#americorps20

[akbarinc]

Kung Fu 🎎 volunteer team building. 101 #habitat #bay1 #gettingthingsdone #Americorps #americorps20 #volunteer #service #habitatpbiladelphia #habitatforhumanity

[akbarinc]

National Service Leadership Conference Habitat For Humanity🔨 AmeriCorps💪 4⃣0⃣0⃣➕ Service members committed to Community Revitalization across the United States 🇺🇸 #AmeriCorps20 #HFHNSLC #heartshandsvoices #habitatforhumanity #habitatphilly (at Shocco Springs Conference Center (Student Life Camp))

[theliteracylab]

Celebrating AmeriCorps

By: Amelia Light (pictured on the left) - K3 Tutor at Mount Vernon Community School

I love Reading Corps. It’s a wonderful program, and it really does work – as a Reading Corps tutor, though, I know that it’s hard work every day. I am a trusted adult for kids who don’t know many adults they can trust. I have to stay focused, keep my students focused, support their language development, support their reading, and help them love reading. When I evaluate their progress weekly and tri-annually, I look at their reading ability and wonder: what more can I do? Yes, they are growing and learning; but is it enough? How else can I help them? Reading Corps is always rewarding – but some days, it can be exhausting.

So it’s always nice to be reminded of the value of our service. And, occasionally, it’s humbling – especially when the President of The United States is the one to remind you.

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps at the White House. I took the AmeriCorps pledge along with 150 other AmeriCorps members, President Clinton, and President Obama. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and it was amazing. The weather was perfect, the grass on the South Lawn was very soft, and I got to shake hands with both presidents. That’s not what a normal day of service is like! President Obama and President Clinton gave short speeches on the legacy and impact of AmeriCorps. They each gave me something to think about over the next few days, but I was particularly struck by President Obama’s mention of citizenship – maybe just because I was sitting in front of the White House, but it resonated with me. As the President said: we are working to make our country better, “safer and healthier, and more fair and more just,” and yet we still have a long way to go.

I joined Reading Corps a year ago because there is a fundamental disparity in the quality of education that American children have access to. There is a profound literacy gap between low-income and high-income students, which is neither fair nor just. For me, being an American citizen means not just enjoying my rights and privileges, but working to make the country a better place. In my first year of Reading Corps, I saw the difference that reading interventions made in a Head Start classroom. My students made huge gains – but they still had so far to go! Even with the incredible progress they made, many of my kiddos were still below target: they would still not be at grade level in kindergarten. My work was not done.

At the end of his speech, President Obama reminded us that we were there to celebrate – but also to rededicate ourselves to the work ahead. We are not done, but we have begun to make a difference. Through my commitment to AmeriCorps, I will continue to make a difference in the communities I serve, in this year and the years ahead.

[nationalservice]

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of AmeriCorps and Our Country’s Commitment to Public Service

By Joshua Dickson

Our country is built on a deeply-held commitment to service and community. From our women and men in uniform to our educators to those who administer important government programs, each day millions of Americans give of themselves to ensure the safety, hope and livelihood of their neighbor.  Without a doubt, one of the great things about the United States is the way in which the success of each of us is tied to the success of all of us.

The AmeriCorps national service program, which celebrates its20th Anniversary today, is a fantastic representation of this. AmeriCorps engages more than 75,000 Americans in intensive service each year at nonprofits, schools, public agencies, and community and faith-based groups across the country. Since the program’s founding in 1994, more than 900,000 AmeriCorps members have contributed more than 1.2 billion hours in service across America while tackling pressing problems and mobilizing millions of volunteers for the organizations they serve. 

I had the honor to serve with AmeriCorps and it was a transformational experience. As a kindergarten teacher on the South Side of Chicago with Teach For America, I saw firsthand the inequities faced by too many Americans living in low-income communities around the country. My students, 100% of whom were on free or reduced-price lunch, entered school with tremendous eagerness and aptitude. At the same time, they faced the daunting reality that, in Chicago, they have just a 60% chance of graduating from high school. And I saw the way in which the obstacles brought on by poverty can play a role. Whether it was the inability to afford appropriate school supplies, the lack of access to high-quality pre-school or tutoring services, or having to skip meals once the school day commenced, my students faced a litany of challenges simply based on the circumstances they were born into. 

But AmeriCorps taught me that it does not have to be this way. Throughout my two years of service, it was constantly stressed that, despite the seemingly overwhelming realities of poverty, we could do something about it. Through the training and support I received from Teach For America, my students made continuous progress, reaching grade level proficiency in math and literacy at the end of the year. This success was truly a team effort that relied on critical contributions from parents, other teachers, and community partners in addition to myself as teacher. 

AmeriCorps showed me that each of us can have notable impact when we take the time to collaborate with others towards a common goal we are passionate about. This led me to pursue a career in public service, ultimately bringing me to the Department of Commerce, where I have the privilege to serve as the Director of the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. My office works to promote economic development and job growth through cross-sector community partnerships, much of which I first learned about through my service with the AmeriCorps program. 

I can say without hesitation that AmeriCorps paved the way for the impact I am able to have in my current role. And my story is just one of more than 900,000 made possible through national service. As AmeriCorps turns 20, let us celebrate these contributions while continuing to remember the words of the great public servant Robert F. Kennedy, who said that “few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”

Joshua Dickson is the Director of the Department of Commerce’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This post originally appeared on the Commerce Blog on Sept. 12, 2014.

[obamawhitehouse]

"They’ve touched millions of lives. They’ve helped America become stronger." —President Obama celebrating the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps by highlighting the promise of its members

[dommynation]

IN honor of AmeriCorps 20th birthday I invite you all to watch these short videos on all the work my teams and I accomplished!

Washington/Oregon

California

Hawaii

[alittlebylittle]

With new AmeriCorps member & future @americorpsalums leader, Daris at #AmeriCorps20

[alittlebylittle]

Civil rights icon John Lewis at #AmeriCorps20.