The following vignettes come from a sample of CNCS staff members who served in AmeriCorps and were transformed by the experience and lasting impact of service.
Dina Manco
Dina Manco served as an AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps member from 2016-17 on disaster preparedness and response efforts in Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
By now, most of the grantees’ planning periods have come to a close. For some, program development will carry on through continued efforts, while others have compiled their findings, which provide valuable guidance for other organizations seeking similar types of grants. With that, we conducted a final follow up with the grantees to hear about their latest program development updates, overall experience with their grants, and what’s next.
Each year during March, the Corporation for National and Community Service celebrates AmeriCorps Week to highlight the accomplishments of our members and alumni in the communities they serve. And the stories are as diverse as the members and the thousands of ways they volunteer to serve their nation. Every day we hear stories about how AmeriCorps service transforms communities — and also has a transformational effect on our members.
More than 80 percent of volunteers surveyed reported feeling healthier and less socially isolated after serving in Senior Corps. Older adults are more likely to face physical, financial, or social barriers to volunteering, but Senior Corps provides opportunities that accommodate exceptional needs and make it possible for seniors to reengage as active community members.
The Benefits of National Service
Lisa Bishop
Lisa Bishop served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member from 1998-99 with the James McGregor Burns Academy of Leadership in College Park, MD. Bishop’s path to service began in high school, when she actually traveled from state to state promoting national service and service learning.
Admiral Gay (pictured above, right) is the Senior Advisor for Wounded Warrior and Veterans and Military Families Initiatives at CNCS and says a lot of what he does is rooted in establishing trust, building relationships, and leading change, all of which fall under his concept of mentorship.
These traits come naturally to the Admiral as a leader of men and women in the armed forces. He willingly shares his life story, using wall-mounted photos of family and friends to illustrate his points, “I like people to have the whole story; it extends an arm of trust.”
AmeriCorps is your moment to take the path less traveled, to break the status quo, to stop talking about the problem and be the solution.