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The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) plays a vital role in supporting the American culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility. We are a catalyst for community solutions and champion for the ideal that every American has skills and talents to give.
At a time of social need, CNCS and the network it supports engages more than 4 million Americans in results-driven service each year via 70,000 community and faith-based organizations. Through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund, United We Serve, and other programs, CNCS taps the power of citizens to improve lives, solve problems, strengthen communities, and build the capacity of the nonprofit sector.
Participants in CNCS programs mentor and tutor at-risk youth, rebuild communities struck by natural disasters, help seniors live independently, support veterans and military families, and more. Based on principles of local control, competition, accountability, and public-private partnership, CNCS provides a “triple bottom line” return on investment: benefiting the recipients of service, the people who serve, and the larger community and nation.
Service Through CNCS Programs Strengthens Communities
The desire to serve extends across generations and in every part of our country. Since the CNCS’s inception in 1993:
- Senior Corps volunteers have contributed more than 1.8 billion hours of volunteer service to communities nationwide.
- More than 775,000 individuals have served through AmeriCorps, providing more than 1 billion hours of service.
- Tens of millions of K-12 and college students have strengthened academic learning and gained civic skills through service-learning.
National service participants have improved the lives of millions of our most vulnerable citizens by helping children learn to read, caring for seniors, rebuilding communities struck by disasters, helping veterans readjust to civilian life, and more. Tens of thousands of nonprofits and faith-based organizations have been able to increase their capacity and effectiveness thanks to trained and dedicated volunteers serving through CNCS programs.
The members and volunteers who serve in CNCS programs provide vital assistance to institutions and organizations that serve the public, including national and local nonprofits, schools, disaster relief groups, public agencies, and faith-based and community organizations.
CNCS administers the following programs and initiatives to foster solutions that help mobilize other volunteers and build the capacity of organizations and communities to solve problems:
- Senior Corps engages 300,000 Americans age 55 and older annually as Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and RSVP volunteers.
- AmeriCorps engages 80,000 men and women each year in intensive service to address education, poverty, health, disaster relief, and other critical issues, while mobilizing nearly 3 million volunteers for the organizations they serve. .
- The Social Innovation Fund promotes public and private investments in effective nonprofit organizations to help them replicate and expand to serve more low-income communities.
- The Martin Luther King Day of Service supports community organizations in their efforts to engage local citizens in service on the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday.
- The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll honors colleges and universities for the commitment of their students, faculty, and staff to community service.
- The September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance is the culmination of an effort originally launched in 2002 by 9/11 family members and support groups, who worked to establish the charitable service day as a forward-looking way to honor 9/11 victims, survivors, and others who rose up in service in response to the attacks.
Service That Provides a Powerful Return on the Investment
The end results of national service tell stories that reveal the benefits for the people involved with the service as well as the communities reached.
- CNCS is a critical partner to communities facing natural disasters, providing trained volunteers to assist in feeding and shelter operations, home repairs, environmental cleanup, needs assessments, client casework, and long-term recovery. Since Hurricane Katrina, CNCS participants have contributed more than 10 million hours of service, managed 650,000 volunteers, assisted 3 million people, completed 55,000 damage assessments, refurbished 10,500 homes, constructed 2,000 new homes, served 1.6 million meals, and distributed 6,000 tons of food.
- Young or low-income adults face the toughest prospects for employment, and national service offers a path forward by providing valuable work experience, career skills, and educational support. By helping at-risk youth graduate, go to college, and find productive employment, national service saves taxpayer dollars that may otherwise have to be spent on prisons, rehabilitation, and other social services.
- To be competitive in a global economy, more Americans need to complete college or post-secondary education. More than 600,000 Americans have earned Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards to help pay for college in exchange for serving their country. By taking personal responsibility, they are earning educational opportunity.
- National service is a powerful catalyst and force-multiplier for community volunteering. Last year, CNCS programs mobilized and managed more than 3 million community volunteers. For example, AmeriCorps members serving with Habitat for Humanity have engaged more than 1 million volunteers to build more than 10,000 Habitat homes throughout the United States since 1994.
More About Our Role and Impact
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