Below are examples of messages and goals that states with existing climate corps are using to share information about their efforts and to recruit members and partners.
On California Volunteers’ website for their Climate Action Corps, they have the following information.
As a part of California’s comprehensive strategy to address the climate crisis, California Volunteers, Office of the Governor, created the country’s first state-level climate service corps. The service corps was established to empower all Californians to take meaningful action to safeguard the climate. California Climate Action Corps is guided by three core principles:
California Climate Action Corps meets Californians where they are and provides meaningful opportunities for all Californians to act.
Serve Washington’s messaging on their Washington Climate Corps Network website and fact sheet include the following content.
What is the Washington Climate Corps Network?
The WCCN is a network of service organizations coordinated by Serve Washington that are supported by community and state allies working to address climate change in Washington. WCCN engages young adults (ages 17-31) and veterans to help build climate resilient communities, economies and ecosystems.
The WCCN prioritizes service to overburdened communities. These are areas where people who live there face disproportionate environmental harms and risks. They are often disproportionately comprised of people who may be minorities, low-income and/or tribal or indigenous.
How does the WCCN Work?
Participating service programs provide climate service project opportunities for climate corps members to help communities address their most pressing climate needs while gaining career and leadership support. Serve Washington supports the WCCN through funding for service programs so they can achieve the goals of the network. Serve Washington also provides dedicated training and community-based support while coordinating state climate goals and resources.
What are the goals of the WCCN?
What kinds of service will I do as a WCCN member?
Serve Washington is committed to making service opportunities equitable to all and we're especially interested in having WCCN members who come from marginalized and overburdened communities.
As a WCCN member, types of projects on which you might serve include:
Other projects may be added as WCCN gets underway.
Volunteer Maine’s program Maine Climate Corps website includes the following messaging about their program.
Background
In June of 2021 a bill was passed directing Volunteer Maine to study establishment of a Maine Climate Corps and submit a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. The study identified short-term projects and tasks in state agencies that could be service projects; the structure for a Maine Climate Corps in order to best address shifting and expanding climate challenges; and examined existing service programs to identify potential hosts and partnerships for the Maine Climate Corps.
In April of 2022, the Maine Legislature and Governor followed through on the report's recommendations by passing and signing bipartisan legislation into law to create the Maine Climate Corps and engage Volunteer Maine to coordinate disaster resilience and mitigation efforts. Maine has also now funded a Climate Corps Coordinator with Volunteer Maine who is funded from ARPA dollars. The Maine Legislature has dedicated $200,000 for the corps to get off the ground. In 2022, State funding for Climate Corps in Maine was released via an RFA to a Community Action Program to launch a weatherization focused program. Energy Efficiency was prioritized in the RFA due to the ongoing energy crisis. There is current legislation pending to fund Climate Corps for 2 years at $1.3 million a year. This funding would be released as a grant and could potentially fund around 50 Corps members and 4 staff persons.
Additionally, the Maine Climate Corps Network will launch in 2023, inviting programs (regardless of funding source) to participate in a community of practice and co-brand as a Maine Climate Corps program.
The Commission is also building relationships with state agencies to identify potential program sponsors and to leverage additional funding and align policies and programs with Climate Corps goals.
About
The Maine Climate Corps is a strategy to meet the ambitious goals in Maine Won't Wait. Volunteering and service is a defining characteristic of Maine communities, and climate action to date has been championed by countless volunteers.
The Maine Climate Corps is an opportunity for more Mainers to intensely focus on helping the state achieve its climate goals, while also strengthening community resiliency, and offering participants opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Why Serve?
What do Climate Corps members do?
Maine Climate Corps programs take action in 8 areas:
Serve Colorado’s climate corps program, Colorado Climate Corps, posts on their website the following informational messaging.
Background
Colorado Climate Corps is a multi-faceted initiative addressing the impacts of climate change. In collaboration with the Colorado Interagency Climate Team, Colorado Youth Corps Association placed the first 633 AmeriCorps members of the Climate Corps on the ground in 2022. These first members focused on wildfire mitigation and water & energy efficiency.
With the addition of CivicSpark, the reach of the Colorado Climate Corps now includes members supporting local governments and non-profits in planning for and addressing sustainability and climate change issues. Serve Colorado is working with additional partners to expand Climate Corps that will create a holistic approach to addressing climate change in Colorado.
About
Colorado Climate Corps is a multi-pronged strategy to address climate change and advance the Governor’s bold goal of moving Colorado’s electric grid to 100% renewable sources by 2040 and protecting the environment for future generations, by any of the following:
Colorado Climate Corps is a collaboration with the Colorado Interagency Climate Team.
Serve Minnesota posts on their Minnesota Climate Impacts Corps website the following information.
Background
ServeMinnesota convened a Climate Design Team from January-August 2020 to understand how AmeriCorps could best contribute to Minnesota's efforts to address climate change. They also collaborated with partners at the University of Minnesota Department of Forestry, Minnesota Green Corps, Tree Trust and others with hopes of expanding upon the work being done already by Green Corps and Conservation Corps in Minnesota. At the conclusion of the Design Team process, members were invited to join an ongoing Climate Advisory Committee to provide continued guidance as programs move forward. The culmination of this work launched as the Climate Impact Corps through Ampact. ServeMinnesota and Ampact both hired climate content area specialists in 2021-2022 to support the expansion of climate programming.
There are three Initiatives within Climate Impact Corps: the Community Forestry Initiative, Home Energy Initiative, and Community Resilience Initiative.
Community Forestry Initiative
In September 2020, the Community Forestry Initiative was launched to engage a team of AmeriCorps members in the preservation and revitalization of Minnesota’s forests. Members serve at a nonprofit or public agency with a mission to preserve and protect Minnesota’s environment and strengthen communities, with a focus on preserving and increasing tree canopy. Service includes planning and implementing projects involving tree inventorying, tree planting events, gravel bed nursery design/construction/management, Emerald Ash Borer management plan development, citizen volunteer recruitment/training/utilization or outreach and education events.
Home Energy Initiative
Through the Home Energy Initiative, members support Minnesotans who are eligible for the Weatherization Assistance Program. Members can help these households through education and services that potentially create an immediate impact on their quality of life and cost of living. With great training and opportunities to shadow technicians, members will connect with homeowners and renters to help them make decisions about energy assistance programs and energy-saving materials.
Community Resilience Initiative
Through the Community Resilience Initiative, members support sustainability projects, encourage local environmental action and provide education to help households and organizations make sustainable choices. Members serve as Sustainability Project Coordinators or Community Stewardship Facilitators, planning and implementing projects involving community asset map design, environmental action activity facilitation, volunteer management, community member engagement and more.
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