Have you donated a year to service?  Are you thinking about serving for a year?  It’s an attractive option for me personally (as I’m graduating in…7 months, a year ahead of schedule! more scary than exciting…), and many recent grads find themselves with the compulsion to do something. We’ll try to start putting together a solid list of resources, but for now, here’s a few programs to look into:

City Year - Give a year to work with kids in cities across the US.  If you’ve ever met a City Year volunteer or alum, you’ll know it; not only do they have a distinctive uniform, they’ve got enthusiasm beyond belief.

AmeriCorps offers thousands of domestic opportunities, depending on what you want to do.  There are teams all over the country, and a few different “subprograms” - VISTA, NCCC, and State/National.

The Peace Corps sends Americans abroad for two years to teach, help, and be a part of local communities.  We’ve posted before about their funding difficulties this year, though - like most organizations, there are too many good-hearted, capable people for far too few slots.

Teach for America sends new teachers to needy schools for a two-year term.  An extremely competitive program, TfA has made spectacular impacts.

MATCH Corps brings recent graduates to a charter public school in Boston for a year.  They aren’t teachers, but tutors, and generally work for two hours a day with each of their students.

Here’s Idealist’s list of Term of Service Programs.

So now - an open call to readers and everyone.  What other resources are there to help connect those who want to serve with year-long opportunities?

Last week, the Corporation for National and Community Service announced that 8 organizations would receive the $2.2 million in awards, which will fund 230 AmeriCorps volunteers:

Two multi-state programs were awarded funding – CLEAR Corps/USA, which promotes healthy lead-free environments for children through mobile lead testing vans, advocacy and educational programs, received $443,340, and the Minnesota Conservation Corps, which works on natural resource protection and disaster response in Minnesota and Iowa, received $365,400. The Minnesota Conservation Corps will send its members to Cedar Rapids and other flooded Iowa communities to assist in clean up and rebuilding.

Six local projects also received funding: Birmingham (Ala.) READS AmeriCorps ($251,879); Project Laulima of the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii ($321,300); Partners in Learning AmeriCorps Program through the City of Dubuque, Iowa ($205,378); Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps Maryland ($275,569); Project TLC (To Love a Child) in Memphis, Tenn., sponsored by the Exchange Club Family Center of the Mid-South ($223,650); and Building a Community of Champions sponsored by the Monroe County, W.Va., Schools ($137,651).

Through 2008, AmeriCorps will have over 74,000 volunteers - which is great, but, well, not enough to do everything. The programs mentioned are great, and definitely worth looking into if they’re near you.

Yesterday, Obama spoke about the nature of patriotism and service in Independence, Missouri. He specifically references expanding the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. Here’s the text, and the video:

And John McCain spoke about his service, as well of the role of service in citizenship, at the Naval Academy on April 2, as part of his “Service to America” campaign. You can read along here, and watch:

Voices for Service sent us an alert about what’s going on with AmeriCorps in Congress:

On June 26, Representatives John Lewis (D-GA) and Jon Porter (R-NV) introduced H.R. 6407, the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Tax Relief Act, legislation to make the AmeriCorps education award tax-free. The bill would modify the current tax code to exclude the education award from an individual’s gross income, thereby retaining the full value of their education award.

The AmeriCorps Education Award is $4,725 for a year of full-time service and is prorated for part-time service. Some AmeriCorps members lose close to $1,000 of the award value after taxes. The award has not been increased since the program was created in 1993, and during this time, the cost of education has skyrocketed. AmeriCorps members work to improve the lives of all Americans by protecting the environment, strengthening education, responding to disasters, and supporting public health and safety. Now is the time for Congress to do more to recognize their contributions to America and encourage others to serve. You can help make the education award tax-free by following the action steps below:

Action Steps for H.R. 6407, the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Tax Relief Act

1. Call the Capitol operator at (202) 224-3121 to be connected to your Representative.
2. Ask to speak to the Legislative Assistant for National Service and request that your elected official sponsor H.R. 6407, the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Tax Relief Act.
3. To sponsor, interested offices should contact Brendan Devine with Congressman John Lewis at (202) 225-3801 and brendan.devine@mail.house.gov or Ryan Temme with Congressman Jon Porter at (202) 225-3252 and ryan.temme@mail.house.gov.

* Click here for help identifying your elected Representative.

You can browse more legislative updates, and check out Voices for Service’s action center if you’re feeling ambitious. A call to Congress is far easier than you’d think!

The flood waters are receding in the Midwest, but there’s a lot of damage left. And yesterday, the sky let out another deluge and, well, just made things worse. 38,000 Iowans are homeless; cities have been ravaged. Things are pretty grim.

But they’re looking up. AmeriCorps VISTA is looking for 230 members to help in the recovery. There’s details on the positions in the press release. Last week, we told you about the amazing impact AmeriCorps has in disaster relief - and here’s your change to be a part of it. They’re looking for summer associates, as well as year-long volunteers.

We’ve noted the dire straits in Iowa already, but what we didn’t know is that AmeriCorps volunteers, our national service corps, is already helping out all up and down the Mississippi. Here’s the press release that describes a lot of the work they’re doing.

MSNBC has an in-depth story on a team in Clarksville, Missouri:

Last week, as soggy Midwest states to the north began sending their storm runoff south, threatening towns for hundreds of miles along the Mississippi, the AmericCorps team showed up to help Clarksville make its stand.

They quickly saw that they could best assist the town, with its unpaid mayor and council and tiny city staff, by coordinating volunteer and liaison efforts at City Hall.

