Posts Tagged ‘AmeriCorps’

Coming Together To Save Service

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute and co-founder of the HandsOn Network.

Last week, the president signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011. The compromise calls for $917 billion in cuts over the next 10 years, and another $1.5 trillion in cuts could be identified through a 12-member bipartisan committee.

It is now apparent that many federal programs will be threatened with either significant spending reductions or elimination.

The Corporation for National and Community Service and the programs it administers – AmeriCorps, the Volunteer Generation Fund, Senior Corps and RSVP, VISTA and others – will be vulnerable in this environment.

Now is the time to act.

On Wednesday, Aug. 10, supporters of national service programs are once again visiting their elected representatives’ home offices to let them know the importance of national service in their communities and across the nation.

You can find and join a District Day event at the office of your member of Congress on the Save Service website. Along with District Day events near you, you’ll find information that you can share with your member of Congress about the impact of national service programs in your state.

If you’re not able to participate in a District Day event, please take the time to write or call your member of Congress and let them know why national service is important to you. You can find your representatives’ contact information here and your senators’ contact information here.

National service enables people to make meaningful contributions to their communities, build organizational capacity, generate community-based social capital and leverage more than 1.4 million additional adult volunteers to tackle some of America’s toughest social, environmental, educational and economic challenges.

Please join me in highlighting the importance of national service programs on August 10 by visiting, calling or writing your representatives.

 

In Service,

 

 

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute

Co-founder, HandsOn Network

AmeriCorps Members are a Vital Link in Joplin Tornado Response

Monday, June 6th, 2011

AmeriCorps member are among some of the many unsung heroes of Joplin’s May 22 killer tornado.

They were among the first to arrive and will be among the last to return home.

Although not the most well-known federal program, AmeriCorps place over 75,000 Americans in volunteer roles that help citizens and non-profit agencies increase their productivity and effectiveness.

Bruce Bailey, Director of Americorps-St. Louis, was in Kansas City on business at the time the tornado struck on Sunday evening. He arrived in Joplin by 9 p.m. Members of AmeriCorps-St. Louis were told as early as 7:30 that evening they needed to mobilize. The first team was on the ground in Joplin by 2 a.m.

A total of about 125 AmeriCorps volunteers from a variety of locations are in Joplin.

Bailey says, in terms of disaster caused by tornados, Joplin’s was the worst.

“I have worked in 34 states for at least 20 years, as well as overseas,” Bailey says. “The only thing I can compare the Joplin tornado with was the one in Greensburg, Kan. but that was a much smaller community.”

“I have never witnessed the consequences of something so intense or so powerful as what we’ve seen in Joplin,” he says. “That’s the negative.”

“On the positive side, I have never seen such amazing community cohesion, with people pulling together.”

In the first days after the tornado, hundreds of volunteers arrived in Joplin. Some had medical or nursing training. Some were experts with heavy equipment. But many others had no actual experience outside of their own willingness to work. The job of the AmeriCorps Emergency Response Team (ERT) is to effectively manage these volunteers.   It is, at the very least, a big job.

Non-medically trained volunteers were given a number of duties including transferring supplies, finding warehousing opportunities, setting up distribution points and sorting clothes and other supplies.

A large number of those have now gone home.

Abby Simons  an AmeriCorps-St. Louis member who serves as liaison with Missouri Southern State University, says the need for volunteers still exists.

“Right now, we need people,” the dark-haired young woman in her 20s says. “It’s not a day or two after the storm and many of the people who flooded in have gone home,” she states. “But we don’t want to forget about the need that Joplin still has.”

Simons, originally from Manchester, Mo., and a graduate of Truman State University with a degree in psychology, says volunteer coordination is a must.

“People want to give their time but they may not understand the process of volunteer management,” she says. “Many have never been in a disaster situation. It’s very important that volunteers should not mobilize without being self-sufficient in terms of housing, food and knowing what they are going to do.”

She says those wanting to help should contact the Volunteer Center. It is currently staffed by volunteers. The number to call in Joplin is .

“Make sure you are registered,” Simons says. “This is very important.”

In the first days after the Joplin disaster, people wanting to help lined up outside the Billingsly Student Center at MSSU where the Disaster Response Center was located. Every one of them was registered with AmeriCorps.

“Once we have projects in place, we would like to invite these people back,” Simons says.

