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Announcements & Upcoming Events
It’s Black History Month! Check out the following podcasts and articles that we've put together in honor of Black History Month: 
  • Code Switch from NPR: A weekly podcast from National Public Radio that explores how race and culture collide with everything else in people's lives. The show invites listeners to re-examine their perspectives about race and identity.  
  • Ten Little Known Black History Facts: Even as we recognize black history this month, there are many events and figures that are often overlooked during it. This brief collection of facts includes important figures and significant historical events.
  • Remembering the Assassination of Civil Rights Leader Edwin Pratt: This StoryCorps podcast recounts the assassination of Edwin Pratt, a civil rights leader who was the head of the Seattle Urban League and rallied against discrimination in hiring, education, and housing. 

AmeriCorps Week is March 8-14. Share your program pride online, tag #MadeInAmeriCorps, and check out the AmeriCorps Week Resources page for ideas and social media tips.
Team Shoutouts:

In the last month, many teams have launched their programs. Kudos to everyone! Thank you for the significant amounts of time and work that you dedicated to making your projects a success.

Hartford, Connecticut: The team organized a press conference on Valentine's Day to announce year two of Love Your Block. 

Gary, Indiana: The VISTAs, Marie and Darnell, presented the successes from year one and changes for the upcoming year at the Love Your Block press conference, where they launched year two. 

Newark, New Jersey: The team launched year two on Valentine's Day along with a promotional video explaining how to apply for mini-grants. 
Top left: After launching their mini-grant application at the end of January, the team in Hamilton, Ohio maintained momentum for year two by passing out balloons to stakeholders and partners on Valentine's Day.

Top right: The team in Lancaster, Pennsylvania launched the spring round of Love Your Block on Valentine’s Day. Because the program is “growing,” the VISTAs, Christian and Renee, distributed succulents to city staff, partners, and stakeholders.

Bottom left: In Huntington, West Virginia, the team celebrated year two of Love Your Block and the application launch by hosting a Trolley Tour of West Huntington. From the trolley, attendees viewed last year’s projects.

Bottom right: In Buffalo, New York, the team launched year two of Love Your Block at a workshop attended by grantees from year one. The VISTAs, Dominic and Megan, discussed past Love Your Block projects and gathered feedback from past grantees to improve year two.
What's happening with... 
A closer look at what the VISTAs have been working on. 

Experience Matters 
The Columbia, South Carolina team finalized the schedule for their mentoring program. Their student tutoring curriculum will be geared toward addressing issues with authority in the classroom, working through bad days, and bouncing back from setbacks. This programming will include Mentor Mondays (which consist of team building activities and special events), Tutoring Tuesdays (a study hall with peer tutors and 50+ volunteers), Workshop Wednesday (Boys Council and Girls Circle), Thoughtful Thursday (a lecture series/life skills workshops with topics including sex education and cooking), and Friday Kickback (games, music, and supervised fun).

Guiding Opportunities 
Caroline and CJ, the VISTAs in Atlanta, Georgia, completed a photojournalism project where they photographed key locations in each of the target Opportunity Zones throughout the city. These photographs were compiled into a presentation that Invest Atlanta will use when presenting to city council and other stakeholders. They are also working closely with a property management foundation to plan an engagement event for residents in one of their target Opportunity Zones. This spring break event will bring together residents of all ages to celebrate people who are not typically acknowledged.

Love Your Block 
The team in Gary, Indiana, launched year two of Love Your Block at a press conference on Valentine’s Day. Mayor Jerome Prince kicked off the press conference. The VISTAs, Marie and Darnell, discussed the intentions of Love Your Block and the importance of residents feeling like they own the public spaces that they inhabit. Marie and Darnell introduced their upcoming series of workshops. To build connections between the 2 program years, Marie and Darnell invited year one grant leads to facilitate workshops about their experience with recruiting volunteers and sustaining energy and enthusiasm throughout the project timeline. 
Jake's Fun Fact of the Month 



Merry leap year to all! You probably know that every fourth year in the Gregorian calendar is a leap year, but did you know that there are exceptions to this rule? On every 100th year, or year ending in –00 to be exact, we skip a leap year, so the year 1900 and 2100 are NOT leap years. Then, you might ask, why was the year 2000 a leap year? That’s because every 400th year is an exception to the exception and IS a leap year. Leap year methodology stems from the earth’s orbit around the sun, which takes approximately 365.24219 days for a tropical year. This extra .24219 accounts for leap year wackiness.















 
Lovesick
Available on Netflix and Prime Video
Even if the “play next episode automatically” setting on Netflix didn’t exist, I still would have watched the entire first season of Lovesick in one night. It’s not just the slow burn romance between two of the main characters, or the mystery that comes with the main character’s flashbacks; it’s also the comfort I get from witnessing the close friendships between the main characters and the legitimately funny scenes that crop up. Unless I’m watching TV with someone else, I don’t normally laugh at funny scenes; it’s more of a muttered half-chuckle. Lovesick is an exception—it makes me cackle. If you want to bark laughter like me, I recommend giving Lovesick a shot.
- Madelyn Carlson

 
Cheers
Available on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, and CBS.com
This 80s-90s sitcom classic is ranked #18 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and has been given numerous other accolades. It is about a Boston bar and the lives of its various employees and regulars. The personalities of many of the colorful characters of Cheers range from neurotic to laughably lazy, but the jokes and situations the characters put themselves in continue to be funny until the very end.
- Andrew Dippel

 
It’s the End of the F*****g World
Available on Netflix and Prime Video
I love a subversive show, and this one fits the bill. By taking you into the mind of a maybe-psychopath and potential murderer, the audience gets a taste of what it must be like to not feel the basic emotions that we normally take for granted. But rather than idolize the morbidity and coarseness of an anti-hero such as this with shocking moments of inhumanity, the show peels back the story of how the protagonist developed into this state with poignant flashbacks that reveal prolonged numbness rather than absolute apathy. What makes this show more than your average tale of rebellious teenagers coming of age is its tender approach to developing troubled characters without rushing to give them an overly simplified redemption arc.
- Jake Moore

Check it out...

Metrics in Action: Cities are beginning to use data to allocate funding to parks in low-income and blighted neighborhoods that haven't seen investment for years, a new report found.

Using Opportunity Zone Framework: Jeremy Keele at Catalyst Opportunity Funds is using an Opportunity Zone Framework and other community engagement guidelines to select investment projects, monitor second-order effects those investments are having in communities, and publicly share that impact.

Solving City Problems Using Ethnographic Research: A growing number of cities, including many with innovation teams launched with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, are using ethnographic research methods to inform human-centered programs that address community issues. 

Check-In Meeting Agenda Template: A template from The Management Center to help structure agendas for meetings and check-ins. 

Anchorage, Alaska, and Cities of Service: Watch Ona Brause, Chief of Staff for Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, and Brendan Babb, Chief Innovation Officer, talk about the impact Cities of Service has had on the city of Anchorage, Alaska.
Cities of Service traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit the Guiding Opportunities team in the capital.
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