Love Your Block – One Block at a Time

Love Your Block collaborates with city departments, neighborhood groups, community beautification organizations, and local companies to leverage funds to support volunteer-led neighborhood revitalization projects to reduce blight.

Visit the Love Your Block page for more information.

ServiceWorks

ServiceWorks is a groundbreaking national program that uses community engagement and volunteer service as the primary strategies to help youth ages 16-24 achieve career and college success. 

They offer various programs including the Leadership in Training Program (LITP) and the annual Bootcamp. LITP is a weekly program that supports teens ages 13-17 with skills needed to start a carreer in the recreation industry while earning community service hours and experiencing outdoor adventures.

The ServiceWorks Bootcamp is a one-day event that hosts a series of workshops and activities to build life skills in areas such as conflict resolution and public speaking.

WriterCoach Connection

In November 2012, Cities of Service, with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, awarded Richmond ESC $25,000 to support and expand WriterCoach Connection,an impact volunteering initiative, to address the high school writing achievement gap at Richmond High School. Teaming with Community Alliance for Learning, 130 community volunteers will be recruited and trained to work one-on-one with 120 students to improve literacy and writing skills. Through expert interviews and focus group dialogues, parents and school officials expressed the need to better engage parents and volunteers to support and improve the development of youths’ academic and health outcomes.

Based on local and state test scores for high school students, it is evident that the need for supplementary writing support is necessary to improve educational outcomes for our community’s high school students.  Inefficient writing skills impede students from pursuing higher education and obtaining gainful employment.