The meaning of service

In honor of the Independence Day, I'd like to dedicate this post to the Americorps program, which you may have heard of but am betting know almost nothing about.  Over the past few weeks, I've discovered every single thing I thought I knew about Americorps was wrong.  Every single thing.  Now in place of all that misinformation, I'm armed with facts that have left me blown away by the depth of commitment, dedication and grit displayed by the over 80,000 Americans (many of them college age or recent college grads) who are serving our country in this way.

Before we get into the particulars, please know this: Americorps, like public libraries and national parks, is one of those 100% good things your tax dollars pay for; something that costs a paltry $550 million per year and pays big dividends in places many of us would rather ignore.  The reading intervention nonprofit I now work for employs Americorps members to staff reading centers in public schools nationwide.  It will be part of my job to train and manage a group of them, something I'm now bursting with excitement about doing.  Keep reading to see why...

Unlike, say, the Peace Corps or Teach for America, Americorps is not an organization that people apply and are accepted to as such.  Instead, a person applies for an Americorps position at nonprofit organization.  Once hired, members are trained on the job and receive health insurance, the promise of an education grant at the end of their service and a living allowance that is almost no money. Seriously.  No money. Unlike the Peace Corps, Americorps members are not living in the developing world (where you can live pretty well on almost no money).  Unlike Teach for America, which is a wonderful organization but not a service program, Americorps members don't earn a full-time professional salary.  Instead Americorps members do full-time, often professional-level work essentially for free. By choice.  They qualify for (and definitely use) food stamps. By choice. In the Bay Area, the stipend is well under $20,000.  I'm still not sure how they live, but they do because service is what they are about in every sense of the word.  I served in the Peace Corps, but it was different than the Americorps process I just described.  For one thing, I was taken care of every step of the way.  Sure, I lived and worked in a small village in Africa for two years, but I didn't have to find my own job or figure out how to pay rent.  Now, I'm not saying Peace Corps service isn't worthy or challenging.  It is. But Americorps, though it's often called "the domestic Peace Corps," demands an added level of social consciousness worth mentioning, since Americorps members choose a life below the poverty line along with their year(s) of service.  In Cameroon, the $200/month living allowance made me downright well off, especially since I only had to support myself.  I could enjoy all the country had to offer, not to mention the inherent privilege of being an American overseas.  Americorps members serve without those perks, even as they collectively log over 65 million hours every year for organizations like the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and the Boys & Girls Club.

So this 4th of July, raise a sparkler, a glass and an American flag to a government-sponsored program we can all be proud of, and the members throughout the country who are dedicating a year or more of their lives to helping make this land (from California to the New York islands, from the redwood forest to the Gulfstream waters) a better place.

Let's end with the Americorps pledge. Check it out!

I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer,
smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together
to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy,
I will take action.

Faced with conflict,
I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity,
I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment
with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member,
and I will get things done.