In 2010, the City of Little Rock was announced as one of just 10 cities to receive a $200,000 grant from Cities of Service, a Rockefeller Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded initiative designed to encourage residents to volunteer and improve their neighborhoods.
Clinton School student Erin O’Leary worked with Cities of Service to fulfill the grant mandates and ultimately articulate the role of volunteerism and the ethic of service in a city-wide service plan.
O’Leary worked with Cities of Service in building a coalition of community leaders to advise and guide the process; performed a landscape analysis of the existing services within the city; and identified the most pressing community issues.
O’Leary designed initiatives and tactics to address the city’s challenges, and helped develop an overarching plan.
In March of 2011, City of Little Rock launched its official city-wide service plan called “Little Rock Serves.”
The plan included programs for nutrition, volunteers to maintain city parks, and mini grants for neighborhood improvement projects.
The Clinton School Impact Minute is a recurring segment with Little Rock Public Radio, highlighting the Clinton School’s field service impact in Arkansas.
Since 2004, Clinton School students have completed more than 600 field service projects with nearly 300 organizations in Arkansas alone, creating immediate and long-term impact for businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies across the state.