4/25/97
Contact: Carol Kline, Ohio University, 614/753-1249 (home), 614/593-9364 (office)
ATHENS, Ohio -- Two Athens-area AmeriCorps members will represent Ohio University's AmeriCorps project, HealthCorps, at the Presidents' Summit for America's Future being held Sunday through Tuesday in Philadelphia.
The members, Nicole Crist and Adam Polster, will be among representatives of a limited number of AmeriCorps programs that have been asked to attend the summit. They leave Sunday afternoon and return Tuesday evening.
"This invitation to participate in the summit is an honor," said Terry Hogan, director of the Center for Community Service at Ohio University. "We are proud to be one of only 50 national service programs in America that have been invited to send delegations to the summit. It will be an important opportunity for us to highlight the accomplishments and commitment of our program and its partners."
The 50 programs selected to participate are described as "Teaching Examples" by summit organizers, Hogan said.
Crist and Polster will display and share information about the HealthCorps project; attend sessions and presentations by national leaders from government, business, education and the media; and join in roundtable discussions with other summit participants about issues facing America's youth and the role service and volunteerism might play in responding to those issues, Hogan said.
HealthCorps is one of five projects within the Appalachian Access AmeriCorps program, which has been operating in Southeastern Ohio since 1994. Through Appalachian Access, 28 members provide service to the region through a network of more than 20 community-based organizations. The goal of the program is to improve access to education and health care in the region.
HealthCorps is a cooperative effort of Ohio University's Center for Community Service, the College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM) and five community-based organizations: Tri-County Mental Health, Health Recovery Services, Rural Action, Planned Parenthood of Southeast Ohio and Athens County Human Services.
HealthCorps activities, coordinated by Janice Haynes, include providing information to parents and children on health issues and on how to access health services in the region. Health information is distributed to students through puppet productions presented in local elementary and middle schools. Immunizations also are provided to children and adults across the region through OU-COM's mobile immunization van.
"We've been pleased at the quality of our partnership with community-based organizations and the impact that we've been able to have in meeting immunization and health education needs in the region," said Carol Kline, who coordinates community service programs for OU-COM. "The AmeriCorps members in HealthCorps have demonstrated their commitment to this region, and we're pleased they'll be able to participate in an event as important as the Presidents' Summit."
AmeriCorps is a national service program that engages community members in full- or part-time service work in exchange for a living allowance and an education award that can be used to pay for college. More than 20,000 members currently serve in more than 350 projects across the country.
The Presidents' Summit for America's Future is the kickoff for America's Promise, a multi-year national effort aimed at providing the 15 million at-risk young people in America with the resources they need to succeed. The summit's goal is to mobilize millions of citizens and thousands of organizations to ensure that youths have access to five fundamental resources that can help them lead healthy, fulfilling and productive lives: an ongoing relationship with a caring adult, such as a mentor, tutor or coach; safe places and structured activities during non-school hours to learn and grow; a healthy start; a marketable skill through effective education; and an opportunity to give back through community service.
President Clinton and President Bush, the honorary co-chairs, will be joined Monday morning by President Ford and former first lady Nancy Reagan to make a call for commitment that every young person has access to those five resources.
More than 1,700 community and state delegates representing more than 140 rural and urban communities, all 50 states, and five territories will meet at the summit to develop plans to help America's youth.
For more information about the summit, check its Web site at http://www.citizenservice.org/.