Lesson 9:
KANSAS CITY, HERE I COME! A+ Youth Community Service

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Our ninth mission certainly will prepare you to:

1. Defend UD housing construction as excellent School to Careers experiential learning for students in building trades and interior design classes.

2. Explain how a nonprofit UD housing advocacy group can help keep older homes from 'evicting' residents whose age-related needs they no longer can meet.

3. Extol the value of Youth Community Service programs not only to their recipients, but especially to volunTEENS who serve with gusto!

WORD BANK: Housing and disability advocates, vocational rehab, UD model homes, ASS&C@ guidelines vs. UD Principles, the Big Picture, the players' list, National Youth Services SERVEnet, virtual volunteens, service project organization chart and PLAN,

CONTENT HEADINGS:
SPECIAL REPORT: First Student-Built UD House in Kansas City Metro Area
Introduction to Youth Community Service in Housing
The Universal Design Housing Network BUILDS!!
Youth Community Service Rocks!!

IMAGES:
Student-built house under construction (he forgot his hard hatBSHAME!)
Teen piloting innovative Aairplane@ made of old computer parts
Ms. VolunTEEN checks out the pre-fab curb-less/roll-in shower
National Youth Service Day poster + volunteer images

LINKS:
Universal Design Housing Network web site
www.udhn.org

Youth Service in America SERVenet site: Community Service opportunities
http://www.servenet.org/

Great American Bake Sale to fight childhood hunger
www.greatamericanbakesale.org

Kidsmart Program serves other youth by providing free school supplies:
http://www.agift4teaching.org/bus/

Kumamoto (Japan) Prefecture UD Awareness website
http://www.ud.pref.kumamoto.jp

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

1. It only makes sense to design homes that can last the resident's lifetime. Remaining at home should be OUR option...we should NOT be evicted by a house when it can no longer meet our needs (Levy).
2. Join in making UD the Next Generation Housing. It's up to US to see that this great UD equalizer becomes accepted AND adopted NOW (Levy).
3. Another reason for adopting UD for all buildings (particularly, all housing) is to reduce the rate of rise in Medicaid/Medicare costs. In many states, Medicaid patients have been forced into nursing homes, NOT because they need constant care, but because their houses are INacessible (Harding).

LESSON 9 LEARNING ACTIVITY CHOICES:

1. ORGANIZING YOUR YOUTH COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT:
   After studying the UD Housing Network story and website, prepare an organizational table with boxes showing its mission, types of Board members, partners, and volunteers, and the activities the UDHN does. Then try it out as the 'model' for a similar chart that lists the goals, possible Board of Directors members, business and public agency partners, sources of funds, plus all kinds of volunTEENS for your UD Community Awareness Campaign.

2. THE KUMAMOTO MODEL: Whether or not you LINKED to the Community Universal Design web site from Kumamoto, Japan in Lesson 4, take another look.

   In Japan, prefectures are similar to our states, with their own governing bodies. Thus, some of the Kumamoto activities may be transferrable to your UD awareness campaign organizational chart. Focus on program sponsor(s) and rationale, objectives, target audiences, and methods from any parts that are in English or photographs, then create a small-scale version for YOUR town.

   Naturally, you won't be working at such a large or complex scale (millions of people and yen?). But you may choose to target your entire community (people of all ages and conditions) or the whole Scout troop, all 4-H clubs in the county, or the members of your church or synagogue. All of these groups will benefit from UD products and places.

   If you've memorized or taken enough notes to know what to do, CLICK HERE to wing away to the Land of the Rising Sun (and cherry blossoms).