Your Ultimate Guide To National Community Service

YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO NATIONAL COMMUNITY SERVICE GRATIFICATION, SATISFACTION AND A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT ARE OBVIOUS REASONS PEOPLE VOLUNTEER. BUT THERE ARE OTHER BENEFITS TO SERVING. VOLUNTEERING CAN HELP YOU GET A JOB... Compared with unemployed non-volunteers .. 27% of unemployed volunteers have better odds when it comes to finding a job. 51% D 55% for workers in rural areas, for workers lacking a high school diploma, the odds increase to the odds increase to According to a LINKEDIN SURVEY of hiring managers consider 42% volunteering equivalent to full-time work experience 62 % of hiring managers take volunteer experience into account when evaluating candidates said they would hire someone because 20 of volunteer experience IT'S GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY... In 2013... 64.6 That's a value of million $. 175 Americans volunteered for a total of billion 7.9 billion based on estimates of the average value of a volunteer hour. AND IT'S EVEN GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH COMPARED WITH PEOPLE WHO DO NOT SERVE, VOLUNTEERS (PARTICULARLY SENIORS) ARE TYPICALLY HEALTHIER. Live longer THEY Have greater functional ability Experience greater life satisfaction and lower rates of depression THINGS TO CONSIDER What, exactly, do to accomplish? you want Does the community you are working with have a specific request or need? If not, are your specific skills and services needed (and wanted) in the community or organization you want to work with? AND THESE STATISTICS ENCOMPASS SHORT-TERM, AD HOC VOLUNTEERING. IMAGINE WHAT SEVERAL MONTHS, A YEAR, OR TWO YEARS OF SUSTAINED SERVICE COULD DO! USE OUR GUIDE TO DISCOVER THE BEST FIT FOR YOU. READY? SET? SERVE! Information on some of the nation's service organizations offering longer-term opportunities: ORGANIZATION GENERAL INFO POTENTIAL BENEFITS GREAT IF ... Recruits, coordinates and trains volunteers to undertake practical environmental restoration projects in America's national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands. Serve on a conservation crew AMERICAN .you're passionate about the environment, don't mind CONSERVATION working outdoors, are seeking a career in environmental policy or conservation. EXPERIENCE >1 for 3 months up to a year. Engages more than 75,000 people annually in intensive service at more than 15,000 locations na- AMERICORPS ... you are interested in long-term volunteering. tionally. Participants can focus on poverty reduction, public safety, youth development, disaster relief, environmental issues and more. Partners with public middle schools in low-income communities to pro- vide a longer learning day for stu- dents. You can bring your area of expertise to the table and serve as a volunteer apprentice for a semes- .you have a passion for teaching children, have an area of expertise you'd love to bring to a classroom and can't make a full-time com- CITIZEN SCHOOLS <1 mitment. ter. Nearly 1 million students give school annually. City Year corps mem- bers partner with public schools to tutor students at-risk of dropping out, on CITY YEAR ... you want to mentor youth, both in and out of the classroom. serve as additional resources for teachers in their classrooms and lead after-school programs and intiatives to improve school culture. Sends Americans overseas to tackle .you can make a 2-year service commitment, are interested in world travel, get excited about intensely rural living, want leadership and global experience. PEACE CORPS the most pressing needs of people around the world. Volunteers work at the grassroots level creating sus- tainable change that lives on long after their service. Since its inception in 1961, more than 215,000 volunteers have served in nearly 140 countries working in diverse fields, from edu- cation to health to the environ- ment. Build strong communities by pre- paring young adults for leadership. Through AmeriCorps the program provides diverse participants with 10-month, full-time nonprofit ap- prenticeships and rigorous training. .you're looking for an inclusive and diverse envi- PUBLIC ALLIES <1 ronment, want to gain hands-on experience in nonprofit management and want to develop your leadership skills. With a mission of eliminating edu- cational inequality, Teach For America trains, places and supports teachers in high-need classrooms nationwide. .you are ready for a 2-year commitment, are passionate about teaching children and have a long-term interest in teaching and working in un- derserved communities. TEACH FOR AMERICA time commitment SYMBOLS: in years job-support and social networking after service " monthly living and housing allowance language, cross-cultural and technical training $ full pay S modest stipend health insurance travel abroad student loan deferment educational awards / benefits childcare A AmeriCorps benefits training To learn more about national service or to sign up to receive more information, visit www.youserve.org 2 "The Health Benefies fin America" (2014) Cerpo Research" (2007) Corporation for National & Community Service 1"Volunteering and Civic Life on for National & Community Service/U.S. Census Bureau SOURCES of Volunteering: A Review of 3 Hoffman, Reid, The Linkedin Volunteer Marketplace: Connecting Professionals to Nonprofit Volunteer Opportunities, (2014) 4 Jesionka, Natalie, "Putting the "Good" in Social Good: The Ultimate Checklist for Any Volunteer," The Muse, Feb. 21, 2014 5 AmeriCorps; www.nationalservice gov/programs/americorps 6 City Year; www.cityyear.org 7 Citizen Schools; www.citizenschools.org 8 Public Allies; www.publicallies.org 9 Teach for America; www.teachforamerica.org 10 American Conservation Experience; www.usaconservation.org 11 Peace Corps; www.peacecorps.gov CISCO