Thursday, November 14, 2013

AmeriCorps Alums meet Chelsea Clinton... and Pitch Hollywood on National Service Storylines

Ely Flores, AmeriCorps Alum and an Alums National Advisory Council Member, was introduced by Chelsea Clinton for a speech that addressed his transformation through service. The Hollywood event, co-hosted by the Clinton Foundation, ServiceNation and Next Generation, brought together the entertainment industry, including content creators and executives who have a particular interest in service.  At the event, Chelsea explained, national service programs like AmeriCorps is "fundamentally about our future".  Ely's full speech is below, and more details about the event are ithe Hollywood Reporter in the Variety article Hillary Clinton Helps Pitch Hollywood on Early Childhood, Public Service Storylines
(Left to Right: Zach Maurin, Chelsea Clinton, Ely Flores, Mary Bruce) 
Ely’s speech -
Community service has been part a part of life for a long time. As a child it was instilled in me, as a teen it was forced on me as punishment, as a young adult it became my passion.
I am born and raised in Los Angeles, CA; Mother is from Guatemala and Father from El Salvador. My Father was a Christian Pastor so I understood at an early age about service to God and the Church. But at the age of 8, my father abandoned the church and abandoned my family and I didn’t see or speak to him until 9 years later. My mother was forced to raise two boys and one girl, on a minimum wage salary, 10 to 12 hours a day. You can imagine all the trouble kids can get into with so many hours on their hands.
Ely-Flores-with-Hilary-Clinton-Image
Because of the lifestyle I chose during my teen years, I ran into the law, or the law ran into me. I don’t recall the details but you understand where I am coming from. Community service was re-introduced to me as a punishment which still happens to a lot of young people today. I did everything from working in a retirement home to cleaning/landscaping freeways to washing underwear in juvenile hall. So you can see, I was not fond of community service.
Then at 17, I was at a crossroads. Either I was going to continue in the lifestyle that had forced me into community service, house arrest, and vacations in confined environments, or choose an AmeriCorps program called YouthBuild that also talked about community service but rather used the term community building.
The year of national service and leadership with YouthBuild not only helped put my education back on track, put money in pocket, and ultimately helped me shape the foundation of social justice I stand on, but it completely transformed my view of service and is the reason why I refer to it as community building. 
I helped build community with other young people and families that were affected by the issues of incarceration. I helped retrofit affordable housing units and elementary schools that were in desperate need of resources. Most importantly I became an advocate for people from my community who were affected by the same issues I was. I became a community builder.
To make this very long story short, I continued my community service/building career through:
• Public Allies Los Angeles, AmeriCorps program

• I did community organizing for a couple of years around issues of incarceration

• Started my own youth leadership program and in 2010. It became its own organization called Leadership through Empowerment, Action, and Dialogue Inc.

• For the last 4 years I have been working with GRID Alternatives Greater Los Angeles and have brought over 500 solar panel systems to low-income families for free in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Orange County.

• For that last 2 years I have traveled to El Salvador and have helped 8 organizations improve their youth leadership programs that target some of the toughest communities in the country by way of YouthBuild International.

• In addition to El Salvador, I have been fortunate to build youth leadership in Israel/Palestine and Bosnia I Herzegovina by way of Realizing the Dream and Communities Without Boundaries.

• I will open up my own YouthBuild Program next year in North East Los Angeles.
I am only 26 years of age.
Imagine if at that crossroads at 17, I would have taken the other road. With the drive and passion that I put into everything else I do, I could have been a serious problem to my community, my city, and my country. But because I found a year of national service in YouthBuild AmeriCorps, instead I took the road of social justice and community building. So now I dedicate myself to solving and challenging social problems. But beyond, imagine if we could instill early in inner city young people the idea of a year of service and community building. Our communities would look a lot different and our nation would be transformed.





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