AmeriCorp provides service opportunities to every age, type
With a job market that’s still sparse and a stock market that’s none too certain, more and more Americans of all walks of life are taking up volunteerism.
And here in the Capital District there are many examples of how people young and old are getting involved through AmeriCorps, the nationwide program that offers an ever-increasing range of options for those willing to lend a hand.
Kyla Philbrook, a Latham resident, took time off from studying at UAlbany to enroll in AmeriCorps’s National Civilian Community Corps program. Last October, she undertook a month of training at a NCCC campus in California, and was then sent out to work with nonprofits around the country with a small team of other young people.
It’s an experience I don’t think you can get anywhere else, she said. `I did it just because I had never been further away from Albany than Delaware…I knew there was a lot about this country that I didn’t understand.`
Over 540,000 Americans have participated in AmeriCorps since its founding in 1993. From relatively simple roots, the program has grown into a multifaceted effort that has opportunities for many levels of service, from local community building work to traveling groups that go where they’re needed.
That brings a diverse spectrum of people to AmeriCorps. The base requirements are that you be over 17 and willing to devote 9-to-12 months to service.
Now, Philbrook is stationed in New Orleans, where she and 10 other volunteers are installing free compact fluorescent lights in homes as part of the Green Light New Orleans program. They’ve also been going into area schools to teach kids about the environment and living green, which translates well to Philbrook’s goal to become a high school counselor.
She’ll also receive an educational stipend of $5,000 upon completion of the program to go towards her tuition and student loans.
Leading Philbrook’s team of 18 to 24-year-olds is Bryant Gilchrist, who, entirely by coincidence, hails from Watervliet. When he graduated form SUNY Oswego with a degree in education, he decided to enroll in AmeriCorps’s Vista program.
`Vista’s aimed at fighting poverty, and its all about building sustainable organizations and giving people the resources to help themselves,` he said.
Gilchrist spent a year before going to NCCC working with parents in low-income Washington, D.C. school districts advocate for better educational opportunities for their children.
But the program isn’t only for the young. Delmar resident Terry Rooney is well into his first year participating in AmeriCorps, and in his ninth year of retirement from the state Department of Transportation. He’s an avid volunteer, but AmeriCorps’s modest stipend appealed to him.
`You don’t make much with AmeriCorps, but it was a tough year last year for retirees,` he said. `I thought this was an opportunity to volunteer and continue my work, and also get a small stipend.`
He’ll also be able to transfer the educational stipend offered to younger volunteers to a family member once he completes his year.
Rooney has spent his AmeriCorps time with the Schenectady Inner City Ministry, which runs a food pantry serving 4,000 city residents. He uses his background to manage the group’s books.
Rooney continues his work volunteering elsewhere in the city. He spends time as an English-as-a second-language teacher, primarily tutoring Afghan refugees, and volunteers at the Grand Street Community Arts Center, also in Schenectady,
Having a spirit of volunteerism has helped Rooney make the most out his AmeriCorps experience, he said.
`You have to kind of know what you want and know you passion or interest, then you can use Americorps to kind of spring off of,` he said. `It’s definitely a great thing for retirees, its wonderful. Retirees know what they’re doing.`
Philbrook said her only regret is that she didn’t enroll sooner, and that the program has helped her realize what she wants to do after she finishes her final two years of school.
`I wish I had done it straight out of high school,` she said. `I didn’t know what I wanted to do…I wasted time and college credits…If you’re not sure and you don’t have that direct path in mind, I think it’s a great experience for anyone who’s not sure.`
Philbrook, Gilchrist and the rest of the NCCC team will soon be moving their sites to the St. Bernard Parish of New Orleans, which was largely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, in order to supervise and help volunteers doing construction and rebuilding work.
Visit www.americorps.gov for more information on AmeriCorps and to volunteer.“