At AmeriCorps, we recognize our responsibility to the military community, including caring for veterans and their families.
For more than 30 years, AmeriCorps has proudly served as a pathway for military veterans across the country to continue their service to America. From defending our nation’s freedoms to strengthening their communities at home, the dedication veterans possess is endless and AmeriCorps is honored to connect their passion to service.
AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serve the veteran community every day by building capacity at veteran-serving organizations, assisting military members transitioning out of uniform, offering wellness coaching for disabled veterans, and more.
Investing in Our Veterans
AmeriCorps’ studies have shown that programs supporting veteran and military families, like Vet Corps, can have a seventeen-fold return in communities. That means that national service produces a return of $17.52 for every federal dollar invested.
Vet Corps provides services to veterans to improve their academic outcomes, graduation rates, and postsecondary success after college through peer mentoring, resources, and referrals to veterans in college.
Serving and engaging veterans and military families is one of AmeriCorps’ key priorities. AmeriCorps members and volunteers have assisted nearly 245,000 veterans and military families by connecting them to education opportunities, jobs, and the benefits veterans earned during their service.
Celebrating Our Veteran Members and Volunteers
During AmeriCorps Week, the nation recognizes the dedication and accomplishments of AmeriCorps members and volunteers serving in programs nationwide, including our nation’s veterans who continue to serve the country through national service.
Each year, nearly 13,000 veterans take the AmeriCorps pledge and continue their service in their own communities. They apply the skills they acquired in the military as they respond to disasters, build homes for those experiencing homelessness, mentor youth, and support other veterans in need, and we are proud to support their efforts. For more than six decades, AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers provided support to the community, taking homebound veterans to appointments, teaching them about benefits, helping support military families, and more.
Dave, a Navy veteran of more than 20 years and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteer in the RSVP program, said national service is the connection veterans have to understanding each other’s experiences. AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in the RSVP program, like Dave, use the skills and talents they have learned throughout their lives to make a difference while also developing new skills as they serve their community. They serve veterans and military families, help recruit and manage other volunteers, support workforce development, provide disaster preparedness and mitigation assistance, and address other critical community needs.
Dave serves at veterans coffeehouse programs in Norwich, Conn., where local veterans and their families are invited to gather for coffee and conversation. The meetings, held twice a month, offer veterans the chance to build camaraderie among others who share similar experiences and understand the unique challenges veterans may face. Through the coffeehouse, veterans of all ages and their families enjoy a cup of coffee together while discussing common issues and sharing stories. The meeting premise is simple enough, but Dave said what comes from those meetings changes lives.
“We exchange a lot of information at the meetings,” Dave said. “Basically, people have their own personal issues to deal with as a result of their service – a lot of it medical-related – and it’s not always as easy as you think it should be for veterans to get the medical help they need.”
Even more important, though, Dave said the meetings give veterans the opportunity to connect with one another.
“It’s a chance for veterans to just sit down and exchange experiences,” he said. “To relax and talk to their peers a little bit.”
AmeriCorps' veterans supports programs also provide suicide prevention training to members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers so that they can recognize the warning signs in the veteran community. Veterans like Dave, who serve in veteran-focused AmeriCorps programs, show the nation how national service makes a difference in communities and in the lives of community members.
Celebrate AmeriCorps Week
AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers are proof that national service drives results and empowers local communities. Every day, they show that AmeriCorps works for America and that America’s greatness comes from the extraordinary acts of ordinary citizens.
Choose AmeriCorps to be part of something greater and pledge to strengthen your community. Join us in our celebrations and learn more about how you can make a difference.
