IMPACT INITIATIVES

ReServe engages with community leaders to create, plan and implement initiatives that address social problems through service work delivered by ReServists. To supplement their life and professional skills, ReServists receive training to perform work that involves direct client contact.

Through ReServe’s impact initiatives, ReServists fill critical service gaps that otherwise would not be filled, such as mentoring middle and high school students, helping new Americans find suitable work or learn English, and motivating low-income elderly adults to self-manage their diabetes.

Service opportunities available through our impact initiatives require specific - and usually significant - time commitments from both Partners and ReServists. For some of these initiatives, a collaboration with AmeriCorps, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service offer ReServists the added benefits and responsibilities of being AmeriCorps members.

Queens Library – Strengthening and Uniting a Diverse Community
Recipient of the prestigious Library of the Year award in 2009, the Queens Library is a safe haven and community center for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. In the midst of the economic crisis, it has maintained a wide breadth of programs that help Queens residents find jobs, advance in school, learn English, start new businesses and lead healthy, productive lives.



In March 2010, ReServe received a multi-year grant from the Charles H. Revson Foundation to engage ReServists in a variety of service-oriented roles throughout the Queens Library system. In September 2011, to further serve the nation’s most diverse county, this partnership with the Queens Library became an AmeriCorps program as well. Currently, nearly 30 ReServists at 10 branch libraries, recruit new adult literacy tutors, create “Friends of the Library” advisory groups, help job seekers refine their resumes’ and job searching strategies, organize interactive, cultural programming via telephone for homebound seniors, help immigrants learn about library resources available in their native languages and lead conversation groups for English language learners.

READY – Coaching Students and Their Families Through the College Application Process
The college application process is daunting to most middle-class families. For low-income students whose parents never have attended college or do not speak English, it can be an insurmountable challenge. READY was created with the support of local foundations, Corporation for National and Community Service, and the New York City Department of Education to help these students gain access to the college for which they are best qualified.

READY ReServists are part of ReServe’s AmeriCorps program and help over-burdened college counselors in high-need urban high schools. They meet with students and their families to familiarize them with their college options. They organize college information workshops. They help students’ research colleges and scholarships, coach them through the college essay writing and application process, assist them and their families in applying for financial aid, and help them evaluate their financial aid packages. Most serve 15 hours a week. READY ReServists receive pre-service training provided by the Options Institute at Goddard Riverside Community Center. They also receive periodic in-service training activities throughout the year. A team of READY ReServists is serving at approximately 50 high schools in all five boroughs of New York City. Also, READY ReServists are serving students at schools in Miami, Florida.

Success Mentors – Motivating Students to Attend School Every Day
Since September 2010, Mayor Bloomberg’s Interagency Task Force on Truancy and Chronic Absenteeism and ReServe have collaborated on an interagency truancy prevention initiative. Teams of ReServists are trained as Success Mentors and assigned to middle schools with large numbers of students whose chronic absenteeism combined with behavior and academic problems put them at risk of dropping out.

Working with an average of 15-200 students each, the Success Mentors take a very “hands on” and innovative approach to improving attendance. In addition to greeting them in the morning and calling their homes if they are absent, the Success Mentors have created lunch time study sessions, launched peer mentoring and peer tutoring initiatives, identified online tutoring resources, made “good news” calls to parents, advocated for extra cafeteria food for hungry middle school students, and solicited corporate donations as rewards for good attendance.

By December 2010, the Mayor’s Office announced that the two schools where ReServists were serving had shown the greatest increase in their school-wide attendance rates in the middle school category.
Success Mentors are also part of ReServe’s AmeriCorps program and for the 2011-2012 school year, AmeriCorps ReServists are serving seven schools across Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan and Queens.

Transition Coaches - Motivating Students to Stay On Track
ReServist Transition Coaches engage and support at-risk youth who are re-entering school after prolonged absences due to foster care or temporary housing placement, as well as those returning from suspension or incarceration.  These students face significant challenges that contribute to an elevated risk of absenteeism, disengagement, poor performance and dropping out.

ReServist Transition Coaches have a lasting and meaningful impact on dozens of students lives by facilitating these students' transition back to school. They arrange to welcome them on their first day, greet them in the mornings, are available for private meetings, and provide informal support and a friendly face. Coaches arrange tutoring for current class assignments and remediation, connect students to recreational activities, and connect them with local services and support networks brought to the schools through the Task Force’s community outreach initiatives with ACS and other agencies.

Launched in fall 2011, the Transition Coaches program is a collaboration among ReServe, Mayor Bloomberg’s Interagency Taskforce on Truancy and Chronic Absenteeism, the NYC Department of Education and the New York Community Trust, the latter which provides important funding. Teams of Transition Coach ReServists are serving five schools across Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island.

WeCOACH – Helping Elderly Patients Control Their Diabetes
In partnership with New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation’s (“HHC”) and the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA), ReServe is operating WeCOACH, which trains ReServists to engage low-income seniors suffering from severe diabetes and connect them with wellness programs at nearby senior centers. These ReServists are called Peer Coaches.

ReServist Peer Coaches are based at HHC facilities and work closely with HHC doctors and nurses to identify and perform outreach to patients age 60 and older who suffer from uncontrolled diabetes. They make calls to patients listed on HHC’s Diabetes Registry, follow-up on referrals made by physicians and nurses, and engage patients during their clinic visits. They escort them to senior centers, where they may participate with them in exercise, yoga and nutrition classes, organize walking clubs, and facilitate discussion groups.  They serve 15 hours per week. In addition to being cost-efficient, WeCOACH improves patients’ sense of well-being and reduces hospitalizations.