An 11-member team of young adults from across the country will be working with at-risk youths throughout February at Oxford’s Crossroads for Youth campus.
“You hear about places like this and you have these images and stereotypes you put on these kids. But they’re really just like any other kid anywhere,” said Katya Muller, a 24-year-old from Texas.
Muller is part of the team volunteering at Crossroads. The team members are all from AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, known as NCCC.
The group is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service and aims at providing opportunities for young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 to improve the environment, enhance education, increase public safety, help with disaster relief and assist in other unmet human needs.
The team arrived at Crossroads on Jan. 11 and will leave on Feb. 26.
Crossroads for Youth is the NCCC team’s second stop in their 10-month long commitment with AmeriCorps.
Their first project was in New Orleans, helping to rebuild homes after Hurricane Katrina.
“Working with Crossroads for Youth is an opportunity my team and I are ready to take on. It’s a big change of pace from our last project, so we’re eager to begin,” said Dave Elwood, an NCCC member from Maryland.
Crossroads for Youth is a nonprofit organization that works with at-risk youth ages of 12 to 17, providing a supervised environment to help children make positive changes in their lives. Many of the children live at the facility for a period of time and are provided with work-related and academic education, counseling and specialized education.
Crossroads’ Vice President Susan Dittrich said she had attended an AmeriCorp seminar in October 2009, which was when Crossroads applied to have NCCC members come to their campus.
“The kids are loving it. They love their AmeriCorp people,” Dittrich said. “These people are so energetic and so driven. It’s really a wonderful program.”
The application submitted by Crossroads for Youth was selected by NCCC because it demonstrated a need to provide sustainable resources for youth, said Angela Sarrels, NCCC’s Community Relations Specialist.
Members of the NCCC team were given formal training by Crossroads’ counselors when they arrived. Once the training was completed, team members began helping the staff teach life skills, carried out administrative work and helped to organize community service opportunities, field trips, recreation and arts and crafts programs.
The team is also mentoring the youth, helping kids with homework and eating meals alongside them.
Tracey Zambeck, director of Development and Agency Relations, said the members visit with the kids who don’t have anyone to visit them, which she said means a lot to the kids.
In addition, the team is aiding in renovating buildings on the campus.
“(Crossroads) has so much need here that we’re not just doing one thing. We’re not just doing construction; we’re not just working with the kids. We have an opportunity to really understand the whole breadth of their program,” said Emily Kentta, a 24-year-old member of NCCC from California.
Members of NCCC teams must be ages 18-24 and complete at least 1,700 hours of service during the 10-month program. Members receive room and board, a stipend for essentials like shampoo, and an education award after their 10 months of service are completed.
“(NCCC) finds young adults who really want to make a difference,” said Janet McPeek, president of Crossroads for Youth.
Crossroads for Youth also is looking for volunteers for a variety of different activities, especially after the 11-member team leaves.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Day 114: More of Oak 7 in the News
Crossroads for Youth gets help from AmeriCorps - The Oakland Press News > Local News: The best place for news in and around Oakland County
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1 comment:
interesting article. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you learn that some chinese hacker had busted twitter yesterday again.
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