wfn.org | Latino Community Service Program

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

CONTACT: 	Linda Bloom		           (10-21-32-71B){135}
		New York (212) 870-3803		       March 6, 1998

NOTE: This is a sidebar to UMNS story #134.

AmeriCorps offers "win"
for all involved, pastor says

	NEW YORK (UMNS) -- To the Rev. Eddie Lopez, participation in the
AmeriCorps program is a "win-win-win situation."
	The volunteer wins the opportunity to both serve the community
and receive money for education; the church wins the opportunity to host
community service programs it otherwise could not afford; and the
community wins programs to help meet its needs, according to the United
Methodist clergyman.
	His own church, La Resurreccion United Methodist Church in the
South Bronx, is a case in point.
	Two years ago, the church started a "harm reduction" program
aimed at the segment of the Latino population that was contracting HIV
through intravenous drug use. What began as a needle exchange program
now has 1,700 weekly participants and includes medical assistance and
meals.
	Young people from Lopez's congregation work with the program and
earn educational awards. He also hopes to revive an after-school program
at the church and staff it with AmeriCorps volunteers.
	Lopez directs the Latino/Latina Church Community Service Program
for the Ecumenical Program for Urban Service. EPRUS, based at the
National Council of Churches here, places volunteers for AmeriCorps.
	The Latino program has six field staff covering Texas,
California, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Northeast Corridor from Boston
to Washington, D.C. "They do the recruitment," Lopez explained.
	Volunteers are found through local churches and, more often,
community-based organizations related to churches. Last year, the
program gave 490 education awards. This year, Lopez said, the hope is to
recruit 1,200 volunteers.
	The new recruits should include the more than 300 lay missioners
connected with the United Methodist Hispanic Plan, he added.
	Noting that the Latino population has the highest number of
school dropouts and lowest number of college students, Lopez considers
the program to be a tool to encourage that population into higher
education.
	In addition, he said he hopes the experience of community
service "motivates, stimulates and encourages" Latinos to return and
give something back to the community once they've received that
education.
	In Punta, Puerto Rico, for example, a group that started the
first recycling company on the island to foster economic development and
improve the environment can now offer members education awards through
AmeriCorps.
They will then pursue degrees in social work, education or related
fields with the intent of returning to the community, he said. "They
wouldn't be able to afford to do it otherwise."
  						# # #
	

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/