AmeriCorps is an American network of more than 3,000 non-profit organizations, public agencies, and faith-based organizations. It was created in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. More than 70,000 individuals join AmeriCorps each year. There have been more than 400,000 members since 1994. The work done by these groups ranges from public education to environmental clean-up.^[1] A non-profit organization (abbreviated NPO, or non-profit or not-for-profit) is an organization whose primary objective is to support an issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes, without concern for monetary profit. ... In the United States, the term faith-based is used to describe organizations that are religious in nature and distinguish those organizations from government, public or private “secular” organizations. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... // Public education is education mandated for the children of the general public by the government, whether national, regional, or local, provided by an institution of civil government, and paid for, in whole or in part, by taxes. ... This article is about the natural environment. ...

AmeriCorps is a division of the Corporation For National and Community Service, which also oversees the Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. Collectively, these three programs represent a total of more than 2 million members in service each year. AmeriCorps itself is split into three main divisions, including AmeriCorps State and National, VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), and NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). Division may mean: Division (mathematics), the opposite operation to multiplication. ... The Corporation for National and Community Service is an independent agency of the United States Government established in 1993, upon the creation of the AmeriCorps national service program. ... The Senior Corps logo Senior Corps is a United States government agency under the authority of the Corporation For National and Community Service. ... the LSA logo Learn and Serve America is a United States government agency under the authority of the Corporation For National and Community Service. ...

AmeriCorps dates to the early 1990s.^[2] Research has illustrated that AmeriCorps programs have a variety of effects on civic education, education, and public service.^[3]

AmeriCorps programs

AmeriCorps National

AmeriCorps*National provides grants directly to national public and service programs, Indian tribes, and consortia formed across two or more states, including faith-based and community organizations, higher education institutions, and public agencies. Grants assist these groups in recruiting, training and placing AmeriCorps members to meet critical community needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.^[4] Hundreds of organizations across the nation have been awarded AmeriCorps National grants since the program's inception. In the USA the term Faith-based (literally, based on religious faith) has come into public use as an abbreviation of faith-based initiative, e. ... CBO is a TLA which may mean: Congressional Budget Office, American federal agency responsible for government budget calculations and analyses, CBO, CBC Radio One station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. ... The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning. ... This is an article about the modern meaning of the term public safety. ...

AmeriCorps State

AmeriCorps*State works with Governor-appointed State Service Commissions to provide grants to public and nonprofit organizations that sponsor service programs around the country, including hundreds of faith-based and community organizations, higher education institutions, and public agencies. Grants assist these groups in recruiting, training and placing AmeriCorps members to meet critical community needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.^[5] Thousands of organizations and institutions across the U.S. have been awarded AmeriCorps State grants since the program's inception. AmeriCorps*State operates through Service Commissions in each state, such as Volunteer Florida. The Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, Volunteer Florida, is a commission of the Executive Branch of Florida state government. ...

AmeriCorps NCCC

Example of an AmeriCorps NCCC Team age 18–24 (Source: Team Eagle 2, Perry Point, MD Campus: Service Year 9, 2003)

AmeriCorps*NCCC, or National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), is a full-time, team-based residential program for men and women age 18–24. Members serve at three campuses that serve three regions (Eastern, Midwestern and Western United states.) One is located on a closed military base in Sacramento, CA; another on a college campus in Denver, CO; while the last is located at a Veterans Medical Center in Perry Point, Maryland. Image File history File links Americorps_NCCC_Team. ... Image File history File links Americorps_NCCC_Team. ... Example Of An AmeriCorps*NCCC Team- Aged 18-25 (Source: Team Eagle 2, Perry Point, MD Campus: Service Year 9, 2003) AmeriCorps*NCCC, or National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), is an AmeriCorps program in which 18 to 24-year-olds dedicate 10 months to address national and community needs. ...

Main article: National Civilian Community Corps

Example Of An AmeriCorps*NCCC Team- Aged 18-25 (Source: Team Eagle 2, Perry Point, MD Campus: Service Year 9, 2003) AmeriCorps*NCCC, or National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), is an AmeriCorps program in which 18 to 24-year-olds dedicate 10 months to address national and community needs. ...

AmeriCorps*VISTA

AmeriCorps*VISTA, or Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), provides full-time members to nonprofit, faith-based and other community organizations, and public agencies to create and expand programs that ultimately bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. There are currently over 5,000 VISTA members serving in 1,200 VISTA programs nationwide. VISTA or Volunteers in Service to America created by Lyndon Johnsons Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, was the domestic version of the Peace Corps. ...

Main article: Volunteers in Service to America

VISTA or Volunteers in Service to America created by Lyndon Johnsons Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, was the domestic version of the Peace Corps. ...

Grantees

According to the AmeriCorps website, since the creation of AmeriCorps in 1993 more than 250,000 individuals across the United States have served hundreds of communities in every state of the nation. Some of the programs, organizations, and institutions funded through the AmeriCorps program include Jumpstart, Citizen Schools, City Year, YMCA, Girl Scouts of America, Boy Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers (US), Big Sisters (US), Camp Fire USA, Habitat for Humanity and Teach for America. The box of JumpStart Advanced 3rd Grade from 2003 to 2006 JumpStart is a series of educational games produced by Knowledge Adventure. ... Founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1988 by two Harvard Law School Students, Michael Brown and Alan Khazei, City Year calls on young people to dedicate one year of full-time community service to their community and country. ... Not to be confused with YWCA. This article is about the association. ... The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a youth organization for girls in the United States based on the Scouting principles developed by Robert Baden-Powell. ... For the Boy Scouting program within the BSA, see Boy Scouting (Boy Scouts of America). ... ... Big Brothers Big Sisters of America was founded in 1904 as New York Big Brothers by Ernest Coulter, who was influenced by Julius Mayer, a judge in the New York Childrens Court. ... Big Brothers Big Sisters of America was founded in 1904 as New York Big Brothers by Ernest Coulter, who was influenced by Julius Mayer, a judge in the New York Childrens Court. ... Now known as Camp Fire USA, the nationwide youth organization began on March 17, 1910 as Camp Fire Girls. ... Official Habitat for Humanity logo Habitat for Humanity is an international, Christian, non-governmental, non-profit organization devoted to building quality, low-cost, affordable housing. ... Teach For America (TFA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to close the academic achievement gap between children from different socio-economic backgrounds. ...

