Creating a Pathway to College and Career

We are deep into graduation season, so now is as good a time as any to remember the ways the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) supports initiatives that help students complete their education, navigate the college admission process, and even make college more affordable.

First, by placing AmeriCorps near-peer mentors in schools through programs such as City Year or FIRST AmeriCorps VISTA, students can get the help they need to improve attendance, explore STEM subjects, improve grades and test scores, and stay on track to graduate. 

Second, prospective first-time college students and those from underrepresented populations face unique challenges that can dampen their dreams for higher education. AmeriCorps grantees like College Possible and College Advising Corps provide mentoring, tutoring, and counseling services to help these students pursue their college dreams and navigate the admission process. In fact, many AmeriCorps members in these programs are paying it forward for help they received as students, so they are very in tune to ways they can assist others like themselves.

Third, when AmeriCorps members finish their terms, they become eligible for a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award that can be used to repay student loans, or cover costs for trade school or college. (Over 1 million AmeriCorps alumni have earned more than $3.3 billion in funds since 1994.) We don't have to tell any students -- or parents -- how important every dollar is when tuition time rolls around.  

And one more thing -- AmeriCorps service helps our members develop qualities such as teamwork, perseverance, and leadership that make them excellent employees (and great citizens, too). That's why more than 500 public companies, nonprofits, federal agencies, and state and municipal governments have joined the Employers of National Service initiative to promote job opportunities to AmeriCorps alumni and give them extra consideration during the application process. 

This season is a special time for students across the nation taking the next step on life's great adventure. And we're proud that we can help them along the way.

In Service, 

CNCS Office of External Affairs

P.S. To learn more about the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, including institutions that offer matching grants to national service alumni, visit the Segal Education Award portal at nationalservice.gov.

Editor's note: By clicking the links below, you may be connecting to websites created by parties other than the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The CNCS Office of External Affairs provides links to these stories because they contain information that may be useful or interesting to the national service and volunteering community. These links are for reference only, and CNCS does not endorse the individuals or organizations associated with these links, and cannot attest to the accuracy of the information provided by websites outside of our control.

The Impact of National Service

UW-Green Bay Grad Defied the Odds, Overcame Poverty and Disability (AmeriCorps)

Each step Christopher Thomas takes across the stage during the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s graduation on Saturday will be one more in a long journey few expected him to complete. At age 3, a doctor diagnosed Christopher with lead poisoning, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, and a language disorder. Christopher, now 21, struggled with his temper due to his language and sensory issues. His learning disorders and dyslexia caused him to lag behind his peers in school. But dedicated teachers and tutors, learning to socialize with the help of sports and supportive friends, and a move from Milwaukee to Green Bay helped him graduate from high school on time and enroll in in college. Saturday marks a new beginning and an ending for his educational career. Christopher will be enrolling in AmeriCorps later this year.

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Senior Corps Volunteers Make Tax Season Easier for Rhode Island Residents Senior Corps RSVP volunteers are a critical part of the program and assist clients by greeting them, preparing and reviewing their tax returns, helping them fill out and understand their tax forms, explaining the tax credits for which they may or may not qualify, and making referrals to programs in the community. The Senior Corps RSVP volunteers are recruited by Federal Hill House to serve throughout Providence. Seven Senior Corps RSVP volunteers were part of a team that helped prepare 2,930 tax returns this tax season. Read more

Jumpstart AmeriCorps Alumni Friends Follow Service to Teaching Careers Esmeralda Lara (Corps member and Team Leader, 2002-06), Jennifer Vang (Corps member, 2004-05), and Regina Prum (Corps member and Student Assistant, 2004-07) served together as AmeriCorps members on one of Jumpstart Fresno’s Kings Canyon PM team, during the 2005-06 program year. All three members have become teachers and have remained friends over the years! Read more

