U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) joined a team of AmeriCorps members currently posted at the Howell Nature Center for an afternoon of service on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019, becoming an honorary AmeriCorps member for the day as the program prepares to mark its 25th anniversary later this year. Slotkin has spent her career in national service, including serving three tours in Iraq alongside the military as a CIA analyst, and as a senior official at the Defense Department.
The group’s leader administered the AmeriCorps Pledge to Slotkin, who donned a pin and work gloves, and joined the AmeriCorps members in building a new hiking trail for the nature center.
“In this day and age, I firmly believe that service to your community is service to your country – and I couldn’t be more thrilled to join AmeriCorps members today at the Howell Nature Center to volunteer our time for the benefit of our local community,” Slotkin said. “Coming from a service family, it is heartening and inspiring to see young people who have devoted their time and energy to service, to the solemn responsibility to improve the lives of those around them. We need that now more than ever, and it was a joy to serve alongside them today.”
Since AmeriCorps was formed nearly 25 years ago, 2,100 residents of Michigan’s 8th district have given more 3.4 million hours of service to their country and received more than $8.4 million in scholarships. AmeriCorps members in the district serve year-round with organizations such as the Power of We, American Red Cross, Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps, and College Advising Corps.
This year, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which administers the AmeriCorps program, will invest nearly $3 million in national service projects in Michigan’s 8th district, including funding for approximately 100 AmeriCorps members and more than 500 Senior Corps volunteers, who join the 75,000 AmeriCorps members serve through 21,000+ schools, nonprofits, and community and faith-based organizations across the country.
This year, Slotkin advocated for increased funding for CNCS. The agency received a $55 million funding increase in the appropriations bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives funding Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies, including the Americorps program.
This fall marks the 25th anniversary of the AmeriCorps program. For more than two decades, dedicated Americans have chosen to prepare students for college, reduce crime and revitalize cities, connect veterans to jobs, fight the opioid epidemic, rebuild communities following disasters, preserve public lands, strengthen education, foster economic opportunity, and more through the national service program. Those interested in joining AmeriCorps can learn more at AmeriCorps.gov/Join
