United Way Services of Geauga County is proud to join this nationwide effort in order to express our appreciation for national service members and the impact they have on local communities.
“United Way of Geauga County is one of the many organizations that utilizes national service members across the country. These national service members are vitally important to the organizations they serve, because they increase our capacity to improve the lives of more individuals within our community.” said Monica Bricker-Thompson, Community Impact Manager, United Way Services of Geauga County”.
National Service Recognition day is sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). This federal agency uses Americorps, Seniorcorps, and other programs to recruit millions of volunteers each year to serve at over 50,000 locations. United Way Services of Geauga County is currently a service site for an Americorps VISTA as a part of the Economic Mobility Project. This project recruits VISTAS to serve at United Way locations across the country in order to enhance their efforts to increase the number of economically challenged individuals with improved financial knowledge and placed in jobs.
“Shannon Cullinane recently started her year long VISTA service with us in February 2019. She will be working with me on community impact, where she will be providing support for our Bridges@Work, Jail Reentry, and Bridges2Work programs. She is also working closely with local agency partners to increase financial education opportunities available to the community through the development of financial education courses and a financial coaching platform.” said Bricker-Thompson.
This service project is designed to help combat poverty on a local level by providing individuals with programs focused on education/skills development, financial literacy, and employment. The goal of these programs is to empower individuals and families living in poverty to improve their personal finances and obtain employment. This service will create a measurable impact by increasing the number of individuals that gain access to these services in order to increase their quality of life.
Across the nation, local elected officials participate in this effort in a variety of ways, including, visiting VISTA service sites, hosting roundtable discussion, issuing proclamations, and or by creating social media posts highlighting national service impact. By joining in this bi-partisan effort, we hope to increase public awareness by highlighting the impact of national service members in local communities. After hearing about these national service members and their desire to give, we hope they may inspire others to become involved in serving their community
For more information including background and a list of participating county officials and
mayors, visit http://NationalService.gov/RecognitionDay.
