCorps Alums Pittsburgh Chapter is finally back in the game! I am now the Chapter Leader for the AC Alums Pittsburgh Chapter. I served two terms of service with AmeriCorps KEYS in 2001/2002. I am now a staff member with AmeriCorps KEYS.
I want to first point out that you DO NOT have to have already completed a term of service to join the chapter. You CAN be a current member. So please do not let that stop you from joining!
With that being said, I would like to get the Pittsburgh Chapter back in the game! I think the first step is to get feed back from you all to see what you want to get out of the chapter as a member and what role you want AC Alums to play in our community.
Ideally, I'd like to meet with you all in the next couple of weeks and have an open discussion about these topics and go from there. So, if you are interested in becoming more involved in the Pittsburgh Chapter, please contact me no later than Monday, March 24 and let me know what days and times are good for you to meet and from that information I will set up a meeting time and place for our first meeting.
If you have any questions about anything regarding AmeriCorps KEYS, AmeriCorps in general, AmeriCorps Alums, etc please do not hesitate to ask!
As I said, there are many things in the works for AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Alums in the Greater Pittsburgh area, so keep your eyes and ears open!
Check out the AmeriCorps Alums Pittsburgh Chapter Page!
AmeriCorps Alums Pittsburgh Chapter is finally back in the game! I am now the Chapter Leader for the AC Alums Pittsburgh Chapter. I served two terms of service with AmeriCorps KEYS in 2001/2002. I am now a staff member with AmeriCorps KEYS.
I want to first point out that you DO NOT have to have already completed a term of service to join the chapter. You CAN be a current member. So please do not let that stop you from joining!
With that being said, I would like to get the Pittsburgh Chapter back in the game! I think the first step is to get feed back from you all to see what you want to get out of the chapter as a member and what role you want AC Alums to play in our community.
Ideally, I'd like to meet with you all in the next couple of weeks and have an open discussion about these topics and go from there. So, if you are interested in becoming more involved in the Pittsburgh Chapter, please contact me no later than Monday, March 24 and let me know what days and times are good for you to meet and from that information I will set up a meeting time and place for our first meeting.
If you have any questions about anything regarding AmeriCorps KEYS, AmeriCorps in general, AmeriCorps Alums, etc please do not hesitate to ask!
As I said, there are many things in the works for AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Alums in the Greater Pittsburgh area, so keep your eyes and ears open!
Check out the AmeriCorps Alums Pittsburgh Chapter Page!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Hello From the AmeriCorps KEYS Headquarters :-)
Hey Everyone!
For those of you who are not familiar, I'd like to introduce you to KEYS Service Corps, an AmeriCorps Program! Please refer to our about me section to the left and check out our user profile to get the scoop on exactly who we are and what we do.
So you're probably wondering what to expect from this blog site. Ultimately, we want to get you interested in national and local service. We want to get you excited about your community, global and local. We hope to ignite that passion you have stirring inside. We want to push you to do the things you've always wanted to do but for whatever reason, never have - whether that be obtaining your GED, serving at-risk youth in your community, or fulfilling the dream of a obtaining a college education, etc. We want to know where and when you're going to do your term of service.
So let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?! Projects, ideas and opportunities are bustling at the KEYS headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh as well as at our host sites (and in the Greater Pittsburgh area in general). Quite honestly, I don't even know where to begin! I guess I will just give you a brief overview of all of the more time sensitive and/or important issues at hand as of now...and I'll get in to greater detail in later posts.
Ok, first things first. KEYS is currently recruiting for summer and fall positions (full time and part time). Eventually we will be offering the application online, but as of now, our website is experiencing some technical difficulties. But fear not! If you are interested in applying or receiving more info about our program, please email our assistant director, Aaron Gray at: aaron.gray@alleghenycounty.us or pay us a visit at 1 Smithfield Street Pittsburgh, Pa 15222. You may even run in to us at an upcoming career fair (we will be posting those soon)! Check out our website to find out what it means to serve with KEYS and all of the perks that come along with serving with us! You can also find us at www.myspace.com/americorps_keys and search for us on facebook!