Successes

While ongoing discussion has occurred about the range and efficacy of evaluating the successes of AmeriCorps^[6], there has been a variety of documentation supporting the program. AmeriCorps provided fiscal and personnel to support the start-up of innovative new national programs, including City Year, Public Allies and Teach for America. It also brought vital resources to established programs, including Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the American Red Cross.^[7] Founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1988 by two Harvard Law School Students, Michael Brown and Alan Khazei, City Year calls on young people to dedicate one year of full-time community service to their community and country. ... Public Allies is an American non-profit organization dedicated to youth leadership development. ... Teach For America (TFA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to close the academic achievement gap between children from different socio-economic backgrounds. ... ... Big Brothers Big Sisters may refer to: Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Big Brothers and Sisters of Canada Category: ... A WWII-era poster encouraged American women to volunteer for the Red Cross as part of the war effort. ...

AmeriCorps is reported to increase the effectiveness of community service. Successes for individual AmeriCorps members include increasing their commitment to community service, increasing community-based activism, connection to their communities, knowledge of community problems, engagement in the political process, and voting participation.^[8][9] Community service refers to service that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local community. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ...

Criticism

Critics of AmeriCorps primarily focus on its perceived activities and effectiveness. When AmeriCorps was first announced in 1992, critics considered it doublespeak that the program would pay money to "volunteers." However, it has been pointed out that the "payment" to full-time AmeriCorps volunteers consists of living expenses and education awards for their return to school, similar to those in other full-time volunteer programs such as the Peace Corps. Doublespeak is language deliberately constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. ... Volunteers is a 1969 album by American psychedelic rock band, Jefferson Airplane. ... It has been suggested that Crisis corps be merged into this article or section. ...

According to a report from Citizens Against Government Waste, AmeriCorps' operational cost amounted to $27,000 per volunteer per year.^[10] In 2003, it was reported that AmeriCorps violated federal law by hiring more people than Congress had authorized, and had spent more money than was legally allowed.^[11] Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a prominent taxpayer watchdog group in the USA. Its stated goal is to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in the federal government. ...

In 1995, AmeriCorps gave a $1.1 million grant to an organization called Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). The grant eventually had to be returned. ^[12][13] In 1999, President Bill Clinton claimed that AmeriCorps members have "taught millions of children to read." However, in an article by libertarian pundit James Bovard, one unnamed official said the real number is probably less than a dozen, and Robert Sweet, the former director of the National Institute of Education, labelled it "a fraud". Bovard noted that some AmeriCorps volunteers are themselves GED students and welfare recipients, but did not say if any were found tutoring children in reading. One reading tutor did tell Bovard, "We're not teaching them to read... You just want them to think they're doing a good job." Much of the time where literacy teaching was supposed to be taking place was instead spent putting on puppet shows.^[14] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... James Bovard is a bestselling libertarian author and lecturer, whose political commentary targets examples of governmental waste, failures, and abuses of power. ...

In an article entitled "AmeriCorps: Six years of waste and fraud", Bovard reported that "in Indianapolis, AmeriCorps recruits busied themselves painting a giant mural on the side of a pawnshop." The article also states that as of 2000 nearly half of all AmeriCorps members quit the program before finishing their term of service.^[15] Articles suggest that AmeriCorps volunteers assist citizens with applying for welfare, food stamps, and public housing, and one organization who works with AmeriCorps also lobbies the government for more rent control and public housing.^[16][17]

AmeriCorps gave a grant to an organization called Mississippi Action for Community Education, or MACE, which is located in Greenville, Mississippi, one of the poorest cities in the United States. Bovard described MACE's headquarters as "one of the fanciest buildings in town. The plush leather chairs in the waiting room were in stark contrast to the shabbiness of the neighborhood. Uncle Sam has obviously been good to MACE, which has received money from several federal programs over the years." Greenville is a city located in Washington County, Mississippi. ...

The Los Angeles Times reported in 1994 that AmeriCorps funded a project that used the program's recruits to protest "third-strike" legislation. AmeriCorps gave a grant of $2.5 million to the Casa Verde Builders Program to build energy efficient homes in Texas. At that time of writing, only 23 of the 64 AmeriCorps members who signed up completed their work. However, the Casa Verde Builders Program was still allowed to keep the entire grant for its ongoing program, and is still active and recruiting volunteers today.^[18]

See also

• Youth service
• National service
• Service learning
• Community service
• Volunteerism

Youth service is tantamount to any volunteer community service activity conducted by any person under the age of 25. ... National service is a common name for compulsory or voluntary military service programs. ... Service learning is a successful method of teaching, learning and reflecting that combines academic classroom curriculum with meaningful service, frequently youth service, throughout the community. ... Community service refers to service that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local community. ... Children cart dirt and debris away during a community clean-up day in Yaoundé, Cameroon. ...

References

External links

• AmeriCorps official web site
• AmeriCorps Vista
• AmeriCorps NCCC
• Save AmeriCorps NCCC
• AmeriCorps registration page
• VISTA Community
• Meet AmeriCorps
• AmeriCorps Video Contest