ReServe – News

Head of Catalyst Miami Receives Award for Advocating Social Equity

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Jesse

The head of Catalyst Miami, which operates ReServe Miami, received an award for making distinguished contributions towards achieving fairness, justice and equity in government and communities.

Daniella S. Levine, founder and president of Catalyst Miami.

Daniella S. Levine, Founder, President and CEO of Catalyst Miami received the 10th Annual Gloria Hobson Nordin Social Equity Award at the annual American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) conference being held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The annual award recognizes lifetime achievement and efforts in the cause of social equity. The award is named for Gloria Hobson Nordin, a former inspector for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She was also the plaintiff in Smith v. Adler, a landmark case in housing discrimination in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that any discrimination in housing is illegal regardless of the reason.

From a young age, Ms. Levine has worked to advocate and create projects that advance social equity. In 1996, she founded the Human Services Coalition (now Catalyst Miami) to improve health, education and economic opportunity for families and communities.

ReServe partnered with Catalyst Miami to operate ReServe Miami, which launched in fall 2011. Since then, ReServe Miami has placed 35 ReServists in service work at nonprofits and schools. In addition to ReServe Miami, Ms. Levine oversees a number of innovate programs at Catalyst Miami including Public Allies, Parent Leadership Training Institute, Imagine Miami and the Nonprofit Leadership and Training Institute.

This year’s theme of the ASPA conference is “Redefining Public Service Through Civic Engagement,” which is discussing how to create critical partnerships among businesses, nonprofits, citizen groups and government agencies to tackle persistent social problems. Creating private-public collaborations has been work that Ms. Levine and ReServe have undertaken.

“We congratulate Daniella on receiving this award that recognizes her work in advocating social equity and connecting communities to vital resources,” said Mary S. Bleiberg, President of ReServe Inc. “We’re delighted to have her leadership of ReServe Miami.”

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Featured, Miami

ReServe’s Founder Writes for Fast Company Series on Future of Service

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Jesse

People retire at 65, but they’re living a whole lot longer than that. That’s a huge natural resource of knowledge and skills that we’re often wasting. How can we tap that resource? Jack Rosenthal, ReServe’s co-founder and Board Chairman writes a post on how ReServe taps into a vast resource of human capital for service work that strengthens our communities. Mr. Rosenthal’s post is part of a series on the future of service in America, in conjunction with Catchafire. Click here to read his post.

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Featured, Resources, Service

For One AmeriCorps ReServist, Students say “She’s got SWAG”

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Jesse

By Kevin Brereton
Programs Fellow/NYC Civic Corps at ReServe

Over the course of the year, AmeriCorps READY ReServists have helped students in approximately 50 high-need urban high schools and community based organizations to research colleges and scholarships, coach them through the college essay writing and application process, and assist them and their families in applying for financial aid. At this point in the year, students will soon receive financial aid packages from their schools, and READY ReServists will play a critical role in helping students decide which financial aid package to accept.

The ReServists in the READY program are AmeriCorps members and enjoy additional benefits and responsibilities of this national program of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Earlier this month, ReServe’s READY Program held its second training on the financial aid process, taking a special focus on student aid packages, loans, and gaps in aid. The Options Institute at Goddard Riverside Community Center conducted the training at space generously provided by United Way. ReServists learned about all the sources of aid, how to compare the options, and other ways to pay for school and repay loans.

These trainings also serve as a great opportunity for AmeriCorps READY ReServists to learn and share their experiences with each other. For example, AmeriCorps ReServist Aaron Whidbee, who began his career as an elementary school teacher in the Albany City School District, said he had arranged for a campus visit to Lincoln College. He is working on coordinating at least two more visits to college campuses for the students, all this in his first week at Thornton High School in Mount Vernon.

AmeriCorps ReServist Gloria Miller, who formerly negotiated and managed contracts and pricing agreements for Montefiore Medical Center, discovered that she has already endeared herself to the students at the Bronx Engineering Technology Academy, who often say she’s “got swag” (translated: having confidence, style, and demeanor).

