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Where Do You Fit in the National Service Family?

National service engages more than five million people annually in efforts that improve communities. It is sometimes a challenge to figure out where you fit into that picture. The graphic below is from the AmeriCorps 101 tool, which is available on the DVD that is a part of this kit. AmeriCorps 101 is designed to help AmeriCorps members understand their role within the larger AmeriCorps and national service family.

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The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is the federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. CNCS administers three main programs:

  • AmeriCorps: 83,000 members engaged in direct service and capacity building activities
  • Senior Corps: 440,000 Americans 55 and older serving through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), Foster Grandparents, and Senior Companions
  • Learn and Serve America: 1 million students engaged in service-learning

These 1.5 million direct participants recruit and manage another 3.8 million community volunteers each year, helping the nonprofits they serve expand their reach and impact. CNCS also administers the Social Innovation Fund, Volunteer Generation Fund, Nonprofit Capacity Building Program, Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, and leads President Barack Obama's United We Serve initiative.

AmeriCorps members typically serve at a site, which may be one of several sites served by a local AmeriCorps grantee or sponsor organization. AmeriCorps members may serve through one of three types of AmeriCorps programs:

  1. AmeriCorps State and National – This is the largest part of AmeriCorps, which engages more than 74,000 members annually serving with more than 13,000 national and local nonprofits, faith-based institutions, schools and universities, public agencies, and Native American tribes. Members serve in both full-time and part-time positions and address critical community needs in education, economic opportunity, disaster services, healthy futures, environmental stewardship, and with veterans and military families.
  2. AmeriCorps VISTA - AmeriCorps' poverty-fighting arm was created in 1964 as part of the War on Poverty. The program engages 7,700 members each year in collaborations with low-income individuals and communities to fight poverty. VISTA members serve full-time for one year with more than 1,000 project sponsors and focus on capacity-building opportunities including raising funds, recruiting volunteers, and designing sustainable programs.
  3. AmeriCorps NCCC – This is a team-based residential service program based on five campuses in Sacramento, Calif.; Denver, Colo.; Vinton, Iowa; Perry Point, Maryland; and Vicksburg, Miss. Teams travel to projects in neighboring states and focus on disaster response, the environment, housing, and youth. The program engages 1,100 young people—age 18 to 24—each year, who serve full-time for 10 months.