168 Civilian and Post-9/11 Veteran Service Organizations Urge Congress to Expand AmeriCorps and Senior Corps

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ranit Schmelzer, 202-538-1065, ranit@schmelzerstrategies.com

168 Civilian and Post-9/11 Veteran Service Organizations Urge Congress to Expand AmeriCorps and Senior Corps

Next COVID-19 Relief Package is an Opportunity for National Service to Help our Country Recover

Washington, DC (July 20, 2020) – In a noteworthy coalition, 168 civilian and post-9/11 veterans organizations have joined forces to urge the Congressional leadership to support the Cultivating Opportunity and Response to the Pandemic through Service (CORPS) Act to expand AmeriCorps and Senior Corps in the next COVID-19 relief package.

“Our organizations represent members who have decades of military and civilian national service. We believe that our nation’s real strength is in our people, both the brave men and women who volunteer to defend and risk their lives for our country in uniform, and the dedicated Americans who are willing to commit to service at home,” they say in the letter, which is co-signed by AnnMaura Connolly, President of Voices for National Service, and Rye Barcott, Co-Founder & CEO of With Honor Action.

“As our country contemplates the future, we know that the challenges to recovery from COVID-19 and all that ails us – for our grieving families, shuttered K-12 public schools and churches, and halted economy – are manifold. And as you know, the road to normalcy will require more than economic stimulus, even historic levels of it. We should call on Americans across the country to step up and contribute through service,” the letter continues.

The CORPS Act, which was introduced by Senators Chris Coons and Roger Wicker and has 16 Senate co-sponsors balanced evenly by party, invests in the strong and capable national service infrastructure that can respond to specific local needs. In addition to expanding AmeriCorps and strengthening Senior Corps to help communities with food distribution, supporting students, ensuring that medically vulnerable people continue to receive their medications and supporting public health needs, it will give young people experience, skills, a living stipend and post-service education scholarship at a time when employment opportunities are scarce and the needs of our communities are great. It also prioritizes expanding programs in rural and high poverty communities.

“As a Marine, I felt firsthand the power of service to unify the country,” said Barcott. “I served in Iraq with remarkable men and women from all walks of life. During this critical time, Congress has an opportunity to invest in national service and help our country emerge from this pandemic more resilient and unified.”

“We are at an unprecedented time with mounting needs in our communities,” said Connolly. “An essential part of moving our country forward is an increased investment in national service. The road to normal is a long and uncertain one, but one thing is clear, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps are playing a central role in filling gaps in services created or exacerbated by the pandemic, and Congress should expand this vital response and recovery work.”

The following post-9/11 veterans organizations signed the letter: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, The Mission Continues, Student Veterans of America, Team Rubicon, and Travis Manion Foundation. A sampling of civilian service organizations include: America’s Service Commission, Catholic Volunteer Network, City Year, Cities of Service, FoodCorps, Girl Scouts of the USA, Habitat for Humanity International, National Health Corps, Notre Dame Mission Volunteers, Points of Light, Public Allies, Service Year Alliance, Teach For America, The Corps Network, and YouthBuild USA.

The full list of civilian service groups that have endorsed the CORPS Act is here and below. The full copy of the letter is available here.