Students, Seniors Become Pen Pals for Life (Senior Corps) Letter exchanging is not something typically done these days. People text, make phone calls, email, and post and tweet as the preferred avenues of communication. But for nine months, writing letters was the only way 20 students and 28 volunteers in Baxter, with generations between them, would be able to communicate. For nearly an entire school year, Baxter third graders have been growing their writing and grammar skills in a unique way thanks to a pen pal initiative offered by Jasper County Retired Senior Volunteer Program. Through the “Writing to Read” initiative, program participants were matched together based on common interests to exchange letters once a month. Read more

Share It: Habitat AmeriCorps Build-a-thon

Each week, we provide a social media shareable to use on your networks. National service has a long history with Habitat for Humanity, so we are beaming with pride about the AmeriCorps Habitat Build-a-Thon happening in North Carolina this week. During the event, volunteers will build or repair 22 homes in the community while making new friends or connecting with old ones. The image above highlights the impact our AmeriCorps members have on Habitat programs, increasing their capacity to do more for those in need of affordable housing. Use the #Buildathon hashtag to follow the activities on social media, and help us shine a spotlight on this event by sharing this graphic on your networks. 

National Service in the News

AmeriCorps Partners with Eastern Shawnee Tribe

KSN-TV, Missouri

A national organization is partnering with the Eastern Shawnee Tribe. We're talking about AmeriCorps. The organization has sent 10 volunteers to work with the tribe for six weeks. The team has been working hard to complete a variety of service projects that will make a difference. A special group of 18 to 24 year olds have been traveling across the southwest region of the country serving different organizations in need over the last 10 months. Their latest is the Eastern Shawnee Tribe.

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You Are Not Alone Program Provides Senior Safety Checks (Senior Corps)

San Diego County Sheriff's Department via YouTube

We want our elderly and shut-in residents to know they are never alone. The You Are Not Alone (YANA) program is a free service for people who live within the jurisdiction of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. It offers peace of mind and a sense of security for those who enjoy their independence, but have no friends or family to check on them regularly. Those enrolled in the YANA program get daily phone calls and a weekly visit from a Senior Volunteer Patrol member all year long. 

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Teaching People About Energy Efficiency Helped This Man Escape Homelessness (AmeriCorps)

Yale Climate Connection, Connecticut

Three years ago, when he was 21, Keith Ford of Queens, New York, was struggling with homelessness, and had to drop out of college. While looking for a job, he learned about a paid, six-month AmeriCorps program called Green City Force. As a Corps member, Ford learned to do energy audits and went door-to-door teaching public housing residents how to save energy. He distributed free faucet adaptors to reduce hot water use, high-efficiency light bulbs, and window insulation kits.

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Phoebe Donation Helps Keep Retiree Volunteer Program Going (Senior Corps)

WFXL-TV, Georgia

Two volunteer groups will be able to keep serving the Southwest Georgia community thanks to a big donation. Phoebe Volunteer Services donated $36,500 on Friday to two groups in the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, which is a partnership between Phoebe and the SOWEGA Council on Aging. Most of the money, $30,000, will go to the RSVP ramp builders, who construct about 75 ramps each year for people and families with disabilities to help them get in and out of their homes.

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Rise Program Having Positive Impact on Teens (AmeriCorps)

KMTV-TV, Nebraska

The Rise program in Nebraska seeks to help at risk youth throughout the state. It's seeing really positive results results in the Omaha area. "Basically I would just have outbursts for no apparent reason." A problem Mikheal Rouse and other students across the metro face. At the state level, the Rise program with the help of AmeriCorps is making an impact on students on probation or who are troubled.

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Bangor Health Organization Opens New Clinic (AmeriCorps)

WABI-TV, Maine

After a year of work, a Bangor non-profit is opening the doors to its new clinic. The Health Equity Alliance clinic on Hancock Street is now providing a limited set of treatment options most needed by their patients. The goal of the clinic is to get patients more comfortable with the health care system. "Really it's supposed to be designed as a warm hand off to local community partners and healthcare institutions like Penobscot Community Health Center who are prepared to handle long-term, comprehensive primary care. So, it's really focused on a warm referral to those long term needs," said Alex Schin of AmeriCorps VISTA.