“I think they are awesome,” said Clarksville Alderman Mike Russell, also the town’s emergency services manager. “I can literally tell you that if it was not for them running the City Hall end, we would be much worse off.” If parts of the town successfully fend off the record floodwaters expected by the weekend, it will be largely because of Rooney, Henning and their colleagues, he added.

This situation is a great example of the power of service. There are huge crises up and down the river. But we have people who are ready and able to serve and to help that we can access. MSNBC notes the small size of the program, and later mentions that only two Missouri towns were lucky enough to receive an AmeriCorps unit. Expansion of national service is not just a lofty idea - it’s necessary. Here’s MSNBC’s video coverage of the story:

Our good friends at ServeNext launched their new website (’tis the season - ServiceNation just did, too!), and it’s bright and snazzy and new. Check it out and explore!

They were also featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which wrote a great article on them:

ServeNext’s headquarters are in Washington, but two of its four staff members, all age 26 or younger, live elsewhere. The group’s virtual presence is key: Mr. Edwin’s and Mr. Wilhelm’s pockets are frequently abuzz with technology. They regularly update their blog with text, photos, and video, and “Twitter” — mini-blogs updated via text message — when they catch a free minute. When someone in Biloxi asks for numbers on volunteerism rates after Katrina, Mr. Wilhelm whips out his BlackBerry and fires off an e-mail message to a colleague at ServeNext. Within minutes, he is spouting statistics.

“People believe in national service,” says Mr. Wilhelm, noting that surveys by the Rockefeller Foundation, in New York, and Harris Interactive, in Rochester, N.Y., show that more than 70 percent of Americans support public service. “Now’s the time we’re actually developing that political muscle and saying we’ve got the voices, we’ve got the constituency, what are you going to do about it? There are votes that you can gain or lose as a result of your plan or lack thereof.”

The article also discusses the National Service Express Tour - Sean and Matt are traveling around the country via Greyhound bus in order to get people involved and excited (their blog of the journey is here). These guys are great - be sure to look around the website, and the article’s definitely worth your time.

“Are we there yet?”
photo credit Tom

Earlier this month, at the Brookings Institution, Reps. Gwendolynne Moore (D-WISC) and Chris Shays (R-CT) spoke about AmeriCorps and service at the event which unveiled the Corporation for National And Community Service’s major study of how AmeriCorps affects the lives of those who serve. The Brookings tech team filmed the session, and sent us these clips of Moore and Shays.

Ad Hoc Activism: The Daily Vanguard, newspaper of Portland State University, has an interesting article on trends in volunteering. Basically, lots of volunteers are helping out on special occasions, but not necessaily joining organizations or volunteering regularly.  

“Volunteers might pull an all-nighter for an issue close to their hearts, but don’t ask them to join a subcommittee,” Laura Oppenheimer wrote. “It’s about the experience, not the institution.” “Episodic volunteering,” as the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) calls it, is on the rise.

The article also notes that the rate of volunteering jumped by 20% between 2002 and 2005, and the general growth in volunteering (starting in 1989) is driven in large part by college students.

Clickworthy: TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) started as a conference in 1984 of people with great ideas. Now, they’ve got a cool website (which would be expected, from the first word!) showcasing the talks from the conference and a lot more. Check out the Global issues and the Culture tags; you’ll find a ton of interesting - and inspiring - videos and articles.

Blogging From the Front Lines: Peace Corps Journals has a ton of Peace Corps blogs. You can find them by region and check out what projects folks are working on, what it’s like in the area, and what the Peace Corps is doing. I’m entranced. If you’re interested in or already accepted to the Peace Corps, I also recommend the Peace Corps Wiki, which has a ton of country-specific information. It also has info about Retired PCV associations, if you’ve already been!  There is also an excellent Yahoo group of and about the Peace Corps.

Dodd’s Up: Last week, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT, former presidential candidate AND former Peace Corps volunteer) announced the AmeriCorps Act of 2008. He’s always shown a particular commitment to service, so we’re already fans! Our friends from ServeNext were there to film Dodd’s announcement.

Alan Khazei (great guy and our CEO) and John Bridgeland (of Civic Enterprises; also a great guy, and a lead partner) presented the ServiceNation plan to the Board of the Corporation for National and Community Service (which oversees AmeriCorps). In response, the CNCS board issued a resolution:

WHEREAS, John Bridgeland and Alan Khazei today, in a presentation to the Board of Directors, offered a vision and strategy to reinvigorate the national debate around service and volunteering; and

WHEREAS, there is growing evidence of the power of service to transform those serving and those communities served; and

WHEREAS, leaders of this country in the private sector, in education, in state houses and the Halls of Congress, in philanthropy, and in the media, are recognizing the crucial role service plays in solving critical national and global problems; and

WHEREAS, a ServiceNation Summit is scheduled for September, 2008 to convene local and national leaders to expand opportunities to serve and to debate policy initiatives relating to service and volunteering;

IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors for the Corporation for National and Community Service commends the conveners of the ServiceNation Summit in bringing together leaders from all walks of American life to focus on lifelong service as a key strategy for building citizenship, addressing our nation’s most critical problems, and strengthening the fabric of our nation.

Every little bit helps. It’s great to get the recognition and the backing of CNCS. Now we just have to print out lots of copies and plaster them all over the streets (kidding). ServiceNation is gaining momentum!

“We really should write something about ServiceNation once we are done with this Independence thing.”