AmeriCorps

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act, which established the Corporation for National and Community Service and brought the full range of domestic community service programs under the umbrella of one central organization. This legislation built on the first National Service Act signed by President H.W. Bush in 1990. It also formally launched AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs that engage Americans in intensive service to meet the nation’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.

AmeriCorps is an opportunity to make a big difference in your life and in the lives of those around you. It’s a chance to apply your skills and ideals toward helping others and meeting critical needs in the community. Each year, AmeriCorps offers 75,000 opportunities for adults of all ages and backgrounds to serve through a network of partnerships with local and national nonprofit groups. Whether your service makes a community safer, gives a child a second chance, or helps protect the environment, you’ll be getting things done through AmeriCorps. Members address critical needs in communities all across America. As an member, you’ll gain new skills and experiences—and you’ll also find the tremendous satisfaction that comes from helping others

As an AmeriCorps member, you can:

• Tutor and mentor disadvantaged youth;
  
•  Fight illiteracy; Improve health services;
  
• Build affordable housing ;
• Teach computer skills;
  
• Clean parks and streams;
  
• Manage or operate after-school programs;
  
•  Help communities respond to disasters;
  
• Build organizational capacity.  

In addition, full-time members who complete their service earn a Segal AmeriCorps   Education Award of $4,725 to pay for college, graduate school, or to pay back   qualified student loans; members who serve part-time receive a partial Award. Some   members may also receive a modest living allowance during their term of   service.