Simons will complete her second year of service with AmeriCorps this summer. She had worked in disaster situations even before joining the program. She had taken part in church mission trips and, in college, helped New Orleans area residents after Hurricane Katrina.

“I went down to New Orleans and Mississippi three times,” she says.

The 25 St. Louis AmeriCorps members, plus 44 NCCC volunteers from Denver and 12 from the Washington State, have been sleeping in aerobic rooms and the Phelps Theatre at Missouri Southern. Next week, are in the process of moving to another location on campus during the day and Joplin’s Memorial Hall at night.

Simons says she can’t give enough praise to the MSSU faculty and staff, especially the IT Department which has helped establish computer links to the quickly-established Volunteer Center.

“They have gone above and beyond everything we asked,” she says. “They have supported us in everything we have done. We couldn’t have functioned without them.”

Simons says she knows the AmeriCorps team has been a vital step in the reaction to the Joplin tornado

“I think we have filled a huge role that could not have been managed so effectively if we were not here. This is what we are trained for,” she says.

Bailey says the work of AmeriCorps is by no means finished in Joplin.

“We’ll be providing service to people recovering from the tornado for some time,” he says. “This is especially good for the uninsured and under insured.”As we enter recovery, we’ll be helping out not only with temporary repairs but helping people rebuild their whole households.”

How A Spring Break Lead to Service

Friday, May 20th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Alison Lucci, AmeriCorps Community Resource Coordinator with Girls Hope of Pittsburgh.

I stumbled upon AmeriCorps like it was a great coffee shop or a gem of a thrift store – it was a pleasant surprise. I was a student at Kent State University spending my first spring break with 400 new pals. Our group descended on the Gulf Coast to assist with relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

I was physically and mentally exhausted halfway through the week, but I realized the neighboring tent always hosted a boisterous bunch in the evening. I had to know who these crazy people were.

Were they overjoyed at the copious amounts of grits and sweet tea we’d consumed? Did they like the military cots we were sleeping on? How did they handle the daily dose of destruction and grief? Most importantly, weren’t they tired?

I discovered they were AmeriCorps members. They had been living in their tent for three months, providing comfort and assistance to anyone who would accept their help. I made two mental notes:

1. Wow, they really are crazy

2. I must look into what this AmeriCorps thing is

A few years later, I quit my newspaper job, packed my belongings and moved back to Pittsburgh to take an AmeriCorps position working with nuns and mentors. Ok, that wasn’t exactly the job description, but it was hard to wrap my brain around these unfamiliar aspects.

Mentoring was a foreign word to me before I came to Girls Hope. I didn’t have one, and I wasn’t sure why anyone would need one. Since I was tasked with structuring and coordinating a mentoring program, I attended mentor trainings, webinars and researched the benefits of having a mentor.

I learned that it would be impossible for Girls Hope to fulfill its mission to nurture, house and educate academically capable young women and support them through college without having mentors. Every staff member and volunteer is an informal mentor just by being present.

I’m now 9 months into my AmeriCorps term at Girls Hope of Pittsburgh.  Any given week, my to-do list may range from networking with local professionals to digging holes in the landscaping or updating our . For me, the variety of tasks performed and skills gained is the beauty of AmeriCorps. There are few other places where you’ll be encouraged to take on new projects and learn from them.

I’ve also found that nuns and mentors are truly some of the best people to work with. (I really had no doubts about either!) I would happily spout off a slew of reasons why we should all have a mentor. I might even recant my statement that I never had one. After all, where would I be without the lively AmeriCorps members next door?

If you’re looking for a challenging new opportunity, wisit www.americorps.gov to find an AmeriCorps position that will take you wherever you want to go!

Alison Lucci is a writer by trade, dreamer by choice and thrifty just because. When she’s not immersed in words or volunteer projects, she take comfort in kayaks and campgrounds and enjoys cooking when challenged by the contents of a sparsely stocked kitchen.

Five Reasons We Love AmeriCorps Members

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

volunteer, volunteerism, volunteering, americorps, americorps weekIt’s AmeriCorps week, and we thought we’d take a day to point out why we love AmeriCorps and the great people that sign up to serve every year!

Dedication AmeriCorps members sign up because they want to make a change in their communities. The work is hard and the immediate rewards are low. AmeriCorps members tutor students, build homes, help to feed the hungry, work to restore the environment, and get things done for America. They do it because they understand the importance of volunteers in helping to build communities.

