2014 Annual Report - Serve Wyoming...20th Anniversary. This event was a tremendous success thanks to all the people involved in planning, coordinating, and executing this project!

Annual Report2 0 1 4

Improving lives and strengthening Wyoming communities through volunteerismS e r v eW yo m i n g

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ServeWyoming’s Executive Director, Shelly McAlpin, was named the 2014 Outstanding Executive Director for America’s Service Commissions (ASC) Innovation and Leadership Awards. These awards acknowledge and honor the outstanding efforts of state service commission leaders and service programs nationally. Shelly was honored at the ASC Annual Reception on September 16th in Arlington, Virginia. As the awardee, Shelly is featured on ASC’s website and social media.

Please join us in congratulating Shelly on this important accomplishment!Past ASC Chair Paula Kaiser VanDam (left) and CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer (right) present Shelly her award

Outstanding E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r

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S e r v e W y o m i n g i s G o v e r n o r M a t t M e a d ’ s C o m m i s s i o n o n Na t i o n a l a n d C o m m u n i t y S e r v i c e ,

p r o m o t i n g e f f o r t s a m o n g p r i v a t e , n o n - p r o f i t a n d g o v e r n m e n t a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h a t a d v a n c e c o m m u n i t y s e r v i c e ,

v o l u n t e e r p r o g r a m s a n d a c t i v i t i e s i n e a c h W y o m i n g c o m m u n i t y. We a l s o c o l l a b o r a t e w i t h o t h e r C o r p o r a t i o n f o r

N a t i o n a l & C o m m u n i t y S e r v i c e p r o g r a m s s u c h a s A m e r i C o r p s V I S TA a n d S e n i o r C o r p s . S e r v e W y o m i n g g i v e s

e v e r y c i t i z e n a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o h e l p s o l v e o u r b i g g e s t c h a l l e n g e s i n e d u c a t i o n , t h e e n v i r o n m e n t , p u b l i c s a f e t y, h u m a n n e e d s , a n d

h o m e l a n d s e c u r i t y.

Dear Friends of ServeWyoming,

2014 marked ServeWyoming’s 10th anniversary as an independent nonprofit. This milestone has given us a chance to reflect on our past decade of accomplishments and growth. ServeWyoming is our state’s Commission on National and Community Service. An integral component of our mission is to effectively leverage federal funds to help address critical needs across the state. It’s a unique responsibility. We are the one entity that, by executive order, exists in order for Wyoming to access federal AmeriCorps funds.

The power of our organization comes through how we manage those resources and deliver outcome-focused programming. In 2014, a state investment of less than $71,250 leveraged more than $901,000 that was awarded directly to Wyoming programs. Inside, you’ll find the latest on our various programs: AmeriCorps, Volunteer Wyoming, Emergency Preparedness, and the Pro Bono Volunteer Network, including data showing our commitment to improving lives and strengthening Wyoming communities through volunteerism.

We appreciate your support and interest in our work and know that you, our partners, rely on us to deliver results. That responsibility is our constant driver, and we will continue our strong focus on proven approaches and program enhancements to ensure that the next 10 years are just as noteworthy as our first.

Shelly McAlpinExecutive Director

Brandon Kosine, ChairGus Stonum, Vice ChairZoe White, SecretaryMaurice Morton, TreasurerMindi CrabbJennifer CroweRon CunninghamAnna EdwardsCody FriedlanTravis JordanGerry MaasNancy McKenzieSpencer PollockLinda RoosaMary RosenbergMolly SpanglerDean WelchAmy Busch, Ex-Officio (CNCS)Melissa Bartley, Ex-OfficioStephanie Pyle, Ex-Officio

ServeWyoming StaffShelly McAlpinExecutive Director

Nurieh GlasgowProgram Officer

Jessica StanburyProgram Coordinator

2014-2015ServeWyoming Commissioners

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A m e r i C o r p s

New Wyoming AmeriCorps members take the AmeriCorps Pledge at ServeWyoming’s AmeriCorps 20th Training on Sept. 12, 2014 in Casper

Pledging to

University of Wyoming-Wyoming Conservation Corps

Greater Wyoming Big Brothers Big Sisters

Teton Science Schools

Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Wyoming

Promote leadership & provide natural resource & environmental management experiences to young adults.Provide outreach & support to new mentors & recruit mentors/AmeriCorps members to improve the lives of youth in Wyoming.Provide education & science training for educators, youth, & young adults & promote environmental education.Provide leadership, education & systems advocacy to advance social change & end violence, including crisis intervention.Provide after school educational & enrichment activities, mentoring, & homework assistance to local youth.

Program Impact

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48

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Programs Members

“Get Things Done”

AmeriCorps Programs

“I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy, I will take action.

Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity, I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.”

The Ceremony, opened by Casper’s May-or, Paul Meyer, began at Highland Park in Casper as new AmeriCorps members took their pledge of service. Following the morning ceremony, ServeWyoming, along with Keep Casper Beautiful and the City of Casper, invited new Amer-iCorps members and ServeWyoming commissioners to participate in a service project to honor all those who serve our local communities, our state, and our na-tion. A number of service projects were available, including our Beverly Street Underpass Mural Project (seen above). Designers, Tony and Amy Elmore, led participating local first responders, veterans, police and fire crews, their families, and AmeriCorps members in the painting of the mural.

