Press Release: President Clinton to Attend Launch of City Year Little Rock

On Tuesday, November 16, President Bill Clinton will help launch City Year Little Rock by swearing in 40 members of the nationwide citizen service organization, officials of the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation and the City of Little Rock announced today.

Taking place during the week of the Clinton Presidential Center grand opening, the inauguration ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the historic Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Clinton will also speak at the event.

At today's news conference, held on the Clinton Presidential Center grounds, Clinton Foundation Executive Director Stephanie Streett read from a statement from President Clinton, sent this morning expressly for the event:

“I am honored to join in the inauguration of City Year Little Rock for three reasons. First, it's an important moment for young people in this great city. Second, City Year is part of the AmeriCorps network, a program I was proud to create during my time in office. And third, City Year Little Rock is all about citizen service, and that remains one of the core missions of the Clinton Foundation,” said President Clinton.

Also speaking at today's news conference were Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey, Central High School Principal Nancy Rousseau, City Year Little Rock Executive Director Kadi Tierney, and Clinton Foundation President Skip Rutherford.

“I am delighted to serve as the Chairman of City Year Little Rock's Board,” said General Wesley Clark. “I believe that AmeriCorps is one of President Clinton's most important achievements and I know that the young people who serve through City Year will bring hope and help to citizens throughout the community,” he added.

“We are honored that City Year Little Rock has this opportunity to highlight public service and the role that young people can play in building a stronger country for all of us,” said Kadi Tierney, Executive Director of City Year Little Rock. “Having this event during such an important week truly highlights President Clinton's historical, and ongoing, commitment to national service.”

An “action tank” for national service, City Year unites a diverse corps of young adults – ages 17 to 24 – for a demanding year of full-time citizen service, civic leadership and social entrepreneurship. Founded in Boston in 1988, City Year currently has over 1,000 members in fifteen other U.S. cities. Founded in Boston in 1988, City Year has established programs in Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Columbia, SC; Columbus; Detroit; New Hampshire; New York; Philadelphia; Rhode Island; San Antonio; San Jose; Seattle/King County and Washington, D.C. Little Rock is one of the smaller cities to be home to City Year.

Over the course of one year, each member of the inaugural 2004-2005 City Year Little Rock Corps has committed to serve a minimum of 1,700 hours as mentors and tutors in the Little Rock and North Little Rock public schools. Upon successful completion of the program each member will receive an educational award to help them pay for college.

Central High School was chosen because City Year typically chooses historically significant sites for inauguration ceremonies, and because the organization wanted to introduce future Central High graduates to its programs of community service and citizenship. As a National Historic Site, the school is a monument to the importance of tolerance and diversity, and echoes another key mission of the Clinton Foundation — to advance racial, religious and ethnic reconciliation.

The Clinton Foundation has been working with City Year for several years to promote citizen service in America and elsewhere in the world. For example, President Clinton and his Foundation have assisted City Year's Clinton Democracy Fellowship program, which was created in 2001 to build a global network of young leaders from emerging and established democracies who are committed to developing citizen service programs in their lands.