Drive AmeriCorps members are the hardest working folks in show business. AmeriCorps members are required to serve a certain number of hours during their service year and a lot of members meet that number before the end of their contact. This doesn’t mean that they get to stop working or they get any extra benefits for working more hours than they’re required to work. They keep working with the causes and organizations that they believe in and helping to run programs that serve clients that might not be served without the members’ work.

Ideas AmeriCorps members bring a new way of thinking to the organizations they work with. Just like AmeriCorps members get to be change agents in their communities, members get to be change agents in their organizations too. AmeriCorps members have started new programs that serve their organizations’ clients in ways that previously didn’t exist. They also bring skills to organizations that might not have been there before their service.

Achievement AmeriCorps members get things done for America. Whether it’s supporting programs that existed when they joined their organizations or starting new programs, AmeriCorps members help the organizations they serve with to meet the needs of more people than could have been helped without their service.

Continued Service Even after their terms of service, AmeriCorps members continue to get things done in their communities through their local AmeriCorps Alums chapters. Most major cities have Alums chapters (you can find a local chapter here) with Alums continuing to serve their communities after their terms of service are over.

These are only some of the reasons that we love AmeriCorps members. Why do you love AmeriCorps? Let us know in the comments!

Building a Playground and a Lifetime of Service

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Michael Nealis, Interactive Strategy Coordinator for Points of Light Institute. He served as an AmeriCorps member for two years with Volunteer Maryland.

I still remember the first day of my AmeriCorps service. I walked into a room full of people that I didn’t know and who seemed infinitely more qualified to be leading volunteer programs than I was.

At that time in my life, I had only studied volunteerism. I didn’t volunteer anywhere, and I never had.

I felt like what I was being asked to do wasn’t possible. How could I start a volunteer program and make it successful if I didn’t know the first thing about actually volunteering?

I was scared that I would fail, and I was even more scared that I would disappoint the people I was serving with.

Two weeks later, I set foot on my service site with a two-inch binder full of program ideas and best practices, a few ideas in my head, and a healthy dose of worry.

I was walking into a government agency that didn’t have any formal volunteer program and was being asked to build a volunteer program around something I didn’t know much about.

I spent the first month just trying to learn about volunteer programs, the issues I would be working with, and trying to meet everyone I would be working with (and remember their names).

It took me three months to get the program off of the ground, and another four months to get to a place where I felt like I was running a successful program.

That’s when I took a week off and walked away from my program to build a playground.

A community playground in the neighborhood I lived in had been burnt down by an arsonist, and the community came together to raise funds to rebuild it. An AmeriCorps member that I served with was working with an organization that was involved with the rebuild and asked our class to come out and help with the build.

I thought it would be a great test of my program’s ability to run on it’s own without a lot of maintenance if I was out of the office, so I signed up to help.

I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into.

The playground was about five thousand square feet, and over a thousand people came to work on the playground over the course of the week-long build. I got to meet everyone who walked onto the construction site because I was working in the tool shed, handing out tools to the volunteers.

I met people from the community, AmeriCorps members from across the state, and people that came from hundreds of miles away because they had worked on the first playground and wanted to help to rebuild it.

Working on the playground taught me more about what it means to live in a community than I ever learned in school.

I got to see the power of people working together, not only to build a playground, but sharing their lives with each other.

I went back to my service site with a renewed sense of purpose. I had a better understanding of the work that volunteers were doing, not just on the project I was working on specifically, but with every organization in every community.

I signed up for a second year with my AmeriCorps program and helped a fresh class of AmeriCorps members understand the importance of volunteerism in their communities.

My term of service changed my life for the better. I’m forever grateful for the people I served with, the people who led my program and mentored me to become the man I am today, and the people that I met who worked to improve their communities.

I am AmeriCorps, and I always will be.

Don’t forget to celebrate AmeriCorps week this week! If you see someone sporting their AmeriCorps gear, throw them a high-five and thank them for their service!

AmeriCorps Week Showcases the Impact of National Service

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

This year’s National AmeriCorps Week, May 14 – 21, is a particularly important opportunity to elevate the value and importance of AmeriCorps and national service. In light of recent budget debates in Congress and the threatened elimination of funds for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) in 2012, AmeriCorps Week showcases the extraordinary impact of national service members every day across our nation.

