To clear up any questions: We had just spent the last two hours hearing about all the wonderful accomplishments the City Year of Chicago has made happen. To make it short, they have given their heart and soul to Chicago’s youth and volunteered over 1,700 hours or more of service individually.  

Pamela Bozeman-Evans, an Executive Director at Blue Gargoyle, delivered a speech as a message and thank you to the City Year 2008 graduates. Her message to them was they should be proud of themselves because now they are the kind of person who does the right thing, even when no one is looking, because that one person is always watching: themselves.  I think one of her most powerful statements, and one that struck me the most was, “City Year is a brand; service is a lifestyle.” A message that everyone, not only the graduates, can take to heart.

After the ceremony, Program Manager, Jessica Herman pointed us in the direction of Sean Edwin, half the team of the National Service Express Tour, who was more than happy to fill us in on all the different programs that City Year offers. He has this contagious enthusiasm about City Year and his experience with ServeNext.

A City Year graduate, Nyisha Haney, happily talked to us about her experience with City Year and how much it impacted her, mainly the Youth Heroes program, which is where they help middle school-ers develop civic responsibility through community service. Her inspiration though to join City Year was growing up in a neighborhood right here in Chicago, tutoring alongside City Year volunteers and seeing how much they impacted her own community. nyisha believes City Year is a good program as a base or starting point for individuals interested going into service, in any sector.

I came away with a better understanding to what City Year does for the community, also what it does for its members and alumni. Sean Edwin is even going back to City Year in New Orleans in July, over a year after he went through his own graduation ceremony, so it must be a pretty powerful program. I even have a feeling I might see my own year or two in Timberlands and a red jacket sometime soon....

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Youth, Education & National Service

Road Trip With a Mission: Expanding National Service. AmeriCorps alumni and ServeNext.org members, are traveling the country by bus for the National Service Express Tour, hitting 30 cities in 60 days.

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