What is AmeriCorps?

AmeriCorps is a federal program operated by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency created in 1993 by President Clinton. Since inception, more than 500,000 Americans have participated in AmeriCorps, and 75,000 are participating this year. AmeriCorps provides grants to private nonprofit organizations and schools to contribute to the costs of stipends, benefits, training and other support to Americans serving full-time or part-time meeting critical needs in communities. AmeriCorps is a public-private partnership, so programs are also required to raise matching dollars in their communities.  more

AmeriCorps is an opportunity to make a big difference in your life and in the lives of those around you. It’s a chance to apply your skills and ideals toward helping others and meeting critical needs in the community. Each year, AmeriCorps offers 75,000 opportunities for adults of all ages and backgrounds to serve through a network of partnerships with local and national nonprofit groups such as Rebuilding Together. The Rebuilding Together’s AmeriCorps program, called the Rebuilding Together CapacityCorps is a high-impact national AmeriCorps program of 44 AmeriCorps members that will build the capacity of grassroots nonprofits through volunteer recruitment, client outreach, and direct repairs for low-income homeowners, new project implementation, community partnership development and program expansion. The Rebuilding Together CapacityCorps is a real-life education and work experience wrapped into one. As a CapacityCorps member, you will learn teamwork, leadership, responsibility and ...

AmeriCorps is known as the "domestic Peace Corps." Participants - known as AmeriCorps members - perform a year of service with a program focused on meeting local community needs. AmeriCorps programs focus on the five issues of education, the environment, public safety, homeland security and other human needs. Individual programs recruit and train their own members with funding from an AmeriCorps grant. Serve Idaho AmeriCorps grants provide funding for member living allowances, health benefits, childcare (for eligible members), AmeriCorps program staff, training, evaluation and other program operating costs. Members also receive an educational award directly from the federal Corporation for National and Community Service. Return to top of page.

From the AmeriCorps national website, www.americorps.gov: In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act, which established the Corporation for National and Community Service and brought the full range of domestic community service programs under the umbrella of one central organization. This legislation built on the first National Service Act signed by President H.W. Bush in 1990. It also formally launched AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs that engage Americans in intensive service to meet the nation’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. . . . AmeriCorps, the domestic Peace Corps, engages more than 40,000 Americans in intensive, results-driven service each year . . . Most AmeriCorps members are selected by and serve with projects like Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross, and Boys and Girls Clubs, and many more local and national organizations. Others serve in AmeriCorps*VISTA ( ...  more

AmeriCorps: A National Corps of Capable, Committed Individuals "Everyone Can Be Great because Everyone Can Serve" —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What is AmeriCorps? AmeriCorps is a national service program that provides opportunities for citizens to serve their communities. Participants in AmeriCorps, known as "members," join a local program and provide intensive community service. Nationally, AmeriCorps Members serve with more than 3,000 nonprofits, public agencies, and faith-based organizations. Since 1994, more than 400,000 men and women have provided needed assistance to communities across the nation through their AmeriCorps service. AmeriCorps opens the door for citizens to serve in a variety of ways. Through their service and the volunteers they mobilize, AmeriCorps members address critical needs in communities throughout America, including: • Tutoring and mentoring disadvantaged youth • Fighting illiteracy • Improving health services • Building affordable housing • Teaching ...  more

AmeriCorps is one stream of National Service, initiated in 1994 by President Clinton, and often referred to as the “domestic Peace Corps.” AmeriCorps is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service and provides thousands of Americans of all ages and backgrounds with Education Awards in exchange for community service. Nationally, over 150,000 AmeriCorps members have helped to meet the nation’s critical needs in the areas of public safety, education, human needs, and the environment.

AmeriCorps provides opportunities for 75,000 Americans to give back in an intensive way to their communities and country each year. It consists of three main programs: AmeriCorps State and National, whose members serve with more than 2,900 national and local nonprofit and community groups; AmeriCorps VISTA, through which members serve full time fighting poverty; and AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps), a team-based residential program for young adults 18-24 who carry out projects in public safety, the environment, youth development, and disaster relief and preparedness.  more

AmeriCorps is a national service network that engages more than 70,000 Americans in service each year. AmeriCorps programs include Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC). Equal Justice Works has partnered with AmeriCorps to create the Summer Corps program, giving law students the opportunity to spend their summer gaining skills and experience while serving communities in critical need of legal services. For more information on the AmeriCorps national service network, visit www.americorps.gov.  more

AmeriCorps, the domestic Peace Corps, engages more than 40,000 Americans in intensive results-driven service each year. Were teaching children to read, making neighborhoods safer, building affordable homes, and responding to natural disasters through more than 1000 projects. Most AmeriCorps members are selected by and serve with projects like Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross, and Boys and Girls Clubs, and many more local and national organizations. After their term of service, AmeriCorps members receive education awards to help finance college or pay back student loans. What Americorps Members Do? AmeriCorps members train volunteers, tutor and mentor at-risk youth, build housing, clean up rivers and streams, help seniors live independently, provide emergency and long-term assistance to victims of natural disasters, and meet other community needs. What is MountainServe? Just as Americorps is a branch of the Corporation for National Service, so MountainServe is the Lock ...  more

AmeriCorps is an opportunity to make a big difference in your life and in the lives of those around you. Its a chance to apply your skills and ideals toward helping others and meeting critical needs in the community. Each year, AmeriCorps offers 75,000 opportunities for adults of all ages and backgrounds to serve through a network of partnerships with local and national nonprofit groups. Whether your service makes a community safer, gives a child a second chance, or helps protect the environment, youll be getting things done through AmeriCorps! AmeriCorps members address critical needs in communities all across America.  more