President Clinton’s new domestic Peace Corps initiative, Americorps, which is aimed at using the energies and idealism of young Americans to correct some of the country’s ills, will begin this September in 47 states, including Illinois, White House officials announced Monday.
With the announcement, 58 national non-profit groups and government agencies were selected to share some of the $47 million in funding that will be allocated to hire initially some 7,000 young people. The Americorps members will help immunize infants, tutor teenagers, keep schools safe, restore natural resources and secure more independent lives for the ill and elderly.
Three of the non-profit groups selected Monday are Chicago-based organizations: Acorn Housing Corp., which provides affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income families; City Year Inc., which addresses community issues; and the I Have a Dream Foundation, which mentors and tutors students from disadvantaged areas.
“Out of hundreds and hundreds of programs which applied, these 58 that we are going to be introducing today stand out as Americorps’ best of the best,” said Eli Segal, an assistant to the President for National and Community Service.
Americorps is the result of Clinton’s vision of a renewed service movement in America that he hopes will rebuild communities while broadening educational opportunities. Clinton signed the landmark national service bill on Sept. 1, 1993.
The groups selected Monday represent the first phase of what is expected to be as many as 200 Americorps programs that will hire a total of 20,000 young people by the end of the year, White House officials said.
Americorps members will receive a minimum wage and an educational award worth nearly $5,000 for each year, up to two, that they serve.
“We don’t kid ourselves; Americorps is not going to solve the massive problems we confront in America,” Segal said. “But it is going to make a difference.”
