Back in 1965, President John Kennedy launched a domestic public service equivalent of the Peace Corps, called VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). In 1993, President Bill Clinton created Americorps as an initiative within the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). In 1994, VISTA was rolled into Americorps along with a National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and Senior Corps (for senior volunteers). There is also a state and national division that grants funds to communities across the United States.
Alaska has plenty of Americorps opportunities, and today’s Hometown Alaska looks at some of the organizations they assist, and meets volunteers to hear about their own experiences in public service.
As always, listeners’ questions and comments are welcome throughout the program. We hope you will join us to learn about Americorps’ impact in Alaska, and how these volunteers in public service benefit from their experiences.
HOST: Kathleen McCoy
STUDIO GUESTS:
- Eric Milliken, community development program manager, RuralCAP
- Cameron Ebersold, Americorps VISTA volunteer, Alaska Seeds of Change
- Dahsuri Popoalii, Americorps volunteer, Covenant House
PHONE GUESTS:
- Megan Weston, Americorps volunteer, Alaska Youth Court
- Adrian Wonhola, Americorps volunteer, New Stuyahok
- Jamie Fleury, Americorps volunteer, Ninilchik
LINKS
- Serve Alaska, brings Americorps programs to Alaska, website
- Join Americorps, website, Division of Community and Regional Affairs
- What is Americorps? Wikipedia website
- Alaska Youth Court, employs 2 Americorps workers for annual summer leadership program,website
- Alaska Public Defender Agency Americorps job description, website
- Alaska Seeds of Change, engages Americorps workers in Anchorage, website
- Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Americorps recruitment website
- National Service in Alaska (Senior Corps, Americorps VISTA), website
- Vista Campus, Alaska (for stories about Vista and Americorps service in Alaska) website
PARTICIPATE:
- Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (2:00 – 3:00pm)
- Send e-mail to hometown@alaskapublic.org before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)
- Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on air)
- RE-AIRING: Monday, August 19, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.
- REPEAT: Monday, August 19, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
