Americorps Volunteers are Summertime Mentors at Boys and Girls Clubs
An Americorps National Civilian Community Corps Team, Green Four, will be working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Mason Valley to mentor children enrolled in its summer program.
During the team’s six week engagement, the seven young adults will serve over 150 children spread between the Yerington, Silver Springs and Dayton Boys and Girls Club sites.
The BGCMV has served as a pillar of the community in Lyon County for the last twenty years. It is the biggest youth organization in rural Nevada, an area of proportionally high crime and poverty rates, with about a quarter of children living below the poverty line.
The introduction of a NCCC team will support the BGCMV’s mission to inspire and enable young people. The team will be integrating into summer programming with BGCMV members, essentially becoming big kids themselves, for a holistic mentoring experience. Through direct interaction — playing, learning and socializing — with the children, the team will serve as positive role models and emotional support.
“It’s crazy to think that taking the time to play a card game with a kid can have so much impact,” Says Green Four member, Kailen Williams. “But it shows the kids that somebody is there to support them, and that’s what we’re here for.”
Previous Americorps NCCC teams have worked with the BGCMV in the past.
“There have been attempts to get other Americorps programs out here,” says BGCMV Grants Director, Christina Hurt, “But our remote location tends to be an obstacle. However, the NCCC teams have proven to be versatile, fearless and just the extra bit of inspiration the kids need.”
AmeriCorps NCCC is a full-time, residential, national service program in which 2,800 young adults serve nationwide each year. During their 10-month term, Corps Members – all 18 to 24 year olds – work on teams of eight to twelve on projects that address critical needs. Traditional NCCC members work on a variety of different six to eight week-long projects related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. The Pacific Region campus in Sacramento is one of four regional hubs in the nation and serves ten states in the western part of the country.
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