AmeriCorps Week shines a light on the more than 80,000 members currently serving in communities across the country – individuals who are effectively serving and meeting critical needs in our country’s communities. We see this impact front and center in our HandsOn Network where, over the last 12 months, HandsOn Networks’ AmeriCorps members have recruited and mobilized more than 53,900 volunteers in more than 1,200 service projects impacting more than 70,000 citizens.

In addition to 80,000 current members, more than 600,000 have joined AmeriCorps Alums, a division of Points of Light Institute, and have given more than 860 million hours in service since 1994.

We believe in the leadership potential of these individuals and have supported them both as an organization and a strategy to continue to create change. We have 26 chapters of AmeriCorps Alums throughout the country actively engaging thousands during AmeriCorps Week in service projects, networking events and thought leadership with elected officials.

The value of AmeriCorps service has been felt in communities both large and small – at Points of Light Institute affiliates, managing volunteers in disaster relief efforts and at the countless organizations that we partner with.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has said he believes the future of his city depends on citizens rolling up their sleeves and working together to tackle complicated challenges – and AmeriCorps Alums have played a major role.

“AmeriCorps Alums working in city government and nonprofit organizations throughout Philadelphia bring a level of experience and commitment to service that directly impacts our collective capacity to engage every day citizens in solving problems and strengthening their communities,” said Mayor Nutter.

The National League of Cities highlighted the impact of AmeriCorps volunteers in an editorial by AmeriCorps Alums Executive Director Ben Duda this week. The article reaches 30,000 mayors, city council members, city managers, police and fire chiefs, public works directors and others who make decisions about local operations. It is important that these individuals understand the valuable impact of service and how they can engage both current AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Alums to address local challenges and create change.

To share best practices, AmeriCorps Alums has convened a national training and professional development webinar called “How to Translate Your AmeriCorps Experience into Future Leadership Opportunities” on May 18 at 12 p.m. EST. This session will showcase the transformational force of service and how it can make an impact in solving our country’s challenging issues.

To register for the webinar or get engaged with your local AmeriCorps Alums, please visit www.AmeriCorpsAlums.org.

National service has a critical role to play in our country as we face tough challenges and restricted funds. At Points of Light Institute, we look forward to celebrating AmeriCorps Week with our service partners and colleagues and lifting up currently serving members and the hundreds of thousands of Alums – they are at the forefront of possibility for community change.

Yours in Service,

CEO, Points of Light Institute
Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

AmeriCorps Alums Continue to Get Things Done

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Today’s post originally appeared on A Lifetime of Service, the AmeriCorps Alums blog, on April 28, 2011. It is part of a week of posts about AmeriCorps members and Alums to celebrate AmeriCorps week.

In case any of you hadn’t heard, Jer Clifton was the man who pulled a man to safety after he had fallen onto the train tracks in the Atlanta Subway. You can see his efforts here. Coincidentally, Jer is also an AmeriCorps Alums, serving as a Western New York VISTA from 2007-2009, and he took some time to answer a few questions for us about the role AmeriCorps played in his life.

AmeriCorps Alums: Where did you do your service?

Jer Clifton: “I actually served 3 terms, two with VISTA in Buffalo helping with housing and one summer with ABLE. I worked with Houghton College trying to connect the school with initiatives in inner-city Buffalo. During my time there I lived in housing provided through Houghton College, was a community organizer, and worked to develop the Home Buyers Clubs program. The other main task I was lucky enough to take part in was Housing Court. In Housing Court I worked with Judge Novak and Harvey Garret as a Housing Court Liaison, where I’d go out to properties that were being brought to court and try to work with the people to solve the issues instead of just punishing them for infractions.”

AA: Awesome! Sounds like you really did a lot. So what was it that inspired you to join AmeriCorps?

JC: “When I finished up at Houghton College, my girlfriend and future wife moved to Buffalo to work as a VISTA and I followed her there. I expected to work as at UPS or something. My girlfriend moved into housing that was provided by Houghton College and oversaw by a professor who also worked with the VISTA program. She talked to him one day and he mentioned there was a VISTA position open, she told him about me and I got the job.”

AA: Ah, another Ameri-love story. That’s as great a reason for moving as we’ve ever heard. So, how would you say your time serving shaped you and brought you to where you are today?