In addition, Wyoming Food for Thought Project offered a garden project and Keep Casper Beautiful offered a trail clean up to ensure everyone had a way to give back in honor of 9/11 and AmeriCorps’ 20th Anniversary.

This event was a tremendous success thanks to all the people involved in planning, coordinating, and executing this project! Between the ceremony and all three service projects, 120 people volunteered 302 hours of service in honor of 9/11 and AmeriCorps’ 20th Anniversary!

AmerCorps’ 20th Anniversary event was certainly one of the year’s highlights for ServeWyoming and 2014 proved to be another remarkable year for AmeriCorps programs all across the state! Throughout Wyoming, AmeriCorps programs have:• Tutored or mentored more than

280 children and youth• Provided nearly 70,000 hours of

service valued at $1.5 million• Recruited more than 1,800 volun-

teers• Leveraged more than $340,000 in

cash or in-kind resources To learn more about the specific impact areas our AmeriCorps programs address, see the chart on page 4.

2014/2015

September 12, 2014 marked AmeriCorps 20th Anniversar y and Ser veWyoming celebrated two decades of AmeriCorps ser vice in Wyoming on September 13th with a Pledge Ceremony and the Wyoming Day of Ser vice and Remembrance to commemorate the remarkable men and women who dedicate their l ives to helping others.

C e l e b r a t i n g20 YEARS!

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Many organizat ions that need volunteers lack the capacity to ef fect ively f ind and re-cruit ret irees and newcomers. This is why, in 2007, a central resource was created to match needs and opportunit ies across Wyoming. We cal l this resource, Volunteer Wy-oming. The Volunteer Wyoming Init iat ive encourages awareness of the importance of volunteering as a way to mobil ize people and resources to deliver creat ive solutions for community problems and opportunit ies .

As of November 20, 2014, more than 18,000 Wyoming citizens utilized Volunteer Wyoming, resulting in more than 2,993 reported hours of service. These volunteer opportunities are generated through the matching database, the Professional Volunteer Network, and service events such as MLK Day and the 9/11 Day of Re-membrance. See page 7 for pictures from our 2014 National Service Day events.

In 2014 we produced five volunteer guides, distributed in Campbell, Sheridan, Laramie, and Natrona counties. The purpose of our Volunteer Guides is to provide a complimentary resource to our online database (www.volunteerwyoming.org), which highlights a variety of volunteering opportunities across the state of Wyoming. These guides en-courage and inspire community mem-bers to volunteer by providing specific information about local nonprofit volunteer opportunities, while also highlighting local business committed to our communities.

We also provide training oppor-tunities to nonprofits in search of strategies for recruiting, placing or matching, managing and recognizing volunteers. In addition, as part of our Emergency Preparedness initiative, we can train Wyoming citizens how to set-up and operate a Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) in their respective counties. Read more about the need for VRC training on page 9.

Contact ServeWyoming to request a training.

Wyoming2014 Overview & Highlights

VO LU N T E E R W YO M I N G . O R G

Increasing the number & effectiveness of volunteers

in Wyoming

by t h e n u m b e r s

This free volunteer database/matching website provides a core infrastructure to link together all the various community volunteer activities, opportunities, and needs with volunteers and resources; supporting nonprofits when they need it most. After switching to a new platform in October of 2013, volunteerwyoming.org is functioning better than ever. Check out some of our 2014 stats!

As of December 1, 2014, volunteer wyoming.org has 1,270 act ive agencies, 2 ,657 act ive users, and 408 act ive volunteer needs posted. From Januar y 1-December 1, 325 new users and 51 new agencies created prof i les on the site. In 2014, October saw the highest viewing act ivity with 4,307 agency page views and 2,554 volunteer need views, result ing in a total of 193 need responses through volunteer wyoming.org!

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for even more volunteer opportunity updates and highlights across the state.

Vo l u n t e e r

“Become a FAN” of your favorite agency at www.volunteer wyoming.org and be the f irst to know when they post a new volunteer opportunity or event!

9/11 Day of Service & Remembrance is always a big service event for ServeWyoming. This year, we tried something totally different and partnered with the City of Casper and Color Casper to create a mural honoring all first responders, military members, veterans and their families, and National Service. Following our AmeriCorps 20th Cere-mony on Sept. 13th, we invited first responders and their families, along with Wyoming AmeriCorp memers, to help paint the mural located at the Beverly Street underpass in Casper. Additional service projects were also available to ensure everyone had a chance to serve in honor of 9/11, including Wyoming Food for Thought’s garden project and Keep Casper Beautiful’s trail clean up. The event was one of our most successful thanks to all the participants!