168 Civilian and Post-9/11 Veteran Service Organizations Supporting the CORPS Act:
100 Women Who Care of Lowndes County
America Forward
America Learns
America’s Service Commissions
American Cancer Society, Inc. | South Region
American Conservation Experience
American YouthWorks
AmeriCorps Mentors for Success
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Arkansas Governors Advisory Commission on
National Service and Volunteerism
Association for Utah Community Health
Bay Area Community Resources
Boston Cares
Boys & Girls Club of Utah County
Boys and Girls Club of North MS
Breakthrough Central Texas
California Family Resource Action
California Volunteers
Catholic Volunteer Network
Celtic Heritage Society
Changeist
Child Abuse Prevention Center
Child Abuse Prevention Council of Sacramento
Cities of Service
Citizen Schools
City Year
Civic Assets
CivicWorks, Inc.
CLIMB Community Development Coalition
College Forward
College Possible
Colorado Youth Corps Association
Communities in Schools
Community Economic Development
Association of Michigan
Community Foundation East Mississippi
Community Foundation for Mississippi
Community Foundation Northwest Mississippi
Community Foundation of Washington County
Connecticut Office of Higher Education
Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa
Conservation Corps of the Forgotten and
Emerald Coasts
Conservation Legacy
CREATE Foundation
Crossroads Film Society
Doris and Victor Day Foundation
DOVIA Central Mississippi Chapter
(Directors of Volunteers in Agencies)
East End Neighborhood House
Education Northwest
Ekklesia Hattiesburg
El Centro, Inc., Tupelo MS
Encore.Org
FoodCorps
Foundation for the Mid South
GirlScouts of the USA
Goodwill Industries of Mississippi
Great Basin Institute
Great Oaks Charter Schools
Gulf Coast Community Foundation
Gulf Coast Volunteer Hub
Habitat for Humanity International
HandsOn Atlanta
Hawaii Commission for National and
Community Service
Homestead Affordable Housing
Hunger Free America
Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center
Institutions for Higher Learning
Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
Jumpstart
Kansas Volunteer Commission
Larimer County Conservation Corps
Literacy Coalition of Central Texas
Literacy Minnesota
Literacy Volunteers of America
Local Government Commission
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
Louisiana Conservation Corps
Mandy’s Farm
Maryland Governor’s Office on Service and
Volunteerism
Massachusetts Service Alliance
Metropolitan Family Service
Michigan Community Service Commission
Mile High Youth Corps
Minnesota Alliance With Youth
Mission Okolona, Inc.
Mississippi Association of Partners in Education
Mississippi Children’s Museum
Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service
Mississippi Community College Board
Mississippi Heritage Trust
Montana Education Partnership
National Association of Foster Grandparent
Program Directors
National Center for Appropriate Technology
National Health Corps
National Senior Corps Association
National Youth Leadership Council
New Beginnings International Children’s &
Family Services
New Hampshire Service Year Workforce
Commission
New Leaders
New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity
New York Cares
Next 100
NH Service Year Workforce Commission
Northwest Youth Corps
Notre Dame Mission Volunteers
Ohio Reading Corps
Oklahoma AmeriCorps
OneStar Foundation
Oregon Volunteer Commission
Pinebelt Foundation of Mississippi
Playworks
Points of Light
Porter-Leath
Prevent Child Abuse California
Public Allies
Reading & Math, Inc.
Reading Assist
Reading Partners
Rebuilding Together
Refill Café
Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership
Relay Graduate School of Education
Revitalize Mississippi
Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico
Rocky Mountain Youth Corps
SBP
Serve Austin
Serve Colorado
Serve Connecticut
Serve Illinois
Serve Indiana
Serve New Mexico Commission
Serve Ohio
Serve Washington
Serve Minnesota
Service Year Alliance
ShreveCorps
Sierra Nevada Alliance
Southern Utah University
Student Conservation Association
Student Veterans of America
Teach for America
Team Rubicon
TerraCorps
The Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy
The Corps Network
The Mission Continues
The University of Mississippi
Tishomingo County Community Coalition
Travis Manion Foundation
Tupelo/ Lee County Hunger Coalition
Union County Historical Society and Heritage
Museum
United Way for Jackson & George Counties
United Way of Dane County
United Way of King County
United Way of South Carolina
United Way of the Capital Area
Up2Us Sports
UServeUtah
Voices for National Service
Volunteer Mississippi
Volunteer Tennessee
Volunteer West Virginia
Washington Campus Compact
With Honor Action
Youth Action Programs and Homes, Inc.
YouthBuild USA, Inc.
YWCA Central Alabama

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With Honor Action is a cross-partisan movement focused on supporting military veterans who want to work across the aisle and put principles before politics while serving again in Congress. With Honor Action’s advisory board includes post-9/11 veterans and Gold Star family members — Chris Howard, Ryan Manion, and Medal of Honor Recipient Florent Groberg — as well as prominent American leaders such as Secretary George Shultz, Secretary Robert Gates, Admiral Michael Mullen, Michèle Flournoy, and David Gergen.

Voices for National Service is a diverse coalition of national service programs, state service commissions and individual champions, who work to ensure Americans of all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to serve and volunteer in their community. Founded in 2003, Voices for National Service has built strong bipartisan support among our nation’s leaders and helped to elevate national service as a powerful strategy for tackling unmet needs, preparing young people for work, uniting our country and developing civic character.

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