 The North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DJJDP) has received grant funding from the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service since 1998. The grant is administered under the auspices of DJJDP’s Community Grants Programs Division as the AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Program.
The AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Program adheres to the mission of AmeriCorps by offering equal opportunities for fifteen (15) qualified individuals to assist the Governor’s One-on-One Volunteer Program and the Support Our Students Program in the growth of organizational capacity and resource development. The Governor's One-on-One Volunteer Program and the Support Our Students program both link at-risk youth with positive volunteer role models in their community. AmeriCorps members, or Promise Fellows, are challenged with meeting goals in four areas:
- Mentoring
Each of the fifteen (15) AmeriCorps Promise Fellows will serve as a mentor and be matched with one court-involved youth enrolled in the Governor’s One-on-One Volunteer Program. Fellows will serve 2-4 hours per week as a mentor throughout the program year. This mentoring aims at reducing delinquency for these at-risk youth.
- Volunteer Recruitment
Fifteen (15) Promise Fellows will recruit candidates within their communities who express interest in becoming volunteer mentors. The AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Program has a target goal of matching 225 volunteer mentors (15 matches per Fellow) with at-risk youth in Governor’s One-on-One Volunteer Programs. This goal is for the purpose of reducing waiting lists of referred youth in Governor’s One-on-One Volunteer programs.
These 225 volunteer mentors will spend a combined total of at least 10,000 hours with these at-risk youth throughout the program year.
- Training
A total of fifteen (15) AmeriCorps Promise Fellows will receive service related training in core areas including, but not limited to, orientation to the program, volunteer recruitment and retention, conflict resolution, race relations/diversity/cultural awareness, disaster preparedness, citizenship, and CPR/First Aid. Other training opportunities will be offered throughout the program year to better equip Promise Fellows for their term of service within the community.
- Community Collaboration
Each Promise Fellow will collaborate and strengthen the relationship between the Support Our Students and Governor’s One-on-One program for the purpose of delivering America’s Five Promises through group activities to at-risk youth. The America’s Five Promise are as follows:
an ongoing relationship with a caring adult;
Safe places with structured activities during non-school hours;
A healthy start and healthy future;
Marketable skills through effective education; and
Opportunities to give back through community service.
Promise Fellows will strengthen collaboration between Governor’s One-on-One Volunteer Programs and organizations within the community that will be valuable resources in enhancing the capacity of the programs. Each Promise Fellow will be responsible for creating a Community Resource Guide to assist parents with linking into services, allowing them to be better equipped in identifying which programs will assist in meeting the needs of their youth. This guide will be available for distribution in the community upon completion. The theme of this guide will be the Five Promises, which will allow for five sections/chapters in which the Promise Fellow can organize and list community resources.
Each Promise Fellow will facilitate or co-facilitate group activities throughout the program year. Activities will include community service learning projects, an introduction to different career paths, guest speakers, and a variety of other positive experiences for the youth.
Interim Program Contact :
Kristin O'Connor, Ed.M.
Community Grants Programs Manager
Department of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
1805 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699
Phone: 919.789.5580 ext. 234
Fax: 919.789.5596
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