March 25, 2013

Want to Volunteer for CCC? Take the First Step!

CCC is proud to welcome nine Community Leadership Course 2012 graduates to our Advocacy Council this coming June. Many of them have already become involved with CCC volunteer activities since the last course ended in November, and we look forward to all of them joining our advocacy efforts on behalf of New York’s children and families.

Community Leadership Course (CLC) participants are invited to participate in an array of educational and volunteer activities, held exclusively for Board, Advocacy Council Members and recent CLC graduates, once the ten week course ends in the fall. Following the ten session class, there are immediate openings for graduates to become involved in CCC projects. Registration is now open for the 2013 course – join the next wave of potential CCC volunteers!

For example, Olivia Sohmer, a 2012 graduate and soon to be member of the Advocacy Council, has already taken part in a three session series on Advocacy, traveled to Albany with CCC for State Advocacy Day and is currently involved with one of CCC’s ongoing analytic projects .

“My participation in the CLC has already expanded my network of connections to a community of government agencies and private providers of services to youth,” says Olivia. She is also involved with two projects outside of CCC involving at risk youth and she hopes by joining the Advocacy Council, it will not only “deepen her understanding of the specific needs of the youth touched by these projects” but also allow her to be “better positioned to share that information in a way that will produce practical results.”

Dana Kadison, a fellow 2012 graduate, participated in an overnight homeless youth count at the Ali Forney Center, immediately following the CLC. CCC, as part of a coalition of other advocates and homeless youth providers, had facilitated recruiting volunteers for this count. Of her experience she says, “I would just tell everyone to go do it one time: your heart will not break and you will be very impressed by the staff, the kids and your fellow volunteers.”

Dana was also involved with CCC’s annual advocacy trip to Albany and attended our Keeping Track launch in February. She decided to take the CLC last September because she was “looking for a way to reconnect with the city after being away for almost twenty years.” Officially joining our Advocacy Council in a few months, she commented that “being a part of CCC in any capacity one becomes ‘of’ the city – not merely ‘in’ the city.”

If you would like to join Olivia and Dana and become informed, confident advocates ready to make positive changes in your communities, apply now for the Fall 2013 Community Leadership Course!

Tags
Community Leadership Course, Volunteer

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