JC: “I became conscientious about service and making sure things we do are helpful. We can do the work all we want but we need to make sure what we are doing actually makes a difference. I also got great, in depth work experience. I got to start a program, teach a class, get courtroom experience, and devise organizational development strategies.  These are experiences that usually no one gets to have out of college right away. I had graduated with a degree in Philosophy and didn’t really have much idea on how to use it. VISTA helped to channel my skills through all the responsibilities I was given. It made me a more effective independent worker. You know, the money you might loose in that year or two is more than made up in the experience you gain.”

AA: Sounds like you really got a lot out of serving. So what are you doing to continue your commitment to serve in the years after your service period?

JC: “After AmeriCorps, I spent some time working for Westminster Economic Development Initiative in Buffalo before my wife and I moved to Atlanta. I’m currently working as the director of volunteer and nonprofit engagement at a small church in the city tackling issues of poverty. I’m also temping with Habitat for Humanity International.”

AA: Good deal. Don’t forget about pulling guys from train tracks! Any final words of wisdom you’d like to leave our readers?

JC: “People have been saying to me after this ‘It’s so nice to see someone out there being brave finally.’ I hope people don’t just think that. When people act brave it says something more about all of us than just that one person. I hope when people see these stories, that they’ll look at each other and treat each other with respect as heroes. I think it relates to how you serve. When you serve the poor and needy, they are brave too. Those are people who’d reach down and help you if you were on the rail.”

Thanks again to Jer Clifton for his service through AmeriCorps and for taking the time to talk to us. Want to read a little more of his thoughts on the whole event? You can check out his blog here.


Five Tips for A Disaster Preparedness Plan

Friday, April 29th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Claire Dooms, a Get HandsOn AmeriCorps member at Chicago Cares.

Whether the threat is fire or flood, it’s good to be prepared.  Here are a few essential components to a solid disaster preparedness plan:

  • Have a family communication plan.  If a disaster strikes, it’s helpful to have a plan for contacting loved ones with updates.
  • Create an emergency supply kit.  If there’s a chance you’ll be without power or access to food and water, it’s best to have a stock of non-perishables on hand.
  • Have a place to go.  If your current living situation becomes inaccessible or too dangerous to return to, you should have an alternate place to stay.
  • Secure your home.  By making your home somewhat “disaster-friendly,” you’ll be better able to save the things that are most important to you, as well as save on damage costs.
  • Have a pet plan.  Like it or not, our furry friends are often among the first things we concern ourselves with – don’t leave your pet behind!

When natural disasters strike, it’s amazing how a community, a country, even the world, can come together in light of a tragedy.

Sometimes it’s hard to feel like there’s a way to really make a difference, but we all feel that urge to help.  While we might not be able to help strangers with family communication plans, or finding an alternate place to go, we can help stock them with the emergency supplies they need until more comprehensive assistance becomes available.

On Tuesday, April 19 a group of volunteers got together to do just that.

As part of HandsOn Network’s Road to the Gulf campaign, volunteers packed individual disaster preparedness kits to send to the Gulf Coast.  The campaign is an effort to accomplish a few things, one of which being to raise awareness and support for our neighbors in need.  But, the focus is also local, with the intent of training Volunteer Leaders to initiate their own projects and build service capacity.

Leading the disaster kit packing project, I was amazed at how quickly my group of volunteers flew through everything!  In what seemed like no time, we packed five hundred bags!

It was very rewarding to see everyone working together and working out a plan to get things done.  Once we finished, I was more than happy to answer their questions about exactly what the purpose of the bags was and how they could get more involved in service work in their own communities.

It was a great time with a lot of fun volunteers, and while the weather was damp, our spirits were not.  Thanks HandsOn, for helping make the best of a rainy day!

Claire is currently a Get HandsOn AmeriCorps Member at Chicago Cares.  When she’s not working on volunteer programs, Claire likes to bike and do anything outside.  She’ll complete her first century ride in August!

Engaging Veterans with Disabilities in National and Community Service: Interviews with AmeriCorps Veterans

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

This post comes from Joanne E. Cohen, M.A., Organizational Consultant, CTAT at Denver Options and liaison to the National Service Inclusion Project.

The Corporation for National and Community Service(CNCS) values initiatives and programs that engage veterans and military families, grow a knowledge base of how national service can best meet the needs of veterans and military families, support efforts that engage veterans who want to continue service in new ways at home, and promote effective collaboration with our veterans, military family members, and veteran-serving organizations.

To support CNCS in this effort, the National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP), a CNCS training and technical assistance provider on disability inclusion, is collaborating with the Center for Technical Assistance and Training (CTAT) and Operation TBI Freedom (OTF) at Denver Options.