MLK Day 2014 was a HUGE success! ServeWyoming was so fortunate to have an AmeriCorps NCCC team in Casper to help out. The event included a march down one of Casper’s main streets, followed by a ceremony honoring the impo-ratance of MLK Day. The event ended with lunch and an Economic Resource Fair where community members could gather to learn about all the economic resources Casper and the local nonprofits have to offer. All l in all we had approx-imately 340 participants, totalling to 356 hours or service.

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To learn more about our Pro Bono Volunteer Network, visit www.servewyoming.org and click on “Get Pro Bono” if you’re interested in applying for a Service Grant. Click on “Give Pro Bono” if you’re a volunteer looking for ways to utilize your skills to make a positive impact.

In 2007, Ser veWyoming embarked on the Pro Bono Volunteer Network in an ef fort to establish a network of business and social leaders who volunteer their t ime and expert ise to nonprof its for a short-term project/training. In order to be el igible to be matched with a professional volunteer, nonprof its must apply for a Ser vice Grant through Ser veWyoming. Once approved, Ser veWyoming faci l itates the match between the awarded nonprof it and a professsional volunteer matching the ski l ls required.

In January 2014, we awareded 4 Service Grants. Since then, we have closed out 1 Service Grant and currently have 2 in progress and 1 pending a professional volunteer match.

Volunteer NetworkP R O B O N O E m p l oye r sof National ServiceAs part of the Sept. 12, 2014, White House cer-emony commemorating the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps, President Obama launched Employ-ers of National Service. This initiative recognizes the valuable skills gained by the 900,000 Ameri-cans who have participated in AmeriCorps since 1994 and the 215,000 who have participated in the Peace Corps.

Employers of National Service builds a talent pipe-line which connects AmeriCorps and Peace Corps alumni with leading employers from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to create recruitment, hiring, and advancement opportunities. Through this initiative, employers will have new access to a dedicated, highly qualified, and mission-oriented pool of potential employees and national service alumni will have additional opportunities to apply their skills in the workplace.The Corporation for National and Community

Service, which administers AmeriCorps, is lead-ing this effort along with its partners the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps Alums, and the Franklin Project. As announced on Sept. 12, 2014, there are two dozen charter Employers of National Service. Any employer that signs up to participate by Dec. 31, 2014, will be considered a charter Employer of National Service.

“If you’re an employer who wants to hire talented, dedicated, patriotic, skilled, tireless, energetic workers, look to AmeriCorps, look to the Peace Corps… Citizens who perform national service are special. You want them on your team.” – President Obama

8 MLK Day >

< 9/11 Day of Service

S e r v i c eNational Days of

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I f y o u a r e i n t e r e s t e d i n l e a r n i n g m o r e a b o u t h o w w e c a n h e l p y o u r o r g a n i z a t i o n , s e r v i n g i n A m e r i C o r p s , h o w t o s e a r c h a n d p o s t v o l u n t e e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s , o r h o w t o g e t

i n v o l v e d w i t h o u r p r o j e c t s , p l e a s e c o n t a c t u s !

We encourage Wyoming citizens to sign-up as Disaster Response Volunteers ahead of time so residents will be prepared to use their valuable skills, talents and experiences when and where they are needed most.

When disasters do strike, well-meaning community mem-bers show up to disaster sites ready to help. But, without a pre-established, centralized location to organize and coordi-nate their efforts, their offers of help are often underutilized and even problematic to professional responders. That’s why ServeWyoming, together with local partners, has undertaken a statewide plan to train Wyoming citizens how to set-up and operate a Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) in their respective counties. VRCs play an import-ant role in not just disaster response, but in the recovery of a community. By coordinating volunteers to respond to situations that best utilize their skills, communities poten-tially avoid the chaos of spontaneous, unaffiliated volunteers that can slow down emergency response efforts.

If you would like to pre-register as a Disaster Response Volunteer or request

Volunteer Reception Center training in your area please

contact Jessica at (307) 234-3428.

As weather-related disasters continue to dominate our news, Ser veWyoming remains as dedicated as ever to help address issues related to volunteers before and after a disasters str ike. Through our Emergency Preparedness programming we help to address issues related to volunteers. Specif ical ly, we Pre-Register Disaster Volunteers and of fer Volunteer Reception Center Training.

E m e r ge n c yPREPAREDNESS

On Sept. 6th, we participated in a Mass-casualty Exercise at the Casper-Natrona County International Airport, where we put our VRC volunteers to the test!

T h an k you t o a l l o f S e r v e W y o m i n g ’ s s p o n s o r s , p a r t n e r s ,

v o l u n t e e r s , & f r i e n d s f o r m a k i n g 2 0 1 4 a n d o u r

1 0 Ye ar A n n ive r s ar ys u c h a s u c c e s s ! Yo u r s u p p o r t m e a n s t h e w o r l d t o u s !

229 E. 2nd St.Ste. 203Casper, WY 82602

(307) 234-3428(307) 234-3438 (fax)

w w w. s e r v e w yo m i n g . o r gw w w. v o l u n t e e r w yo m i n g . o r g

Wyo m i n g ’ s C o m m i s s i o n f o r N a t i o n a l a n d C o m m u n i t y S e r v i c e