The U.S. House of Representatives today expressed its strong appreciation for AmeriCorps and its important contribution to our nation by overwhelmingly passing a resolution recognizing May 11-18 as AmeriCorps Week.

House Resolution 1173, which passed this afternoon by a 344-69 vote, “acknowledges the significant accomplishments of the AmeriCorps members, alumni, and community partners; recognizes the important contributions to the lives of our citizens by AmeriCorps members; and encourages citizens of all ages to consider serving in AmeriCorps.” (Full text below)

The bipartisan resolution was introduced on May 5 by Doris Matsui (D-CA), Co-Chair of the National Service Congressional Caucus.  A similar resolution has been introduced in the U.S. Senate (S.Res.548) by Senators Dodd (D-CT) and Cochran (R-MS) and 22 other cosponsors, and dozens of Governors and Mayors have issued AmeriCorps Week proclamations

On the House floor, several speakers noted AmeriCorps’ growth and impact, citing the fact that AmeriCorps 540,000 members have contributed more than 705 million hours of service since the program’s inception in 1994.  Others highlighted the life-long contribution of AmeriCorps alumni and how members become future civic leaders, public servants, and social entrepreneurs.

Alums Outpace Controlled Comparison Group in Public Service Careers, Civic Engagement, Community Activism, and Life Fulfillment

AmeriCorps is building a powerful pipeline for public servants, civic leaders, and social entrepreneurs, finds a new longitudinal study released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Released in coordination with a Brookings Institution briefing this morning, the study, Still Serving: Measuring the Eight-Year Impact of AmeriCorps on Alumni, is the most rigorous evaluation ever conducted on AmeriCorps’ long-term impacts on its members. Based on data collected eight years after members completed their year of service, the study conclusively demonstrates that AmeriCorps causes long-term positive impacts on the civic attitudes and behaviors of the program's alumni. AmeriCorps alums are significantly more civically engaged and more likely to pursue public service careers in the government and nonprofit sector than their counterparts in the scientifically crafted comparison group, which has also been tracked for eight years. They are also significantly more likely to be happy and satisfied with their lives. The report, executive summary, and other information is at www.NationalService.gov/research.

“Even those of us who started off believing that intense service can make better citizens have been astonished at the strength of these findings," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps. “With more than 60 percent of our alums working in nonprofits or government, these results are way more than statistically significant. AmeriCorps is becoming America's most important pipeline to careers in nonprofits and government -- this at the same time that crisis level shortfalls in leadership and workforce are looming in these areas."