Washington, D.C. – Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman, both D-Conn., announced today that seven Connecticut initiatives targeting a wide range of educational and community improvement projects will receive a total of $3,329,600 from AmeriCorps, the grassroots domestic volunteer corps headed by the Corporation for National Service.“AmeriCorps does more than provide dollars – it makes our towns better places to live and our schools better places to learn,” Dodd said. “The key to a healthy and vibrant community is involvement at the local level. By putting stock in our youth and in the environment they grow up in, we’ll see positive returns for Connecticut’s future.”
“This program is government at its best, providing a tangible boost to our communities while also promoting a lasting ethic of service and civic participation among the young,” Lieberman said. “In that way, AmericaCorps is putting our fundamental American values to work, and these grants will help continue to spread those good works throughout Connecticut.”
The series of grants will go to community projects based in Bridgeport, Hartford, Meriden, New Haven, and Plainville, and involve more than 500 full and part-time Connecticut AmeriCorps members. The majority of initiatives focus on youth education, including student mentoring, tutoring, and after-school programs as well as courses to teach computer literacy and enhance academic performance.
Other projects awarded funding will promote community safety and development. In Bridgeport, AmeriCorps members will perform home security assessments for elderly or physically challenged residents, work with tenants to make multi-unit housing safer, and teach public safety and positive decision-making to community youth. In New Haven, efforts will focus on rehabilitation of blighted housing and vacant lots and on cleaning up the environment.
AmeriCorps and its more than 40,000 members focus on helping communities at the local level, expanding youth resources for learning, building affordable housing, improving neighborhoods, cleaning up the local environment, and aiding in disaster relief. Senator Dodd is one of the chief architects of AmeriCorps, and Senator Lieberman was an original co-sponsor of the legislation that created AmeriCorps’ governing body, the Corporation for National Service.
Details for each of the AmeriCorps grant awards are as follows:
City Grant Amount Initiative
Bridgeport $ 235,000 Project Building Blocks
Bridgeport $ 473,850 Safe Neighborhood AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP)
Hartford $ 292,500 Hartford AmeriCorps
Meriden $ 234,000 City SERVE! AmeriCorps
New Haven $ 1,635,262 Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership
New Haven $ 234,000 Urban Solutions Service Corps
Plainville $ 224,988 CT Literacy Initiative
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