Alexa Fortuna of Wellington recently began a 10-month term of service in AmeriCorps NCCC-FEMA Corps, an AmeriCorps program. Fortuna, based out of the regional campus in Sacramento, is currently serving on her first project.
Founded in 1994, AmeriCorps NCCC is a residential national service program that supports disaster relief, the environment, infrastructure improvement, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. Over the past 23 years, more than 1 million Americans have served the nation through the family of AmeriCorps programs. Currently, about 80,000 people serve in AmeriCorps programs nationwide each year, with about 2,000 of those in AmeriCorps NCCC.
Fortuna arrived in Sacramento in mid-June to begin training. This training emphasized teamwork, leadership development, communication, safety and project preparation.
For the next nine months, these members will be serving on teams to address needs related to disaster preparedness, response and recovery. Such projects include individual and public assistance, logistics, external affairs and disaster survivor assistance. Many communities will benefit from the service of the FEMA Corps members nationwide.
Some of these projects include supporting wildfire response and recovery in California, storm preparedness in the northeast, and assisting with hurricane recovery in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, among a variety of other projects.
There are four additional NCCC/FEMA Corps campuses located in Denver, Colo.; Baltimore, Md.; Vinton, Iowa; and Vicksburg, Miss., each of which is a hub for its respective area of the country.
AmeriCorps NCCC members, all 18 to 24 years old, complete at least 1,700 hours of service during the 10-month program. In exchange for their service, they receive $5,915 to help pay for college. Other benefits include a small living stipend, room and board, leadership development, team building skills, and the knowledge that, through active citizenship, they can indeed make a difference. AmeriCorps NCCC is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. For more information about AmeriCorps NCCC, visit www.nationalservice.gov/nccc.
