In participation with the first-year Resilience AmeriCorps pilot, the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) is engaging two AmeriCorps VISTA members in ongoing recovery initiatives, with particular focus on the NY Rising Community Reconstruction (NYRCR) Program. The NYRCR Program is a participatory recovery initiative established to provide assistance to 124 communities severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, and Tropical Storm Lee, by directly engaging local stakeholders in a bottom-up approach to rebuilding communities in a resilient manner. GOSR has allotted more than $700 million in federal funds to support the planning and implementation of community-developed projects, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable populations in these impacted communities.
To begin February, 2016, GOSR Resilience AmeriCorps members will assist in the implementation of recovery and resiliency projects proposed by NYRCR communities, through research, assessment, project management, and stakeholder engagement. Applications should be submitted by January 8, 2016. Learn more about the positions available and apply here:
- NY Rising Community Center NYS Resilience AmeriCorps Member:https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?id=64586&fromSearch=true
- Statewide NYS Resilience AmeriCorps Member: https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?id=64587&fromSearch=true
About GOSR: Established in June 2013, GOSR coordinates Statewide recovery efforts for Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, and Tropical Storm Lee. Through its NY Rising Housing Recovery, Small Business, Community Reconstruction and Infrastructure programs, more than $4 billion made available through the HUD CDBG-DR Program to better prepare New York for future extreme weather events. More information about the GOSR and its programs is available online at http://stormrecovery.ny.gov/.
About AmeriCorps VISTA: Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) was founded in 1965 as a national service program to fight poverty in America. In 1993, VISTA was incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs. Members make a year-long, full-time commitment to serve on a specific project at a nonprofit organization or public agency. They focus their efforts to build the organizational, administrative, and financial capacity of organizations that fight illiteracy, improve health services, foster economic development, and otherwise assist low-income communities.
About the Resilience AmeriCorps pilot: The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are partnering with The Rockefeller Foundation, Cities of Service, and country-wide municipalities to launch Resilience AmeriCorps, a pilot program that will recruit, train, and embed AmeriCorps VISTA members. The 2-year pilot program responds to a recommendation made by the State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience (Task Force) to assist vulnerable communities that lack the capacity to address climate-resilience planning and implementation. The AmeriCorps VISTA members will increase civic engagement and community resilience in low-income areas, and help those communities develop plans for becoming more resilient to any number of shocks and stresses, including better preparations for extreme weather events.
