AmeriCorps Alums 20th Anniversary National Leadership Award Winner
Matthew is from the mountains of east Tennessee, the son of teenage parents. He spent most of his young life growing up in a trailer park with no way to fund his dream of going to college. In the face of hardship came City Year (service began in 1994 in Boston). Matthew shares that “through it all, I was given inspiration, inspiration from my students, students who came to me with Fs and left my homework club with As.” Since that time he has gotten his master's degree and is now working on his doctorate. He has spent the last 20 years working with students at elementary schools, high schools, community colleges, and universities, and trying to encourage service. Matthew says, “AmeriCorps provided me with confidence and opportunities I never thought I would have, and it did the same for my brother who served with NCCC 11 years after my first service year. Serving others became as much a part of my life as breathing, and my daughter benefits every day from my experience in AmeriCorps.”