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Volunteering with AmeriCorps
by Diane Dash

For Monica McCallum and other Seattle-area women, volunteering to help others has opened the door to rewarding career opportunities. McCallum became a member of AmeriCorps six years ago as a volunteer while struggling to make ends meet as a single mom.

One of three national service organizations under the umbrella of the Corporation for National Community Service, AmeriCorps is a domestic version of the Peace Corps: a federally funded network of local, state and national service programs that annually connect over 70,000 Americans to volunteer opportunities in education, housing, health, public safety and the environment. In exchange for providing a year of service, AmeriCorps members receive a monthly living allowance, training opportunities, and an educational award to help finance college education or vocational training. This year in Washington state, 2,600 volunteers, roughly two-thirds of whom are women, will earn education awards of $4,725 for their service.

“I really liked it, and liked that it was a national service helping poor communities,” McCallum says. After her volunteer program ended she was hired and sent to leadership training by Solid Ground, a Fremont-based organization that focuses on domestic and youth violence prevention, elementary school literacy, and support for anti-poverty organizations. She went on to become South King County program supervisor for Washington Reading Corps, a statewide AmeriCorps program dedicated to improving the reading skills of kindergarten through sixth-grade kids in low-income or low-test-score schools. Providing tutoring and administrative support, organizing school-wide events such as book drives, and recruiting volunteers were all part of the job. “We’re really there to increase literacy skills through direct tutoring, and improve communication and family involvement in the schools,” she said.

It was because of her work with AmeriCorps that McCallum decided to pursue a career in public service. She has since completed a master’s degree in public administration, using her education award to help pay for the program, and was recently awarded a presidential management fellowship position with the Federal Transit Administration. “The idea is that people leave AmeriCorps having developed an ethic of service. It’s not just about what you do in this year, but what you take with you in the future,” she says.

Monda Holsinger, director and founder of AmeriCorps programs in the Federal Way School District, says that the organization is making a difference in her community where the statistics are daunting: 86 languages are spoken in the public schools and 47 percent of the students are at or below the poverty level. AmeriCorps runs two after-school programs in the district for grades K-5, as well as a tutoring program to assist K-12 students with grades of C or below in math, reading, science or any other subject in which they’re struggling. “We’ve also had walk-a-thons to raise money for the homeless, and last month we raised $15,000 for secondary students’ fees for extracurricular activities such as music classes, art, or debate clubs, which can run up to $170 per year (per student),” adds Danielle Bonner who, with Holsinger, supervises the programs and its 49 members.

Helping build leadership skills is another of AmeriCorps’ goals. Members are given extensive training in becoming strong leaders who can relate to people from diverse backgrounds. As has McCallum, Bonner and Holsinger have seen changes in the people doing the serving as well as those being served.

Holsinger is amazed by Bonner’s personal growth through her involvement in the program. She describes Bonner as having been “caught in the retail cycle world” where she’d either quit or been fired from almost every store in SeaTac Mall. But when she got involved in AmeriCorps, “she became very teachable,” claims Holsinger. “She has grown so much through the experience and positive mentoring.”

Bonner attributes her AmeriCorps affiliation to a flat tire she had in the mall parking lot three years ago. While waiting for AAA, she ran into a friend who told her AmeriCorps (located in the mall) was hiring. Holsinger, who is now Bonner’s boss, had also been her high school principal at Thomas Jefferson High in Federal Way. “I wanted to walk the other way because I’d been pretty naughty in school and didn’t think she would give me a chance,” admitted Bonner. Instead, she got a hug and an opportunity. She ended up serving three years as a member in the Federal Way AmeriCorps Team and became a supervisor under Holsinger last September. “I kept coming back because I didn’t think I was done serving my students,” says Bonner, adding, “They say that AmeriCorps is for the kids but you can’t help but grow yourself. I’m committed to these kids as long as I’m here, and they know they can get involved and find someone who’ll support them with whatever they need.”

“This experience has also changed my life,” says Holsinger. “I don’t look at people the same. I don’t judge anymore; there are so many circumstances behind why people are where they’re at. You see the world through different eyes when you serve people. I’ll forever be grateful for this experience.”

To get involved in an AmeriCorps program, visit americorps.org and search for positions in your areas of interest.

Diane Dash is a frequent contributor to Seattle Woman.

©2007 Caliope Publishing Company