By Mitzi Vince
Marsha moved back to her hometown of War, West Virginia, from South Carolina after a divorce in 1995, and one of her only employment opportunities involved cleaning homes for an average monthly income of $350. When the AmeriCorps APPALREAD program came into her county in 1998, the single mother who needed food stamps and a medical card for her child in order to survive was more interested in the living allowance and stipend the program offered its employees than she was about finding a job that would allow her the opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life. Her experience as an AmeriCorps member mentoring young children at Bartlett Elementary School—particularly one shy young boy—changed her life, and she credits her two years of service as the inspiration she needed to go to college and eventually get hired as a learning coordinator with the Big Creek People in Action organization. She still holds the position today and helps college students coordinate service opportunities.
Stories like this one are not uncommon when you talk to the thousands of individuals who have served as AmeriCorps members in West Virginia.
AmeriCorps is a national service program that engages diverse individuals in solving community challenges. AmeriCorps programs are funded by Volunteer West Virginia, the West Virginia Commission for National and Community Service, through grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The national service program is divided into three branches: AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps VISTA and AmeriCorps NCCC. Full-time AmeriCorps State and National members complete 1,700 hours of service in one year. Part-time opportunities are also available. AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) members serve in a full-time fixed position for one year with a local organization, and NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) members serve in full-time positions in teams of eight to 12 while traveling throughout one of five regional areas in the U.S. to complete service projects that meet critical needs in communities. Members serve through local and national nonprofit groups, public agencies and faith-based organizations. To date, more than 10,000 individuals have served as AmeriCorps members in West Virginia.
Members receive a modest living allowance and an education award currently worth up to $5,550 to use for higher education or to pay back qualified student loans. The education award can be transferred to children or grandchildren of members who are 55 years of age and older. Full-time members are also eligible to receive health insurance, a childcare subsidy (in some circumstances) and training opportunities in leadership, teamwork, coordinating volunteers, time management, communication, responsibility and other essential skills. AmeriCorps VISTA members have the option to receive a post-service stipend as a substitution for the education award. For many members, like Marsha, the most significant benefit of their experience has been the personal transformation or impact the year of service has had on them.
Individuals who join AmeriCorps State and National programs provide direct service in areas that include education, human needs, public safety, environment and homeland security.
During the 2010-2011 program year, AmeriCorps State members in West Virginia reached more than 25,000 disadvantaged youth and recruited more than 11,400 community volunteers to serve with them on community projects. Members helped tutor and mentor children, provided kids with nutritious meals throughout summer months, addressed the issues of homelessness and poverty within the veteran community, helped conserve forests and preserve historic towns and recruited and managed volunteers. During that same program year, AmeriCorps State members in West Virginia gave 576,014 hours of service. According to the 2011 Volunteering in America report promoted by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a community service hour is valued at $21.36. With this in mind, AmeriCorps State members gave more than $12.3 million of their time to West Virginia communities through service.
Similarly, AmeriCorps VISTA members serving in West Virginia have provided capacity-building service to specifically address the issue of poverty throughout the state. VISTAs have worked with nonprofit organizations and local government agencies to create or expand programs that bring individuals and communities out of poverty. They have also given thousands of hours of their time through service.
AmeriCorps NCCC members placed in West Virginia have helped plant trees, construct hiking trails, renovate buildings, weatherize homes and address disaster-related events throughout the state as needed.
Last year, AmeriCorps State members received more than $1.7 million in Segal Education Awards. According to a survey given to members of the 2011-2012 program of LifeBridge AmeriCorps, one of the state’s largest full-time AmeriCorps programs, approximately 65 percent of members planned to attend vocational school, college or graduate school upon completion of their year of service, while one-third of the members planned to use the award to pay off student loan debt. Many of these members pursue higher education within the state, which means most of these education awards are being used locally.
AmeriCorps programs positively impact members, the communities they serve and the state as a whole. To learn more about current AmeriCorps State opportunities and locations or how your community could benefit from AmeriCorps, visit www.volunteerwv.org. To learn more about National, VISTA and NCCC opportunities, visit www.americorps.gov.
About the Author
Mitzi Vince serves as the communications coordinator for Volunteer West Virginia, the state’s Commission for National and Community Service. A summa cum laude graduate of Marshall University, Vince earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration, receiving the award for Outstanding Marketing Graduate. She completed her master’s degree in journalism two years later. Prior to joining the Volunteer West Virginia team, Vince worked as a program associate for the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia and as a client education coordinator for Terradon Communications Group. Vince is a graduate of the Leadership West Virginia Class of 2011. She lives in Charleston with her husband, Joshua, and their two pets.
