National Service News: Follow a Passion, Find a Career

AmeriCorps sent this bulletin at 06/27/2017 05:16 PM EDT

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YouthBuild is an AmeriCorps grantee that helps opportunity youth reach their educational and job training goals.

 

Follow a Passion, Find a Career

Can you follow your passion and find a career, even if your passion is service? 

Absolutely.

At the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), we know that volunteers and national service participants make critical connections that can lead to job opportunities.

How do we know this? Well, our Office of Research and Evaluation looked into this idea and found that volunteers have 27% higher odds of finding employment than non-volunteers. This effect was even greater for those without a high school diploma or those living in rural areas, improving their odds of finding employment by 51% and 55% respectively.

That same Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment study also found that volunteering increases the participant's experience and skills, and created connections and built networks that are important to have in today's competitive job market.

We have thousands of Senior Corps volunteers, like our RSVP participants, who lend their workforce experience to public and nonprofit institutions to help them build capacity or run smoother. Some of these volunteers find positions at the places they serve.

Many of our AmeriCorps members discover their passion for education, health care, construction, firefighting, civic service, emergency management, social work, and other fields during their service terms. In fact, a recent study of AmeriCorps alumni found that 8 of 10 members said that national service helped clarify their career path.

And by the time our AmeriCorps members complete their service terms, they have developed qualities in teamwork and leadership along with other hard and soft skills that are crucial to career success. Those are some of the reasons why hundreds of organizations in the government, private, and nonprofit sectors have signed on as Employers of National Service to offer special consideration to AmeriCorps alumni during the hiring process.

CNCS is proud of the ways we connect people to service ... but we are even prouder of the ways service helps people connect with their passions and everywhere that can lead.

In service, 

CNCS Office of External Affairs

P.S. The photo above shows YouthBuild AmeriCorps members from the program that helps opportunity youth complete their education, gain the skills they need for employment through apprenticeships, and become leaders in their communities. You can learn more about YouthBuild here.

The Impact of National Service

AmeriCorps NCCC members Kate Sitrin, Becca Merritt, and Erica Miller improve access to the Wormhole Loop Trail in Colorado. (Photo by Lisa Morelos)


AmeriCorps Helps Local Volunteers Improve Trail System

It’s hard to believe that just one short year ago, work commenced on a multi-use trail system near Simpson’s Rest in Trinidad, Colo. Driven by the work of countless volunteers, what is now called the Wormhole Loop Trail is currently in place, and progress on the trail system still continues. Recently, three AmeriCorps members came to Trinidad to help move the project forward yet again. This most recent work on the trail system is being done to improve access to the Wormhole Loop Mesa, hopefully making the much-used trail even more popular with hikers, runners, and mountain bikers. According to Tim Crisler, Trinidad Outdoor Club founder and Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee chairperson, “The group of local and AmeriCorps volunteers are working together to create a trail that gets mountain bikers and hikers to the top of the Wormhole Loop Mesa with a much easier grade so the trail can actually be ridden."

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Foster Grandparent Helen Brown poses with Melissa, a student at Midland College’s Children Center, before they attend a Midland Rockhounds game.

Foster Grandparent Program Keeps Seniors Active (Senior Corps) 

For more than 15 years, Senior Link’s Foster Grandparents program has helped low-income seniors stay active by giving them the opportunity to give back. As of 2016, volunteers have clocked in close to 50,000 hours of service. The program has impacted the lives and education of at-risk elementary students and another 1,000 students in classrooms where Foster Grandparents volunteer. This summer, six foster grandparents are reading to children at the Midland County Public Library downtown branch. “The Foster Grandparent program is a critical piece of the puzzle in the Midland County Public Libraries annual Summer Reading Program,” library education and program coordinator Edward McPherson said. “Each summer, more than 2,500 local children register in the program, and interact with foster grandparents at each of our libraries. Each has more than 100 unique interactions with children daily bringing kindness, interest and curiosity into their lives. Without this Senior Link program, the library wouldn’t be such a vibrant community destination.”

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Lyla Moore, 5, picks up a tray at the summer lunch program at the Danville (Pa.) e-Learning Academy building. (Photo by Robert Inglis/The Daily Item)

Protecting Our Children: Some summer programs accessible, 'essential' (AmeriCorps)

For Middleburg mother Amy Gresh, the Greater Susquehanna Valley YMCA has been an essential part of helping raise her two children. “My husband and I feel that without them, we couldn’t have done the job we did with the boys,” said Gresh of her 18-year-old son Stephen and 14-year-old son Michael. “We are so blessed to have that organization in this valley. They have made a difference in the lives of our kids by being available all along the way.” When her oldest son was only 4 weeks old, Gresh said she went to the Sunbury YMCA, took a tour and was amazed at the interaction the staff had with the children and teens. She and her husband never looked back. The YMCA is one of the havens across the state where children can find affordable and sometimes accessible summer programs to fill the gap between the end of the school year in June and late August when classes resume.

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The United Way of the Ocoee Region in Tennessee recently welcomed 10 AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associates.

Summer VISTAs Already Taking Duties at 10 Different City Sites

The United Way of the Ocoee Region’s 2017 Summer AmeriCorps VISTAs jumped into action two weeks ago, with 10 different sites throughout the city. “I’m really excited to see how they are professionally. There are several who were summer VISTA’s last year, so I’m excited to see how they build on the work that they did last year,” said VISTA leader Brittany Stoess. VISTA is short for Volunteers in Service to America. Throughout their eight-week term, the summer VISTAs will be working with the Boys & Girls Clubs Tucker and Jacobs units, the Unity Center of Broad Street United Methodist, Cleveland City Schools After-School University programs at Stuart and Blythe Bower Elementary schools, ASU family engagement at Cleveland Middle School, Andor, the Museum Center at Five Points and YCAP.

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