In the midst of training, ReServists learned valuable information to effectively assist their students. AmeriCorps ReServist Jennifer Dossin learned about the Educational Training Voucher (ETV), a federal grant that provides up to $5,000 per year for students who are in foster care or have aged out after the age of 16. Dossin, who has more than 30 years of experience in publishing design and production, already had a student in mind that would benefit from this information. She could not wait to tell them all about it and what they needed to do next.

AmeriCorps READY ReServists will continue to work tirelessly in their schools and community based organizations throughout the school year to ensure that every last application is sent out and every last acceptance letter is received.

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Featured, New York City, READY

A ReServist And Guilford College Alumna “Reinvents Retirement”

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Jesse

ReServist Tori Rosen in front of the Brooklyn school where she serves two days a week as an AmeriCorps READY College Coach. Photo: Andrea Fischman

Since 2010, ReServist Tori Rosen has been serving as an AmeriCorps READY college coach at the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment. A resident of Brooklyn, Tori joined ReServe after retiring from a 20-year career in marketing at a finance firm. This month she was featured in Guilford College Magazine (Winter 2012), a publication of her alma mater, Guilford College, located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Below is an excerpt from the article, “Life after Guilford, Act II: How Alums Age 60-Plus are Reinventing Retirement,” by Emily Hedrick, Guilford College.

The numbers don’t lie. As of September 2011, the number of Americans aged 55 and older had risen to a record 77.1 million, of whom 40.5 percent were still in the workforce, doubtless driven in part by the economy.

Statistics suggest those who follow largely leisure pursuits will be in the minority, and a recent survey by Merrill Lynch offers a view of the different lifestyle Baby Boomers envison for their future.

The New Retirement Study concludes that many Baby Boomers are reinventing their idea of what retirement holds for them. The study builds on the conventional wisdom that men and women in this age group – rougly 55 to 65 – will view work differently and will take advantage of their “longevity bonus” to create a whole new life stage.

Philanthropy and staying engaged in one’s community through volunteer work and public service are common threads among respondents, suggesting that many are also choosing to transform themselves from the “me” generation to the “we” generation to make a bigger difference in the world around them.

Tori Potts Rosen ’73 of New York retired from financial services giant TIAA-CREF in 2009. Since then she has been volunteering with ReServe, a nonprofit organization that places retired professionals in public schools, [nonprofit organizations and public agencies]. The students at the Brooklyn high school where she mentors two days a week, “think they know everything, but their worlds are so small. They have never heard ‘you’ and ‘college’ in the same sentence,” Tori said.

Helping young people fill our applications for college and financial aid is the most fun work I’ve ever done,” she said. “I get more out of it than they kids do. It’s a great gift.” In addition to her ReServe work, Tori does freelance writing for the New York Historical Society and conducts business writing workshops. “I’ve no idea how I ever found time to work!” she said.

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Education, Featured, New York City, READY

ReServe Maryland Marks Launch With “First Impressions” Event

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Jesse

Written by Patricia Fanning, University of Maryland, Baltimore

ReServe Inc. has partnered with the University of Maryland School of Social Work (SSW) to launch ReServe Maryland, which becomes the nonprofit organization’s first affiliate tied to an academic institution.

To mark the launch, the School invited Baltimore-area stakeholders, prospective ReServists and alumni to an event held February 1 at the University’s Southern Management Corporation Campus Center. Nearly 60 people attended the presentation, referred to as a “First Impressions” session based on the information sessions ReServe hosts monthly for professionals 55+ interested in joining ReServe.

SSW Dean Richard P. Barth, described ReServe Maryland, as “a great addition to the services landscape that extends the School’s capacity to meet the needs of nonprofit agencies, the needs of retiring professionals, and the communities that benefit from these services.” He noted that this affiliation is beneficial to the School because continuing to innovate in the area of community services will inform our teaching and research: “ReServe Maryland will help keep our edges sharp,” he said.

Richard P. Barth, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Social Work speaks to a packed room at the February 1 launch of ReServe Maryland.

