(U-WIRE) A class of 40,000 AmeriCorps members will serve the nation this year, tackling problems such as poverty, illiteracy and urban decay in their own backyards and beyond.
Established under the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, AmeriCorps and two other service programs, Learn and Serve America and the National Senior Service Corps, operate under the auspices of the Corporation for National Service.
AmeriCorps recruits young people for service by rewarding them with money for education. Full-time AmeriCorps workers receive about $600 a month to cover living expenses – roughly the equivalent of a minimum-wage job – in exchange for a year’s community service.
After 10 months of work, members are given a $4,725 grant for college tuition or past debt for college, trade or vocational school. Part-time members earn about half of the service stipend for 900 hours of service.
Since its inception, the AmeriCorps initiative has drawn its share of friends and foes. Initially hailed by President Clinton as a chance for students to “change America forever and for the better,” the program came under attack by fiscally conservative opponents who wanted to slash Clinton’s suggested funding plan by millions of dollars. In 1995, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told Newsweek he was, “totally, unequivocally opposed to national service.”
Last month, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) introduced the AmeriCorps Program Elimination Act to the floor, co-sponsored by 37 of his peers.
“Legislators must decide if it is more important to allow working families keep more of the money they earn in their pockets, or fund wasteful bureaucracies like AmeriCorps,” Tiahrt said in a press release.
Apart from the partisan political debate, many AmeriCorps members say their service makes a difference in their own lives and in the lives of those they serve.
“What we do helps to revitalize the community,” said sophomore Shafkat Anwar, who organizes an after-school tutoring program for D.C. elementary school students.
As part of the Learn and Serve program, Anwar devotes 20 hours each week to the program as a part-time AmeriCorps member, along with his responsibilities as a full-time student majoring in human services. This year, he already has recruited 30 tutors to assist twice as many youngsters striving to reach an age-appropriate reading level.
“You really see the result of what you are doing,” he said. “Seeing the kids achieve is extremely fulfilling.”
Maureen McVeigh, a GW senior majoring in international affairs, works for a non-profit housing organization called Manna.
“In the community development office where I work, we are trying to promote the young people’s place in the community,” she said.
Both Anwar and McVeigh agree that one of the best aspects of their AmeriCorps experience has been meeting people with similar goals.
“Lots of people want to volunteer, but they don’t realize the amount of planning that goes into every volunteer experience,” Anwar said. “That’s where we come in to plan activities that will allow people to go out and help.”
-by Gayle Horwitz, U-WIRE Washington Bureau