This initiative is identifying promising practices, products, and delivery strategies.  Most importantly, veterans, including those who are current or former AmeriCorps or other national service volunteers, will inform this work extensively. Information from this work and related products will be made widely available to veterans’ groups, national service programs, and the disability community to guide the practice, policies, and procedures of service programs as they recruit and support veterans with disabilities.

The following narrative summarizes seven interviews that were conducted during 2010 with veterans who are current AmeriCorps members or alums. Of the seven, five have a disability.  Of the five, one did not disclose the nature of his/her disability, one had a “traumatic disability” that he/she did not want to discuss, one has post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and physical disabilities unrelated to the military, one has a head trauma as a result of being in the military, and one has PTSD that has not been officially diagnosed along with a disability that has been diagnosed through the Veterans Administration.

Themes:

Common themes emerged from the conversations:

  1. All interviewees expressed a passion to help people, including Veterans.
  2. Many described how AmeriCorps provides them the opportunity to get back into the workforce—additional skill sets are developed, it is a great addition to their resume, and they believe it is impressive to potential employers.
  3. Interviewees articulated that service and volunteerism is a satisfying and structured opportunity to serve our country in another way, giving back to the community and committing to someone else’s well-being, life, happiness, and education, while making an impact on others’ lives and helping the “under served” to help themselves.
  4. Through AmeriCorps, these veterans felt a sense of belonging, regaining their identity.  AmeriCorps gets them out of their comfort zone, stretching and learning a great deal.
  5. AmeriCorps promotes change while making our country and the world better equipped to meet actual needs of others.

The following is a quote from one of the interviewees, an anonymous veteran who served in AmeriCorps:

“My experience as a volunteer in the AmeriCorps program has given me the will to get out of bed every day.  It has given me the education and the knowledge to understand my disability and it gives me a purpose in life.  If you don’t have a purpose in life, it’s hard to get out of bed every morning.”

Joanne has over thirty years combined experience in coaching, consulting, and facilitation.  She was in a car accident in 1992, experiencing her own TBI and PTSD.  It is with this experience that many Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans who return with TBI and PTSD relate to her. Joanne is proud to serve as a liaison to this project.

Standing for AmeriCorps

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Whitney Soenksen, External Relations Manager for AmeriCorps Alums

Thousands showed up in response to the proposal in the US House of Representatives to eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service, AmeriCorps Alums rallied the troops across the country on Friday, Feb. 25. Through their partnership with Voices for National Service, ServiceNation and America Forward, AmeriCorps Alums across the country went into action.

Over 200,000 Alums and supporters shared the message to Save Service. Petitions were signed, the cause was shared with friends on Facebook and the call to action was tweeted and retweeted; alerting friends, family and co-workers that AmeriCorps was threatened.

Then people took to the streets. District Day visits brought supporters of national service out across the country as they led groups of up to 65 people into our elected officials offices and made clear the value of the AmeriCorps program to this nation’s health and strength.

Alums participated in Congressional office visits in Boston, Dallas, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Portland, Topeka and many other cities.  They showed up as ordinary Americans who cared deeply about the impact of national service with over 2,600 individuals participating across the country.

, an AmeriCorps Alums Chapter Leader in North Texas, took a Stand for AmeriCorps with a visit to four offices in Dallas, including Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison — joining hundreds of other passionate alums across the state.

Dominique Marsalek, an AmeriCorps Alum living in Frederick, MD, wrote an impassioned editorial that was published by the Baltimore Sun just last week. Dominique reflected on her AmeriCorps experience where she traveled to some of the poorest counties in the United States, working with programs like Habitat for Humanity and helping to build vocational programs for at-risk youth, and how it opened up opportunities for her.

And finally, Caleb Jonas, an active AmeriCorps Alum, started an online petition that has garnered over 112,000 signatures to date!

The latest federal budget agreement does not include cuts to AmeriCorps but we must remain vigilant and be ready to take up the cause as Congress tackles deficit spending.

We need to mobilize more alumni and supporters of national service to ensure that AmeriCorps and national service programs are funded for years to come. But we can’t continue the fight without you.

 

  • Call your Representatives & Senators and tell them to Save Service

Your support and leadership in this important fight keeps us working hard to make sure that Americans will always be given opportunities to serve and to give back to this great nation.