FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
04/06/2022
CONTACT: Joe Kunkel, Executive Director
PHONE & EMAIL: 843-839-0702 [email protected]
Neighbor to Neighbor Awarded $287,996 to Build Public Health AmeriCorps
Funding will support 14 AmeriCorps members to meet public health needs of local community and help rebuild the nation’s public health sector.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – Neighbor to Neighbor of South Carolina, Inc. announced today that it has received a Public Health AmeriCorps grant of $287,996 from AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. The grant will expand Neighbor to Neighbor’s presence in Brunswick County, NC; Horry County, SC; Georgetown County, SC; Williamsburg County, SC, where Neighbor to Neighbor has been providing transportation services, pantry deliveries, and wellness calls for Americans since 2005.
Public Health AmeriCorps, a partnership between AmeriCorps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, supports the recruitment, training, and development of a new generation of public health leaders. Supported by a five-year, $400 million investment from the American Rescue Plan Act, Public Health AmeriCorps will help meet public health needs of local communities by providing surge capacity and support while also creating pathways to public health-related careers.
“This exciting opportunity will allow Neighbor to Neighbor to work with amazing community partners and build career pathways into the public health sector” said Joe Kunkel, the organization’s Executive Director. “We’re grateful for AmeriCorps’ support, which will allow us to reach more seniors and folks in need than ever before.”
With this new funding, Neighbor to Neighbor will leverage the skills and experience of AmeriCorps members in Brunswick County, NC and the Waccamaw region in SC to help improve the public health of communities across the state and country and provide pathways for AmeriCorps members to pursue careers in public health. These AmeriCorps members will educate vulnerable seniors on COVID-19 health initiatives, assist in navigating the health care system to access mental health resources, provide community members with referrals and linkages to community resources, and collect community-level public health data in South Carolina.
Local match is required for this grant to meet deliverables. This amounts to $97,985 and must be derived from local sources such as individual donations, local government support, and fundraising efforts.
Neighbor to Neighbor has adapted by providing food delivery and wellness calls as a response to COVID-19. Bringing these new programs to homebound seniors and adults with disabilities has brought connections and engagement to many who have been isolated and unable to drive themselves.
Volunteers can sign up by contacting Kathy Lashinsky at [email protected] or 843-364-9011.
AmeriCorps continues to invest in the nation’s COVID-19 recovery. With existing programs in more than 40,000 locations across the country, AmeriCorps is uniquely positioned to bolster community response efforts. For the past two years, thousands of AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers across all 50 states and U.S. territories have continued their service, quickly adapting to meet the changing needs caused by the pandemic and have provided vital support, community response, and recovery efforts, providing support to more than 12 million Americans, including 2.5 million people at vaccination sites.
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Founded in 2005, Neighbor to Neighbor of South Carolina, Inc. (N2N) is an award-winning organization that works diligently to promote independence and relieve isolation in Horry, Georgetown, and Williamsburg Counties in South Carolina and Brunswick County in North Carolina. N2N works to make sure our senior and vulnerable neighbors are able to live independently and with dignity through a network of established community resources and programming such as transportation, wellness calls, and pantry deliveries.
AmeriCorps, the federal agency for volunteerism and national service, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 250,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one- time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.
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