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AmeriCorps Program at Inner Harbour Campus

AmeriCorps volunteers at Youth Villages Inner Harbour Campus in Georgia

Each year, AmeriCorps offers 75,000 opportunities for adults of all ages and backgrounds to serve through a network of partnerships with local and national nonprofit groups. The Youth Villages AmeriCorps program began in 2000 and has been recognized by Innovations in Civic Participation as one of the 52 most innovative AmeriCorps programs in the country. More than 200 AmeriCorps members have served at the Inner Harbour Campus of Youth Villages in Douglasville, Georgia, and many go on to become permanent staff members.

Outcome evaluation for the program shows that AmeriCorps members make a real difference in the lives of Youth Villages students.

For the 2010-2011 service year:

Eighty percent of students showed increased academic performance in the areas of literacy and GED preparation by one grade in a five-month period of one-on-one tutoring with AmeriCorps volunteers; and
Ninety-eight percent of students receiving tutorial services experienced greater self-efficacy toward reading and learning.

Beginning in the 2011-2012 service year, members of the Youth Villages AmeriCorps will also measure improvements in life skills deficits for older youth ages 16 to 21 years. AmeriCorps members will provide individual and group sessions in the areas of career planning/work life, communication, daily living/self-care, home life, housing/money management,social relationships and work/study skills.

In addition to tutoring and life skills instruction, the Youth Villages AmeriCorps team provides unique afterschool programs, meaningful service learning projects and summer programming to the students on the Inner Harbour campus.

Additionally, the Youth Villages AmeriCorps team focuses on strengthening the local community through weekly service projects with nonprofits, volunteer recruitment efforts and partnerships with schools and youth engagement organizations.

The Youth Villages AmeriCorps team also responds to victims of Georgia natural disasters by providing emergency relief and volunteer assistance as part of the First Saturday initiative.

The Youth Villages AmeriCorps program accepts member applications throughout the year, with service start dates in late September and late January. Please go to AmeriCorps.gov to apply, or contact Program Coordinators, Melissa Astin (melissa.astin@youthvillages.org) or Anthony Crass (anthony.crass@youthvillages.org), for more information.

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Youth Villages is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to helping emotionally and behaviorally troubled children and their families live successfully. We help more than 18,000 children and families each year from more than 20 states and Washington, D.C. Our Evidentiary Family Restoration™ approach involves intensive work with the child and family, a focus on measuring outcomes, keeping children in the community whenever safely possible, and providing accountability to families and funders. The EFR approach produces lasting success for children with success rates twice that of traditional services at one-third the cost of traditional care.