More than 800 people gathered at Boston’s Temple Israel on February 22 to celebrate the life of Eli Segal, one of the pioneers of the national service movement. Segal, 63, shaped the legislation that created AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service and served as the first CEO of the Corporation. He died from cancer on February 20. “Eli was a giant for our movement, and all of us will miss him greatly,” said David Eisner “Eli understood the God-given potential inside every one of us, and dedicated his whole life to bringing it out. The institutions he founded—AmeriCorps and Welfare-to-Work—were built on a vision of opportunity and personal responsibility. That vision has come true through the 400,000 men and women who have given intensive service to their country through AmeriCorps.” To read some of the 450 personal tributes to Eli, visit www.caringbridge.org.

David Eisner was on hand February 21 to swear in AmeriCorps members in the newest City Year program—City Year Louisiana. The 50 members gathered on the steps of the capitol building in Baton Rouge as Eisner administered the AmeriCorps oath to “get things done.” Eisner’s trip to Louisiana included time in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish to meet with AmeriCorps members, project sponsors, and residents. Eisner stopped by the Made with Love Café in St. Bernard Parish, where AmeriCorps members are serving meals to residents and relief workers. The café also serves as an interim town hall and gathering place for those in the neighborhood. City Year Louisiana is one of 17 recipients of AmeriCorps augmentation grants to support hurricane response. More than $9.4 million in grants has already been awarded to support 700 new AmeriCorps service opportunities in the Gulf.

During his 10 years as an RSVP volunteer, Earl Talley of Arab, Ala., has spent most of his service as a water watcher, using kits to check streams in Marshall County for about half a dozen chemicals to ensure the safety of the drinking water. Recently, he expanded his role by traveling to Mobile, Ala., to assist in recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. He started out his week in Mobile repairing flood-damaged homes, then moved to a FEMA warehouse where he helped organize and distribute supplies. His next stop was Volunteer Mobile, Inc., the local Volunteer Center, where Talley, a retired electrical engineer, designed a database to help streamline relief efforts. Staff and volunteers were taking information from people in need, then matching the needs with volunteers who could do the work. The database should be a boon to reaching to those in need because “it’s easier to look on a spreadsheet than in a loose-leaf notebook,” he said. Talley plans to return to Mobile to help out again. “They really have a need down there,” he said.

The Program: IMPACT PLUS, a service-learning program sponsored by the YMCA, is a training session designed to get teenagers to look at issues affecting their communities, investigate the resources their community has for addressing the issues, and work with community partners on responding to the needs. Now in its third year, IMPACT PLUS has provided training retreats to five-member teams from nearly 100 YMCAs across the country. The retreats offer training in service-learning, civic engagement, and mapping community resources. The teams, which always include two teenagers, then return to their communities and begin the process of mapping their community’s assets. Each team decides on the issue to be addressed and determines what challenges the community has that are not being addressed by the available resources. The group then designs a service-learning project or activity to increase the resources.

The Results: Numerous projects have resulted from IMPACT PLUS. The YMCA of Southern Nevada, which is in Las Vegas, focused on individuals with disabilities. After determining what resources were available to people with disabilities, the young people invited all the organizations to a meeting at the YMCA. That meeting was the first time that the 24 organizations involved had gathered at the same table. The teenagers proposed a service-learning project to work with key organizations on a training program geared toward mentally challenged teens, providing information on personal finances, healthy eating, and developing social skills. In Somerset Hills, N.J., the young people developed a map of “hot spots” for teens, then developed a Power Point presentation to educate businesses and organizations on how to be teen friendly and provide positive experiences for the community’s youth.

Why It Works: IMPACT PLUS is geared to developing youth leadership skills. The two young people who participate in the initial training are required to engage at least 20 other youth in the project. The teens do the resource mapping and decide on the issues to be covered.

Lessons: The teams create the synergy and excitement that can result in community change. For information, contact Tony Ganger, (312) 419-8010, or tony.ganger@ymca.net.