Preservation Volunteers' (PV) mission is to link diverse volunteers to the restoration of neglected historical structures, thus rejuvenating a piece of history and revitalizing a community.

Description:
Preservation Volunteers (PV) is unique in its roll as a matchmaker: seeking out preservation/ restoration projects and enlisting volunteers to work on them. It fills a major gap in the national preservation picture: For projects proposed of a kind or at a place where volunteers are needed but not readily available, and--as often happens even in public projects--sufficient funds are lacking. PV links suitable professional counsel and volunteers to such projects, and thus may save an otherwise-lost piece of our national heritage. PV offers a unique cultural experience for both American and French volunteers, plus a valuable training experience in restoration skills. PV appeals primarily to the young adult but also benefits greatly from the acquired skills and interests of all people over 18 years of age.

History:
*As in the past few years, in 2008 we are again sending volunteers to work at the Huguenot Historical Society in New Paltz, NY; continuing efforts leading to the creation of a public park at the Green-Wood Cemetary in Brooklyn, NY; and using some of these same volunteers to aid the New York Historic House Trust.

*In 2004, through its arrangement with the New York Historic House Trust, PV supplied six volunteers-all from France--as a restoration crew for the famous 18th-century Morris-Jumel Mansion. Four volunteers, also French, worked at restoring the 1850's mausoleum of Dr. Valentine Mott, a distinguished surgeon of the time, in Brooklyn's historic Green-Wood Cemetery. These 10 French volunteers were all lodged and lived with American families in Brooklyn's Park Slope historic district. In addition, five American volunteers assisted transforming what's left of a 19th-century mining town 9,000 feet high in the Rockies--Gothic, Colorado--into structures to be used by the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. This year, also, for the first time, we sent six American volunteers to France, to work on projects sponsored by REMPART, our French associate. These consisted of three historic chantiers--work sites-a 12th-century church being converted to a community meeting hall, an old redoubt not far from the Normandy beaches, and a group of five ancient fortresses.

*In 2003, six PV volunteers--four French, two American-- labored on the classic 1823 United Methodist Church in Nantucket, Mass. Six French volunteers painted the interior and much of the exterior of the 1776 Lefferts homestead in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

*In 2002, French and American PV volunteers worked at restoration projects in Brooklyn's historic (1835) Green-Wood Cemetery and in historic Fort Greene Park. Other volunteers, French and American, spent two weeks on a deteriorated century-old one-room schoolhouse in Gunnison, Colo., restoring it for use as a community center. (As an unexpected bonus, this revitalized local interest from individuals and organizations, including the Rotary Club, which paid for a new roof in 2004.)

Contact people:

Nicole Green, Director, (212) 769-2900, (email) Rebekka Gold, Volunteer Coordinator, (212) 769-2900, (email) Dexter Guerrieri, President, (212) 769-2900, (email)

Address:

1995 Broadway, Suite 605 New York, NY 10023 (See a map)

Directions:

Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: 66th St., Lincoln Center,   Walk distance (in minutes): 5   Nearest Bus Stop: M104, 68th St. and Broadway, 2 minute walk