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On May 20th, David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service; Marsha Meeks Kelly, executive director of Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service; Kristin McSwain, director of AmeriCorps*State and National; and other CNCS officials toured five homes rehabilitated by YouthBuild AmeriCorps members and spoke with them about their experiences.
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When Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, there was an intense desire from the YouthBuild network of organizations, staff, and youth to use our resources and housing construction expertise to assist the hurricane victims and their communities. The YouthBuild network, recognizing that it is a unique national resource for rebuilding communities, decided to help rebuild the disaster area.
In July 2006, YouthBuild graduates and new staff members from across the country convened in Gulfport, Mississippi, to officially launch the YouthBuild AmeriCorps Katrina Rebuilding Project. For one year, this initiative engaged YouthBuild AmeriCorps members in using the construction skills they learned from their programs to rebuild housing in the Gulfport area.
The graduates, who were selected to join the project's YouthBuild AmeriCorps Graduate Volunteer Corps, lived in Gulfport to help in the rebuilding effort. The YouthBuild AmeriCorps Graduate Volunteer Corps was joined by rotating crews of more than 140 YouthBuild AmeriCorps students from programs in California, D.C., Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia, who traveled to Gulfport in one- to two-week rotations to assist the graduate volunteers. Teams of current YouthBuild AmeriCorps students will continue to travel for another year to volunteer in Gulfport.
On May 17, 2007, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held during National AmeriCorps Week to celebrate the 100th home restored through the YouthBuild AmeriCorps Katrina Rebuilding Project.
The event also marked the launch of a new YouthBuild AmeriCorps Gulfport that is engaging youth who reside on the Mississippi Coast in learning construction skills to rebuild homes in their communities. Two of the YouthBuild AmeriCorps Graduate Volunteer Corps members - Justin Crockett and Antonio Simpson - are staying on as program staff, having found their calling in Gulfport.
On July 12, 2007, a closing ceremony was held in Gulfport to commemorate the project's successful rehabilitation of 140 homes and to honor the 12 YouthBuild AmeriCorps graduates who completed their year of service. All of the graduates earned an AmeriCorps education award, received a special bonus from YouthBuild USA's Asset Trust, and established an individual development account through which YouthBuild USA matched $800 of their savings 5:1 with funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Sunshine Lady Foundation.
The YouthBuild AmeriCorps Katrina Rebuilding Project was supported by a $2.9 million grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs the national AmeriCorps program. Additional support was provided by The Home Depot, the U.S. Navy Seabees, Gulf Coast Community Action Agency, and individual donors. The new YouthBuild AmeriCorps Gulfport program is funded by the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Services.
For More Information
If you have any questions, or if you are a corporation, organization, or government entity that would like to partner with YouthBuild in our relief efforts, contact katrina@youthbuild.org.
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