National Service Agency Announces Grants to Expand Homeland Security Volunteer Efforts

(Washington D.C) -- The Corporation for National and Community Service today announced grants totaling $8.7 million for homeland security volunteer projects supporting more than 32,000 volunteers and sponsored by 29 national and local organizations.

The more than 32,000 volunteers will engage in projects in public safety, public health, and emergency preparedness and response. The “Special Volunteer Program” grants support recruitment of volunteers for local efforts to develop disaster response plans, expand neighborhood watch and Community Emergency Response Teams, develop bioterrorism response teams, and assist radio operators and volunteer pilots in responding to disasters. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Corporation was the first federal agency to distribute grants to engage volunteers in homeland security.

“Engaging Americans in protecting their communities is vital to our homeland security,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “By helping tens of thousands of Americans get involved, these 29 organizations represent the best, first line of defense in preparing for and responding to disasters."

The grants announced today are in two categories. The first 17 grants support the third year of projects in public safety, public health, and emergency preparedness and response. These “continuation” grants total $5.2 million and support 28,000 volunteers. The remaining 12 grants, totaling $3.6 million, support new projects that will engage more than 4,780 volunteers, many age 55 and over, in homeland security efforts.  The new grants will cover one year of program activity, but funding for a second and third year may be provided contingent on performance and availability of funds. Read the complete list.

The new grantees are:

• The ElderBuilders Homeland Security Partnership, sponsored by Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, Inc., will use a network of agencies and individuals to develop comprehensive disaster preparedness and response plan in four counties, supporting the counties’ newly formed Citizen Corps Councils.
• The San Francisco Fire Department will implement a component of the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team that will focus on recruitment, training and leadership development of 550 senior volunteers, veterans, and members of low-income communities.
• We Care America, Inc., a national faith-based organization with strong regional and local partnerships, will train 630 volunteers to educate and assist seniors and other vulnerable populations along the Interstate 95 corridor between Richmond, Va., and Southeastern Pennsylvania, an area at risk of terrorist activity.
• Volunteer Florida will reach out to Floridians for whom language, cultural differences of disabilities are barriers to communications by using the skills and experience of Florida’s senior population to provide critical disaster preparedness information.
• Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga., will collaborate with the local health department to bring needed resources to the public health department and equip citizens to respond to community emergency and public health education needs.
• The Western Maryland Area Health Education Center has designed Project Aware to enhance the capacity of public health, public safety, and disaster preparedness and relief organizations in the 18 rural counties in the Appalachian region of Western Maryland and part of nearby Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with the aid of 300 new volunteers.
• The Salvation Army Eastern Michigan Division will expands its emergency disaster services in 32 counties, including Detroit by recruiting 270 additional volunteers to dispense food from mobile canteens during disasters, conduct outreach to ham radio services beyond the three counties currently served, and undergo in-depth training in mass disaster response.
• The Red Cross of Central New Jersey will establish “Project Safe Community,” which will create a cadre of 600 or more volunteers who will train community members to prepare for and respond to disasters.
• Through the “Border Community Emergency Volunteer Initiative,” Niagara University in western New York state will recruit 275 volunteers, with 75 percent of them being over 55 and the rest recruited from the university’s Learn and Serve program. The volunteers will focus on personal and neighborhood security and public safety issues.
• The American National Red Cross has developed “Together We Prepare: Seniors,” to recruit a cadre of volunteers over 55 who will inform, educate and motivate people of all ages to take critical steps that will make the public safer and more prepared for disasters and other emergencies. The program will be piloted in the five states of the Southwest Service Area with 360 Special Volunteers.
• The Washington Metropolitan Area Consortium (WMAC) of five Red Cross chapters in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, will launch the “Disaster Leadership Development Program.” The program will train 200 volunteers to be responders and to recruit other volunteers. A cadre of highly trained volunteers will be developed to serve as supervisors and managers of other volunteers during a disaster event.
• A consortium of 30 organizations that comprise the West Virginia Citizen Corps Council will recruit 740 special volunteers and 6,500 community volunteers to provide the infrastructure, education, and training to help the residents of 100 rural communities in 48 counties become better prepared for disaster.

The Special Volunteer Program grants were the result of a Congressional appropriation of $5 million following the September 11 attacks. Congress doubled this funding in the fiscal 2004 appropriation, allowing the Corporation to support additional projects. The Special Volunteer Program grants are part of a larger Homeland Security initiative established by the Corporation in July 2002 to engage AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps in public safety, public health, emergency response, and disaster preparedness to make the nation more secure.

The Corporation has a long history of engaging volunteers in public safety, public health, and disaster relief. For the past decade, AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers have worked closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross to respond to dozens of federally declared disasters, including hundreds of AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers who are currently assisting victims of Hurricane Charley in Florida.

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.org.

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