skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Senior Volunteers Play Vital Roles in Maryland

play audio
Play

Monday, May 22, 2017   

ANNAPPOLIS, Md. – About 240,000 volunteers over age 55, including some in Maryland, are being honored this month by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

And the program is looking for more recruits, even as its future is uncertain.

The agency runs AmeriCorps and Senior Corps – programs that, in the last quarter century, have placed more than 1 million people in positions to help others.

Spokeswoman Samantha Warfield says volunteers help teach children to read, serve as foster grandparents and act as companions for other seniors who need help living independently.

"You know, Americans are living longer and achieving even more, and entering sort of a second act,” she says. “And so because of that, we think it's an untapped resource for nonprofits and community organizations across the country. "

But President Donald Trump's budget proposal includes cutting the Corporation for National and Community Service. It's one of 19 agencies on the chopping block in order to boost military spending.

Maryland has 5,600 Senior Corps volunteers who serve as tutors for more than 3,000 young people, and help 430 local organizations.

Warfield stresses everyone has something to offer, no matter what he or she did before retiring.

"They may decide that they are really antsy to put their professional skills that they spent so long developing,” she says. “But there also may be volunteers who don't want to do what they've done their whole lives, and maybe they have a passion for gardening or music."

Warfield says Maryland volunteers last year helped nearly 300 homebound seniors and people with disabilities. Most volunteers receive a small stipend for their hours of service.

Information is online at nationalservice.gov.






get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021