Honor Dr. King’s legacy by volunteering in your community
by Josh Fryday, Chief Service Officer of California
Today, Californians across the state honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through a Day of Service. To solve the pressing challenges of our time we can’t sit back and wait for someone else to fix them. We must unleash the greatest resource we have — the 40 million people who call California home. We must unleash the spirit of Dr. King, who called on us to serve one another.
On this day of unity, I’m reminded of Dr. King’s powerful words delivered in a sermon just months before his death. He said, “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve… You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
One challenge highlighting the need for us all to serve one another is the homelessness crisis facing our state.
Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced major funding and accelerated emergency actions to address homelessness across the state. He is proposing a comprehensive and aggressive response to the crisis to bring together the public and private sector. This response also provides opportunities for Californians to serve in their communities.
California Volunteers has launched a new webpage listing volunteer opportunities with organizations that serve individuals experiencing homelessness. The webpage is designed to easily connect Californians with meaningful opportunities to make a difference in their communities. Visit serve.ca.gov today and get involved.
Last week I visited one of the organizations listed based in Orange County, Grandma’s House of Hope. Having experienced homelessness herself, Grandma’s House of Hope founder Je’net Kreitner opened her home to women who didn’t have shelter. At one point, she and her husband Patrick housed up to 10 women. Now, the organization is a multi-program charity that provides workforce development services, weekend and summer nutritional support for children and wellness classes among other services for more than 3,500 people. Perhaps most inspiring, the organization is powered by community members looking to serve each other -former program participants, workers making a career transition looking to help their community, AmeriCorps members, and thousands of volunteers.
Another possibility to find volunteer opportunities in Orange County is through OneOC which provides volunteer, training, consulting and business services for nonprofits. Learn more at www.oneoc.org.
California is calling on all people to make a difference in their community and California Volunteers is doing its part by creating numerous opportunities for Californians to take action.
For example, you can join an AmeriCorps program to serve your community for a year tackling issues ranging from education to health care access and climate change.
AmeriCorps members receive a stipend while serving and are now eligible for an education award of up to $10,000 — a commitment the State of California is making to help those who serve pay for college. In Orange County, Access Services’ Muslim Arab American Resource Corps hosts one of our long-standing bi-cultural and bi-lingual AmeriCorps programs to provide direct health and human services as well as educational activities to hundreds of individuals, primarily underserved immigrants and refugees.
Service programs like AmeriCorps are a powerful first step towards harnessing the power of Californians. But service isn’t limited to these formal programs. Service is volunteering on the weekends at your local food bank, reading to a class of underserved children, or choosing a career in public health. Service strengthens communities, brings people together, and according to Martin Luther King, Jr., makes you great.
When we all serve, we honor Dr. King’s legacy, and make our own.
Visit serve.ca.gov and start making a difference today because California needs you.
Josh Fryday is Chief Service Officer at California Volunteers.
Originally published at https://www.ocregister.com on January 20, 2020.
