Woodland Park, CO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/18/2016 --A team of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) members is serving with Habitat for Humanity of Teller County to renovate an old hotel into nine, affordable housing condos for local families. The group of 11 young adults arrived on November 4th and will be serving in Woodland Park through December 16th.

While in town, the AmeriCorps NCCC team is assisting Habitat for Humanity of Teller County, whose mission is to bring people together to build strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter. Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization that provides their new homeowners with no or low interest financing. Their commitment to building decent, stable housing provides homeowners with stability, dignity, health and safety, and increases educational and job prospects.

Over the course of this six-week project, this AmeriCorps NCCC team will be involved in various aspects of home renovation at Habitat's Clock Tower Condos build site at 222 E. Henrietta Ave in Woodland Park, Colorado, including dry walling, painting, flooring, interior trim work, setting doors, setting cabinets, siding, and landscaping, for the nine units for local families.

"Habitat applied for a team to facilitate a concerted effort to get the project done as soon as possible to get families in their homes," said Violet Hanratty, Habitat for Humanity of Teller County's Volunteer Coordinator.

"When many question what the youth of today are doing for America, I get to see it firsthand every day through the actions of AmeriCorp NCCC! I experience these hard-working young people giving of their hearts, hands, & their voices to make a better place to live for their fellow human beings. They have come from every corner of America to our little community to give nine families a very special place to call HOME, said Jamie Caperton, Habitat's executive director.

The AmeriCorps team will also be participating in Habitat's Colorado Gives Day campaign rally at the Clock Tower Condos project on Tuesday, November 29th at 10am. Colorado Gives Day is a one-day online fundraising campaign taking place throughout Colorado on Tuesday, December 2nd, encouraging Colorado residents to give where they live during the year-end, holiday season.

The November 29th rally, is being held in conjunction with the nationwide Giving Tuesday celebration and will be led by Habitat's executive director, Jamie Caperton and Woodland Park's Mayor, Neil Levy. Habitat staff will also be available to led tours of the facility showing the renovation progress to date.

AmeriCorps NCCC first served with Habitat for Humanity of Teller County in 2015. Since then, two teams previously served more than 6,000 hours with the organization.

While here they will also volunteer their time with many other worthwhile non-profit organizations in the Woodland Park community including the Lighter Side of Christmas Parade, Holiday Home Tour, and others. "When you see them, please thank them for their generous service to our community," said Caperton.

This is the first of several projects to be completed by this AmeriCorps NCCC team. They began their term of service on October 11, 2016 with three weeks of training at the Denver regional hub. After December 17th, they will travel to a series of other six- to 12-week projects in communities throughout the Central and Southwestern United States. They will graduate from the 10-month program on July 14, 2017.

About AmeriCorps NCCC
AmeriCorps NCCC is a full-time, residential, national service program in which up to 2,200 young adults serve nationwide annually.  During their 10-month term, Corps Members – all 18 to 24 years old – work on teams of eight to 12 on projects that address critical needs. Traditional NCCC members work on a variety of different six- to 12-week-long projects related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. Members of FEMA Corps, a branch of NCCC, focus their projects exclusively on emergency management work in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Southwest Region campus in Denver is one of five regional hubs in the nation and serves eight states in the central and southwest parts of the country. The other campuses are located in Baltimore, Md., Vinton, Iowa, Vicksburg, Miss., and Sacramento, Calif.

In exchange for their service, Corps Members receive $5,815 to help pay for college, or to pay back existing student loans.  Other benefits include a small living stipend, room and board, travel, leadership development, increased self-confidence, and the knowledge that, through active citizenship, people can indeed make a difference.  AmeriCorps NCCC is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service.  The Corporation improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering.

For more information about AmeriCorps NCCC, visit the website at www.americorps.gov/nccc.

About Habitat for Humanity Teller County
People in Teller County and all over the world partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call HOME. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Other projects completed in the community include Las Casas in Woodland Park, a Historic Housing Project in Cripple Creek, a home renovation in Guffey and 31 homes build throughout Teller County.

Learn more at http://www.tellerhabitat.org.

CONTACT:
Heather Dirck
AmeriCorps NCCC - Community Relations Specialist
303-844-7420
hdirck@cns.gov

Amy Johnson
Team Media Rep
406-480-0470