AmeriCorps Members Join AFHA Effort

 AmeriCorps volunteers at Elkins' train depot

Appalachian Forest Heritage Area (AFHA) has been awarded a $126,000 state AmeriCorps project grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service through the West Virginia Commission for National and Community Service.  This program, titled Appalachian Forest Heritage Area: Enhancing Assets to Benefit Communities, is providing AFHA with 10 full-time AmeriCorps members to work on heritage tourism development, conservation, and historic preservation projects.  Members are being sponsored by partner organizations, which are providing the 15% non-federal cash match for the member costs.  Some of the members will be working directly on AFHA sponsored projects such as thematic driving tours or work on the Monongahela National Forest.  Other members will be working on projects in cooperation with area organizations including Historic Beverly Preservation, Webster County Economic Development Authority, Randolph County Community Arts Center, C-HOPE, Friends of Blackwater, Elkins Welcome Center, and Friends of Trees.

The 10 selected AmeriCorps members started their service on October 1 and will continue serving until September 2008.  AFHA is fortunate to have a highly talented and qualified group of team members who are making this yearlong commitment to AFHA.  Recent team activities included participation in Forest Festival activities such as the Primitive Camping Exhibit and AFHA Booth, promotion of the Darden Mill restoration project in cooperation with C-HOPE, serving as guides in a candlelit tour of Historic Beverly, and attendance at the AFHA Fall Stakeholders meeting.  The AmeriCorps members also participated in a statewide AmeriCorps training and a tree-planting workshop at the Darden House.

Further training opportunities include a window restoration training this weekend.  This training, also available to community members, will feature Preservation Trades Network expert Duffy Hoffman demonstrating techniques for repairing wooden windows.  The training will take place Friday evening, October 26, and daytime Saturday and Sunday.

AmeriCorps is a network of programs that each year supports the engagement of nearly 75,000 Americans in service to meet critical needs in education, the environment, public safety, homeland security, and other areas.  AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation For National and Community Service, which also administer VISTA, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America.  The mission of the Corporation is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation is working to foster a culture of citizenship, service and responsibility in America.  For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.

Phyllis Baxter, AFHA Executive Director, is Program Director for the AFHA AmeriCorps program.  She is a public historian with extensive experience in historic preservation and non-profit management.  She has worked with AFHA since the beginning of the project in 2001.

Melvin Lester has been hired by AFHA to provide administrative oversight and bookkeeping for the AmeriCorps program, as well as to supervise the historic preservation AmeriCorps team.  Melvin served as a VISTA for partner organization Mountain Partners in Community Development last year, developing preservation trades training opportunities.  He has a degree in Historic Preservation from Mary Washington University as well as over 25 years experience as an accountant.     

Appalachian Forest Heritage Area is an 18-county initiative in the highlands of West Virginia and western Maryland.  Working to develop heritage tourism and education related to forest heritage.  Persons interested in the goals of AFHA are encouraged to get involved as stakeholders, or to help us with specific projects.  For more information about the window workshop or future training or volunteer activities, or to contact the AmeriCorps members, call 304-636-6182 or email afha@appalachianforest.us.