Category Archives: Service News

06.12.09
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What Happened to Getting Rid of the Taxes on the Education Award?

Institutions that Match the Ed AwardWhen the various bills that became the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act were in play, there was talk about eliminating the taxes from the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award.

In case you are new to national service, the education award is the post-service benefit received by AmeriCorps and VISTA members that can help them pay for educational expenses and/or student loans. It’s considered taxable income.

It was never the Kennedy bill but rather a separate bill introduced by Senator Dodd of Connecticut that would have ended the tax on the education award. Late in the process, elements of Dodd’s national service bills were incorporated into the Serve America Act. However, the elimination of the taxes on the education award was not one of those elements. The tax remains.

I called Senator’s Dodd office last week and asked a staffer if there were any plans to follow through with Continue reading →

06.10.09
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Pres. Kagame Explains What New Peace Corps Volunteers Will Learn in Rwanda

Peace Corps Volunteers know their experiences are life-changing, that they get more from their service than anyone they could ever possibly give back.

Paul Kagame on a 2006 White House Visit

Paul Kagame on a 2006 White House Visit

The Rwandan president Paul Kagame spelled out what is in store for the new group of Volunteers in his country in the Huffington Post yesterday. I don’t usually like to quote long bits from other blogs, but I can’t bring myself to cut anything out:

Peace Corps volunteers are well educated, optimistic, and keen to assist us as we continue to rebuild, but one must also recognize that we have much to offer them as well.

We will, for instance, show them our system of community justice, called Gacaca, where we integrated our need for nationwide reconciliation with our ancient tradition of clemency, and where violators are allowed to reassume their lives by Continue reading →

06.10.09
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Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009 Passes Committee in the House

Citizens Conservation Corps of West Virginia corps member cuts a fallen tree.

Citizens Conservation Corps of West Virginia corps member cuts a fallen tree.

Today the House Natural Resources Committee passed the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009.

H.R. 1612, the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009, aims to mobilize thousands of service corps participants over the next few years to help the national parks and other public lands restore and repair lands; engage exponentially more volunteers to serve episodically in the parks; to invest in a new, more diverse generation of National Park Service leaders.

Introduced to the House of Representatives in April by U.S. Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), the bill next goes to the floor of the House for a vote. (Go here to contact your Representative in favor of the bill.) No companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate yet.

Projects could include rehabilitating campgrounds, restoring historic structures, eradicating invasive Continue reading →

06.05.09
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Evaluating the Impact of Youth Civic Engagement on Development

Picture 8As the momentum for youth civic engagement in the US and internationally continues, the need  to evaluate and demonstrate the impact of these activities on development becomes clearer, to encourage both greater and long-term investment in youth service.

Youth voluntary service programs exist in dozens of countries and communities around the world, and new programs and policy initiatives are currently being developed in many others, often with the help of international organizations like UNICEF, UN Volunteers/UNDP, and the International Youth Foundation. These programs engage many more young people in service while also making positive Continue reading →

06.03.09
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AmeriCorps Members Produce Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts through the 2009 NW National Service Symposium

Inside the symposium art gallery

Inside the symposium art gallery

A national service arts and writing symposium offers Oregon and Washington AmeriCorps members a chance to create testaments to the impact of service.

A few months ago, I posted an announcement about the NW National Service Symposium. This is an annual event that invites national service participants from across Oregon and Washington to translate their experiences into the literary, visual, and performing arts. This year’s event was held May 14-15 at Portland State University, and it was a fantastic opportunity for the participants to share what they created.

We have posted many of the projects online this year, and they are gathered at on the symposium blog. I encourage you to take a peek. If you want a quick glimpse of the many visual arts projects submitted to the event, you can find them in our online gallery.

With more than 100 projects collected, it’s easy for excellent ones to get caught in the shuffle. As the unbiased coordinator of the project, I am not supposed to have favorites. Still there is an essay that I would like to call attention to.

The writer’s name is Judy Goard, and she identifies herself as a Senior VISTA. She currently serves with Catholic Community Services in Salem, OR. After hearing President Kennedy’s call to Americans to serve while she was in high school, she dreamed of joining the Peace Corps. Family obligations sidetracked her, and she finally joined the Peace Corps in the 1990s at age 49. She completed a VISTA term in Alaska after that, and a few years later, two more terms in Oregon. I am inspired by Judy’s story, which you can read online. Please check it out, as well as many of the other inspirational and outstanding projects.