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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Washington, DC, United States, 2011/04/06 - Earl Millett, Jr., Community Development Director for Baltimore’s Civic Works, has been honored by the White House as a Champion of Change for his commitment to community service domestically and abroad - CorpsNetwork.org.
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According to the White House, their new initiative seeks to highlight “stories of Americans who are doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.” The first group of individuals selected for this honor by the White House were Returned Peace Corps volunteers who had also served their communities at home.
Earl Millet began his career in service in 2000 when he joined AmeriCorps as a full-time member serving with Volunteer Maryland. He worked to establish a formal volunteer program at Garden Harvest, a Maryland organic farm that donates its produce to soup kitchens and homeless shelters. He began a second full-time term with Volunteer Maryland in 2001, mentoring 12 new AmeriCorps members and helping them establish volunteer programs at small nonprofit organizations.
From 2003-2005 Millet volunteered for the Peace Corps in Ecuador. Working with the Charles Darwin Foundation, he helped build capacity for organic farming in communities on the Galapagos Island of San Cristobal. His efforts also focused on environmental curriculum development for local schools, resulting in the island’s first annual science fair. He also played a significant role in creating the island’s first spaying & neutering program for dogs to help decrease the island’s wild dog population.
When Millet returned to the United States in 2005, the gulf coast was struck by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Millet joined the Crisis Corps (now called Peace Corps Response) and was eventually assigned to St. Bernard’s parrish in New Orleans. He trained a local resident, who had lost his supermarket in the storms, to take over his recovery efforts. He was able to get funding for the gentleman to be paid for a year through FEMA.
Early in 2006, Millet joined Baltimore’s Civic Works as a Volunteer Coordinator. Civic Works’ mission is to help Baltimore’s Youth reach a brighter future by participation in community service and skills development. Since joining, Millett has worked to develop new programs and acquire new funding, expanding Civic Works’ capacity in volunteers and clients served. He currently directs several programs, handling management of supervisors and administration of budgets. He stays involved on a day to day basis talking to prospective AmeriCorps members to determine their best fit, and as a resource for all Civic Works members during and after service.
“It was humbling to meet such a small, diverse group of people with an amazing amount of accomplishments,” Millet said after attending an event that included White House and Peace Corps staff members along with other honorees. He then added,“but I also felt very proud to be there.”
Civic Works is a member of The Corps Network, the National Member Association for Service and Conservation Corps. Sally Prouty, President and CEO of The Corps Network, remarked that “It’s an amazing recognition of a wonderful person in a leadership role for Baltimore’s youth. It also shows that the value of Service is not limited by borders or cultures.”
Short videos and biographies of Millet and other White House Champions of Change are available on whitehouse.gov/.
About Civic Works
Civic Works (civicworks.com), Baltimore’s urban service corps and an AmeriCorps program, was founded in 1993. Its mission is to build a future for Baltimore’s youth through community service and skills development. Since its inception, Civic Works has trained and assisted more than 2500 Baltimore area participants in performing community service projects, developing job readiness and life skills, and finding employment.
About The Corps Network
Established in 1985, The Corps Network (corpsnetwork.org) is the voice of the nation's 158 Service and Conservation Corps. Currently operating in 46 states and the District of Columbia, The Corps Network enrolls more than 33,000 young men and women annually in service in addition to mobilizing approximately 227,000 community volunteers.
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lnovey[.]corpsnetwork.org 