“What a great solution to two perplexing problems,” said Dick Cook, director of the School’s Social Work Community Outreach Service (SWCOS), which is operating ReServe Maryland. “People’s worth in society may not be recognized once they leave their jobs. A huge number of boomers want to continue to make a contribution, but our society has no easy avenue for them to be useful. At the same time, a huge number of human service providers are burdened with diminishing resources.”

Cook mentioned as a highly visible example the recent closing in Chicago of Hull House, the Chicago institution that grew out of a settlement house founded by Jane Addams in 1889. He said many valued organizations in Maryland are similarly challenged. ReServe Maryland will help non-profit organizations build capacity.

“Put these two problems together and allow them to solve each other,” Cook said.

Jack Rosenthal, co-founder and chairman of the board of ReServe and former president of the New York Times Foundation, and Mary S. Bleiberg, President of ReServe Inc., also spoke at the presentation. ReServe has made it possible for 2,700 ReServists to further the work of 350 nonprofits and city agencies in New York and three dozen in Miami.

ReServe's Board Chairman, third from left, and staff from ReServe's national office along with Dean Barth, third from right, and staff and a supporter of the School’s Social Work Community Outreach Service.

“Longer life may be the most important phenomena of our time,” said Rosenthal, yet there are no institutions to govern a new stage of life that may last 20 years or longer.

Branden McLeod, clinical instructor at SWCOS and director of ReServe Maryland, says that at the outset, they are recruiting approximately 20 individuals to become AmeriCorps ReServists. They are being placed with CollegeBound Foundation, which helps Baltimore City high school students; Consumer Credit Counseling Services (CCCS) of Maryland and Delaware, Inc, which among its services provides confidential budget counseling and debt management; and with Baltimore CASH Campaign, which will assign a ReServist to improve its low- and moderate-income clients’ financial knowledge.

ReServe Maryland will expand its reach to include additional nonprofits and public institutions.

ReServe Maryland’s new partners were represented by Sara Johnson, director of Baltimore CASH and by Michelle Nusum, development director of CCCS of Maryland and Delaware. Baltimore-area stakeholders in attendance included AARP Maryland, represented by Jennifer Holz.

ReServe has been funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, whose 2009 grant made possible the expansion of the innovative program to cities beyond New York, and by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which operates AmeriCorps. Through AmeriCorps and other programs, CNCS encourages and supports service and civic engagement.

ReServe Maryland was funded through CNCS and generous matching support by Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, The Fund for Change, The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund and the United Way of Central Maryland.

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Baltimore, Events, Featured, First Impressions, News

ReServe Launches Launches in Baltimore, Maryland

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Jesse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2012

RESERVE, INC. LAUNCHES IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
AmeriCorps ReServists To Be Recruited To Fill Critical Service Roles

February 1, 2012 (NEW YORK) – ReServe, Inc., an emerging national nonprofit based in New York City, today announced the launch of an affiliate in Maryland, to be based in Baltimore. The Social Work Community Outreach Service (SWCOS) of the University of Maryland School of Social Work has partnered with ReServe, Inc. to launch ReServe Maryland. This is ReServe’s first affiliate tied to an academic institution. ReServe matches continuing professionals age 55+ (ReServists) with rewarding part-time service opportunities at nonprofit organizations and public institutions in order to strengthen their communities while earning a stipend.

With ReServe Maryland, ReServe, Inc. will expand its impact beyond New York City and Miami and promote the added value that older Americans can serve as professional quality “service corps.” In addition to matching ReServists to agencies in roles that capitalize on their career’s worth of skills, ReServe has also developed “social impact” initiatives that train ReServists for direct service.

ReServe, Inc. has partnered with AmeriCorps, a civic engagement program of the Corporation for National and Community Service to launch ReServe Maryland, and will recruit AmeriCorps ReServist members to serve at the CollegeBound Foundation and Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Maryland and Delaware. ReServe also expects to expand its innovative service-matching program to include roles that are not related to AmeriCorps.

