NASST: Sites
*********Tentative 2009 Site List***********
NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES
The Main Youth Center (Eagle Butte, SD)
The Billy Mills Youth center and Teen Center are located in the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in central South Dakota. The centers were created to provide services and support to the reservation's children and teenagers. Volunteers will have a chance to learn about the rich Lakota culture and history as they immerse themselves into this community by interacting with youth.
URBAN POVERTY
Phoenix of New Orleans (New Orleans, LA)
PNOLA is a non-profit neighborhood recovery association devoted to vastly improving living conditions in the blighted Lower Mid-City area of New Orleans. PNOLA was founded by a Tulane University medical student immediately after the storm. Rather than wait for government assistance, Paul and his neighbors mobilized within weeks to form a governing board and recruit volunteers to assist in the process of gutting and rebuilding this 120-block neighborhood.
RURAL POVERTY
Cranks Creek Survival Center (Cranks, KY)
Started in 1983 to help the local community recover from flooding caused by irresponsible coal mining, this grass-roots organization maintains an emergency supply storage and serves to improve and provide housing and other services to lower income families.
HEALTH & AGING
Peaceable Kingdom (Temple, TX)
Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children, Inc., is a place where children with special needs and chronic illnesses can celebrate the health-giving benefits of nature. Peaceable Kingdom strives to promote the educational, recreational, and therapeutic benefits of nature through our programs. Peaceable Kingdom serves over 3500 children and their families from three hospitals and eighteen local school districts. The retreat relies on volunteers to meet the growing need for a facility specifically designed for chronically ill and special needs children. It was originally a fishing day retreat and today children can enjoy horseback riding, swimming, a sports court, a campground, a ropes challenge course, hiking on nature trails, arts and crafts, and much more.
HIV/AIDS
God's Love We Deliver (NY, NY)
God's Love We Deliver works to improve the health and well-being of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses by alleviating hunger and malnutrition. They prepare and deliver nutritious, high-quality meals to people who, because of their illness, are unable to prepare meals for themselves. They also provide illness-specific nutrition education to their clients and families, care providers, and other service organizations. All services are provided free of charge.
Immigration
Cambodian Refugee Shelter (Chicago, IL)
The Mission of the Cambodian Association of Illinois is to enable refugees and immigrants from Cambodia residing in Illinois, especially those in metropolitan Chicago, to become self-sufficient, productive participants in U.S. society while preserving and enhancing their cultural heritage and their sense of belonging to this community.
ENVIRONMENT
World Hunger Relief (Elm Mott, TX)
World Hunger Relief was established in the 1960s to teach farmers from developing countries the techniques of sustainable agricultural production and problem-solving so that they could bring this knowledge back to their native countries. Today it operates as a self-sufficient organic farm. Workers also learn approaches to community development, cross-cultural communication, and adult education; understand the socio-political contexts of world hunger and identify appropriate responses; and become familiar with food technology, nutrition, and health issues.
Nature Conservancy (Southern Pines, NC) *
The Nature Conservancy's mission is to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Funds are helping to: improve water quality, strengthen agriculture, expand tourism, maintain North Carolina's natural beauty, prevent incompatible development around our military bases, buy land and build facilitates for local and state parks, and preserve habitats for native wildlife and plants.
