Youth Organized for Disaster Action Grant

Posted by on November 4, 2005

The Institute for Global Education and Service Learning (IGESL) and its partners, Penn Serve and the NJ Commission on National and Community Service, are pleased to announce the opportunity for schools to apply for Youth Organized for Disaster Action (Y.O.D.A.) service-learning grants. Through the Learn and Serve America YODA Program we hope to provide students with a structured learning experience that allows them to enhance academic achievement, develop workplace-readiness skills, demonstrate active citizenship, and give back to their community through service-learning. These grants will enable students to plan for and respond to health, safety, and security concerns in their schools or communities, including natural disasters, school violence, medical emergencies, or terrorist acts.

Service-learning is a method of teaching and learning that combines academic work with service to the community. Examples of the kinds of activities that are supported include engaging students in service-learning projects to develop school crisis plans, distribute preparedness kits, conduct school safety audits and drills, provide health education, inventory and maintain emergency supplies, or provide language assistance to non-English speaking populations, assist communities for the disabled, and help develop foster care options for pets. Activities may also include helping young people take an active role in identifying and addressing the needs associated with the current and future relief efforts in the Gulf region, as long as those activities are connected to the curriculum and include the other elements of effective service-learning.

By involving youth in planning and implementing disaster relief services, the YODA Program hopes to not only make them more civically engaged, but also reduce the anxiety and fear often associated with community and school crisis planning. The YODA program believes that young people are an important untapped resource that can be engaged to help address a range of problems, including the growing challenges associated with homeland security and disaster preparedness and response. The Institute for Global Education and Service Learning (IGESL) is, therefore, offering $5000 mini-grants to support the implementation of a YODA Program. This Notice of Grant Opportunity (NGO) is for the grant agreement period of December 1, 2005 through August 30, 2006. The deadline for submission is Friday November 11, 2005.

For more information please contact:
Institute for Global Education & Service Learning
2222 Trenton Rd
Lower Left Suite
Levittown, PA 19056
(215) 945-8118
institute@igesl.org

[PHENND Director Hillary Aisenstein serves as the PA YODA Coordinator.]