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Senior Companion Program Provides Numerous Services (Senior Corps)

Sparta Live, Tennessee

With the help of the Senior Companion Program, Van Buren County senior citizens have access to numerous services, and the program continues to provide a vital impact to Van Buren County. The Senior Companion Program gives the “Gift of Friendship” to those served in Van Buren County and helps many older adults to remain in their own homes and maintain their own independence.

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Opinion: Wisconsin Reading Corps Tutors Combat Literacy Crisis One Child at a Time (AmeriCorps)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin

As someone recently put it to me, improving Wisconsin’s overall results in reading will not come from pushing one button. It will require pushing maybe 10 buttons. A lot needs to be done. Some of the buttons that should be pushed connect to what goes on in school. Some connect to things beyond school, including what happens at home and what happens in a child’s earliest years. Some may not be so hard to push; others are enormous challenges.

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Partnership Enhances Medical Transportation for Seniors (Senior Corps and AmeriCorps)

Wayne Post, New York

Wayne County Department of Aging and Youth partnered with Volunteer Transportation Corps (VTC) to provide safe, supportive, and affordable ways for seniors to get to their medical appointments. Funding from Rochester Area Community Foundation provides structure, support, and increased mileage reimbursement to volunteers willing to use their own vehicles to transport other seniors to their doctors. VTC is part of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program administered in Ontario, Seneca, and Wayne counties by Wayne County Action Program Inc.

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Conservation Corps Builds Trails, Rock Stairs at Augusta Nature Center (AmeriCorps)

Portland Press Herald, Maine

You’ve got to break a few rocks to make a staircase in the middle of the woods. Not to mention dig them up, move them across hilly terrain and set them in place. It’s no easy task when some of the granite rocks used by Maine Conservation Corps and AmeriCorps members to build staircases at the Augusta Nature Education Center weigh four times what a person does. That’s why corps members and team leaders spent this week training at the 175-acre nature center, which is free and open to the public.

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RSVP Emphasizes Independent Living Project Outcomes (Senior Corps)

Journal Times, Wisconsin

As federal funding for nonprofit agencies has become increasingly uncertain, RSVP projects, which operate under the aegis of the Corporation for National and Community Service Senior Corps family, are placing heightened emphasis on uniform reporting standards. These National Performance Measures are designed to give legislators, when considering awarding federal funding, an accurate idea of the impact that RSVP projects have on the communities they serve, regardless of their geographic location.

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Fresno County is a Book Desert in the Summer, and the Effect on Kids is 'Devastating' (AmeriCorps)

The Fresno Bee, California

Kids who don’t read over the summer are also subject to the “summer slide,” a well-documented phenomenon of learning loss found when students return to classes after a summer without academic activities. A 2009 study found that, over time, low-income children end up several reading levels behind their more advantaged peers due to the summer slide. Literacy by Third Grade, an AmeriCorps VISTA program, focuses on K-3 students in part because kids who don’t read at grade level by the third grade are less likely to graduate from high school.

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News You Can Use

New Segal Education Award Matching Institution

Presidio Graduate School

Presidio Graduate School (PGS) is dedicated to supporting the efforts of students who are making positive changes in the world and is proud to offer 100% matching grants to qualified AmeriCorps students up to $5,000. A maximum of three awards will be granted per year to new incoming students only. Founded in 2003, Presidio Graduate School is an independent, non-profit, values-driven graduate school offering MBA, MPA, and Dual MBA/MPA degree programs in sustainable management. All courses in this first-of-its-kind curriculum integrate social justice, environmental responsibility, and systems thinking. With more than 1,800 business and public administration alumni at the forefront of the field, PGS is a global hub for sustainability innovation and regenerative impact, helping forge a new definition of the common good at the intersection of for-profit and for-benefit. You can learn more about PGS programs, people, and impact at presidio.edu. The deadline for fall 2018 admissions is June 1, and applications are also being accepted for the spring 2019 term.