I pulled out a couple of quotes from his speech that really stuck out to me
"It’s the same spirit of service I’ve seen across this country. I’ve met countless people of all ages and walks of life who want nothing more than to do their part. I’ve seen a rising generation of young people work and volunteer and turn out in record numbers. They’re a generation that came of age amidst the horrors of 9/11 and Katrina, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an economic crisis without precedent. And yet, despite all this -- or more likely because of it -- they’ve become a generation of activists possessed with that most American of ideas, that people who love their country can change it. They’re why the Peace Corps had three applications for every position available last year; why 35,000 young people applied for only 4,000 slots in Teach for America; why AmeriCorps has seen a 400-percent increase in applications in just the past four months."I love that my generation has been drawn to service. I guess I hadn't ever thought about the fact that we are the "generation that came of age amidst the horrors of 9/11 and Katrina" despite the fact that so many of my friends have gone to the Gulf Coast to help with relief efforts. It is inspiring that there are so many people my age that want to do great things and really leave their mark on the world. The next quote I pulled out is where I get a little concerned about this...
"That’s why this bill will expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000 in less than a decade."
That is a drastic increase. I think that is possible over a decade, but within the VISTA program alone (there are several AmeriCorps programs) 3,000 of those spots have to be created and filled before September 1, 2009 because the funding will end September 1, 2010. The process of creating my position was a several month process, then it took about 2 months for them to fill the position. I worry that the positions being created are not being well thought out, and therefore the VISTA will not be able to make as strong of an impact. I worry that organizations don't understand the overall VISTA mission and the purpose of having a VISTA in the office and they will end up using the individual that fills the spot as more of an internship/free labor kind of thing. I am also concerned that some people are deciding to join AmeriCorps just because they can't find a job elsewhere. Which that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if they find a "real" job 6 months into their position, how many people will quit instead of finishing their year? I love the VISTA program and all that it stands for and it will be very interesting to see it develop over the next 4 months as they create all of these positions and attempt to fill them. I truly hope that this is not an issue of people just doing it because they can't find another job, but rather this is something they have thought about and since the job market is rough, they decided that this was their push to join and make a difference.
I hope I'm not sounding stuck up and saying that people are joining for the wrong reasons-I'm not the right person to be judging the motivation of others. These are just my initial reactions to the Serve America Act.
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