Thank you for all the positive feedback and congratulations on my newly appointed position as Project Director. I am honored to have this opportunity and eager to get started.

My first goal is to make sure communities across the state know about the new funding ICCS has to further "Help Communtiies Help Themselves." I'm confident we can identify numerous faith based and community organizations who will be interested in our assistance and working with us to obtain a sub-award.

Toward that end, I will make every effort to ensure the CCF project is a positive experience for our administrative and field staff by providing clear timelines, goals, and expectations for all.

Thanks again for your support and I'm looking forward to the IMPACT we will make over the next year.

Sincerely,
Nicholette Dolin

BIO

Raised in Jackson County, Nicholette is pleased to serve in and around the communities where she grew up.

She graduated from John A. Logan College and Southern Illinois University Carbondale with degrees in journalism and public relations, as well as St. Louis University with a Master’s degree in organizational communication.

She firmly believes in the mission of ICCS and wants to help create change at the grassroots level.

PROJECTS

Highlights from 2008…

* Advocating for dislocated workers with the Transition Team as more factories close their doors in southern Illinois, and advocating for victims of domestic, child, and elder abuse with the Family Violence Task Force.

* Bringing a Smithsonian Exhibit to Pinckneyville, where community members, members of the Chamber, and the Foundation for Pinckneyville hosted “Between Fences.” The planning committee organized local programs including a picket painting contest for school children, a Rend Lake College writing contest, wire making and mining demonstrations, as well as a panel discussion and tribute to the journalist and former resident, the late Virginia Marmaduke.

* Continuing work with Supporting People In Need (SPIN), recruiting Cherie Green to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the group in Murphysboro. SPIN’s mission is to help people who’ve experienced a disaster or homelessness by providing furniture, household items, and clothing. SPIN operates a thrift store to support the organization and relies solely on the assistance of community volunteers to keep it going.

* Developing a statewide committee for youth interested in government and community service. The Illinois Youth Action Council will begin meeting in 2009, and with guidance from adult partners from Community Youth Service providers throughout the state, they will engage in discussion, identify important issues, and learn how to organize in their own communities.

* Empowering rural village boards by connecting them with the training they need to build capacity and take on new projects in communities such as Dowell, Tamaroa, and Ashley.

* Feeding hungry kids in Grand Tower and Cutler through the ISBE summer food program. With cooperation from the village board, school cook, and community volunteers, a free lunch was served, four days a week, to children in the Village of Grand Tower. In Cutler, lunch and an afternoon snack were served three days a week alongside an activities program at the community center. Thanks to the village board for allowing use of the building and to the hardworking volunteers who made it happen!

* Helping out the Murphysboro Youth & Recreation Center by providing an AmeriCorps summer associate to implement a summer youth program and a year long AmeriCorps VISTA to increase organization sustainability. MYRC is a safe place for kids to go during out of school time and a center for civic engagement. Their volunteer board is committed to seeing the center is around for years to come.

* Partnering with Heartland Alliance to redefine poverty in terms of human rights and working to pass legislation that established a Commission on Poverty. The commission is charged with developing a plan to cut Illinois poverty in half by the year 2015.

* Working with business owners and community members to strengthen and revitalize downtowns, through groups like the Tilden Chamber of Commerce and the Du Quoin Main Street Committee.

We had many successes in the southern region, but there’s much more work to do…