“ReServe Maryland is a great solution to two problems,” said Dick Cook, director of SWCOS. “One is the huge number of boomers who want to continue to make a contribution to our society, which has no easy avenue for them to be useful; two is the huge number of human service providers that are burdened with increasing demand and diminishing resources. Put the two problems together and they take care of each other.” Today ReServe Maryland is conducting a kick-off presentation at the University of Maryland’s Southern Management Corporation Campus Center. Speakers will include Richard P. Barth, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Social Work, Jack Rosenthal, Chairman of ReServe’s Board of Directors, Mary S. Bleiberg, President of ReServe Inc, and Michelle Nusum, Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of MD & DE.

ReServe was founded in 2005 as an integrated response to two social and economic trends: 80 million baby boomers were reaching traditional retirement age, while at the same time, non-profit organizations and public agencies faced challenges in their capacity to serve those in need.

“In just six years of operation in New York City, ReServe has shown that the experience and skills of older adults constitute an abundance of talent, just waiting to be tapped all over America,” said Jack Rosenthal, co-founder and Chairman of ReServe’s board, and the former president of the New York Times Foundation. “Now in Maryland, ReServists will fill gaps in critical service work that otherwise would not be filled.”

In 2009, The Atlantic Philanthropies awarded ReServe a $2 million, three-year grant to bring its model to other cities, of which Maryland is the second affiliate to launch ReServe outside of New York City and Westchester County. ReServe Miami was launched last fall. ReServe will open its next affiliate in Milwaukee during this year.

ReServe Maryland is funded through the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps), The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, The Fund for Change, The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund and the United Way of Central Maryland. To learn more, visit http://www.reserveinc.org/maryland.

MEDIA CONTACT
Jesse Dean
Director, Marketing and Communications
Phone 212.710.9224
E-mail jdean@reserveinc.org
Twitter @re_serve
Web: http://www.reserveinc.org

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Baltimore, Events, Featured, Press

For A ReServist With A Range Of Skills, A Perfect Fit Close To Home

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Jesse

ReServist Gail McDaniel is using her professional skills in new ways at My Sisters’ Place, a venerable agency in Westchester that provides services and advocacy on behalf of victims of domestic violence.

Sue Brennan, Office Services Manager at My Sisters’ Place and Gail’s supervisor recalled meeting her for the first time, “Gail was just so energetic. It wasn’t an absolute fit in terms of having executive assistant skills, but she brought so many other skills.”

Gail supports the organization’s Executive Director, Karen Cheeks-Lomax, Esq. as well as assists in running the office. “It’s a real bonus having Gail here and [the arrangement] works for us perfectly,” said Ms. Brennan.

"She's an absolute fit," said Sue Brennan (on left) of ReServist Gail McDaniel (on right). Ms. Brennan is the Office Services Manager at My Sisters’ Place.

Gail too was concerned about taking on an unfamiliar role, but decided to seize the opportunity. “I have to stretch myself but I have never worked at any place where I am so appreciated.”

For more than 25 years, Gail had a successful career in a fine jewelry company, where she started as a watch buyer. When the company laid her off in 2006, she was a vice president and managed the company’s merchandising information systems and corporate training.

At the time, Gail was not interested in retiring but was faced with a decision on what to do next. “Retirement sounded like a good idea but I had given no thought to it,” she said. The sudden unemployment left her stunned. “It’s a huge shock to the system.”

Not settling for retirement Gail thought about how she enjoyed conducting corporate training and coaching her younger colleagues at the jewelry company, and decided to obtain certifications in personal and executive coaching.

She launched My Career Rx, to offer career coaching to Generation Y college students and recent graduates. She conceived of, designed the website, and created a database for 175 careers based on skills, values and personality profiles. The business was doing well but she felt a need to do more.

Then she discovered ReServe, and was attracted to opportunities to contribute her skills to a nonprofit.

Missing Manhattan, Gail was looking to commute but ReServe called her about an opportunity at My Sisters’ Place in White Plains and a seven-minute drive from her home. She agreed to go on an interview and was later offered the role as an executive assistant.

She serves four days a week from 10am to 3pm. The schedule and the office’s close proximity to her home allow her time to pursue her business, exercise and volunteer work. And she enjoys being part of a critical human services organization. “Everyone is here for a cause and I belong to a community. It’s a dream come true.”

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Featured, Matches, Westchester

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