Next up is AmeriCorps Week! This second annual week of celebration and service will be taking place May 11-18, 2008. I'm not gonna lie...this is gonna be pretty sweet! According to the national AmeriCorps website, AmeriCorps week is "an annual event designed to bring more Americans into service, salute AmeriCorps members and alums and thank community partners." Last summer was the first annual celebration and it's only going to get better this year! We cannot release any details just yet as to what we have in store, but I will tell you that it's going to be awesome. And may I add that you do not have to be an AmeriCorps member to participate. In fact, our goal is to recruit as many community volunteers and sponsors as possible to take part in this celebration and day of service. We will be posting all of the details and opportunities for AmeriCorps Week in the coming weeks so keep your eyes peeled!
This summer, KEYS will also be celebrating the graduation of another great group of AmeriCorps KEYS members! This graduation celebration is set for Friday, June 13, 2008. And this summer we will be honoring them in style! This graduation celebration is set to be one of the best in KEYS history! Not only will we be honoring their term(s) of service with AmeriCorps KEYS, we will be introducing them as AmeriCorps Alumni - and that's something to be proud of. Again, it's a bit too early to release the details so keep your eyes peeled!
That's it for introductions for now. I don't want to overwhelm you. The truth is, KEYS Service Corps has a a lot going on and a lot to say. We will be posting blogs daily (if not multiple times per day) to inform you of what we're up to, what our host sites are up to, what's going down in the community, and what opportunities exist in the community, and much, much more!
For those of you who are not familiar, I'd like to introduce you to KEYS Service Corps, an AmeriCorps Program! Please refer to our about me section to the left and check out our user profile to get the scoop on exactly who we are and what we do.
So you're probably wondering what to expect from this blog site. Ultimately, we want to get you interested in national and local service. We want to get you excited about your community, global and local. We hope to ignite that passion you have stirring inside. We want to push you to do the things you've always wanted to do but for whatever reason, never have - whether that be obtaining your GED, serving at-risk youth in your community, or fulfilling the dream of a obtaining a college education, etc. We want to know where and when you're going to do your term of service.
So let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?! Projects, ideas and opportunities are bustling at the KEYS headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh as well as at our host sites (and in the Greater Pittsburgh area in general). Quite honestly, I don't even know where to begin! I guess I will just give you a brief overview of all of the more time sensitive and/or important issues at hand as of now...and I'll get in to greater detail in later posts.
Ok, first things first. KEYS is currently recruiting for summer and fall positions (full time and part time). Eventually we will be offering the application online, but as of now, our website is experiencing some technical difficulties. But fear not! If you are interested in applying or receiving more info about our program, please email our assistant director, Aaron Gray at: aaron.gray@alleghenycounty.us or pay us a visit at 1 Smithfield Street Pittsburgh, Pa 15222. You may even run in to us at an upcoming career fair (we will be posting those soon)! Check out our website to find out what it means to serve with KEYS and all of the perks that come along with serving with us! You can also find us at www.myspace.com/americorps_keys and search for us on facebook!
Next up is AmeriCorps Week! This second annual week of celebration and service will be taking place May 11-18, 2008. I'm not gonna lie...this is gonna be pretty sweet! According to the national AmeriCorps website, AmeriCorps week is "an annual event designed to bring more Americans into service, salute AmeriCorps members and alums and thank community partners." Last summer was the first annual celebration and it's only going to get better this year! We cannot release any details just yet as to what we have in store, but I will tell you that it's going to be awesome. And may I add that you do not have to be an AmeriCorps member to participate. In fact, our goal is to recruit as many community volunteers and sponsors as possible to take part in this celebration and day of service. We will be posting all of the details and opportunities for AmeriCorps Week in the coming weeks so keep your eyes peeled!
This summer, KEYS will also be celebrating the graduation of another great group of AmeriCorps KEYS members! This graduation celebration is set for Friday, June 13, 2008. And this summer we will be honoring them in style! This graduation celebration is set to be one of the best in KEYS history! Not only will we be honoring their term(s) of service with AmeriCorps KEYS, we will be introducing them as AmeriCorps Alumni - and that's something to be proud of. Again, it's a bit too early to release the details so keep your eyes peeled!
That's it for introductions for now. I don't want to overwhelm you. The truth is, KEYS Service Corps has a a lot going on and a lot to say. We will be posting blogs daily (if not multiple times per day) to inform you of what we're up to, what our host sites are up to, what's going down in the community, and what opportunities exist in the community, and much, much more!
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