September 26, 2008
by Melissa Ludwig
Imagine if volunteering for a year was a common rite of passage for youth, like going off to summer camp or backpacking around Europe.
That's the idea City Year wants to spread with ServiceNation, a campaign to get more young people involved in service opportunities such as Habitat for Humanity, Teach for America and City Year, an AmeriCorps program in which college-age students commit to a year of service in exchange for a $4,700 scholarship.
“Maybe one day it will become part of the fabric of a community to talk about where you are doing your City Year or service year,” said Paul Garro, executive director of City Year San Antonio.
On Saturday, City Year is hosting a youth service summit at the University of Texas at San Antonio Downtown Campus, and it is expecting hundreds of young people to come out for a rally, then spend half a day volunteering for various projects such as graffiti wipe-out, park cleanup and food box assembly.
Afterward, there's free lunch, live music and a volunteer fair with at least 65 nonprofits.
San Antonio's rally is one of 1,000 “Days of Action” happening in cities across the U.S., aimed at drawing attention to the need for more young people to volunteer.
Sparked by a 2007 Time magazine article, the case for expanding national service has gained ground in the past year, with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain both claiming it as a goal if elected to office.
Though it's been overshadowed by dire economic news, on Sept. 11 both candidates stumped for national service at a summit at Columbia University in New York. Both have said President Bush erred after the 2001 terrorist attacks when he told Americans — brimming with patriotism and ready to serve — to go shopping.
The candidates have proposed creating new volunteer corps focused on health care, disaster relief and sustainability projects. Obama has called for growing AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots to 250,000 and has pitched a $4,000 college tax credit for students who put in 100 hours of volunteer work.
“Part of the challenge is if the next president does boost national service, we might have some extra funding, but are we going to have interest from the young people?” Garro said.
At Saturday's rally, Garro wants local high school and college students to meet San Antonio's 33 City Year corps members, who are mentoring and tutoring at inner city schools in exchange for a small living stipend and the $4,700 scholarship. About half are from the San Antonio area and the other half come from all over the nation, Garro said.
Kristen Topp, a 24-year-old student at the University of Missouri in Columbia, chose San Antonio because she wanted to help combat the city's high school dropout problem. She is packed into a three-bedroom apartment on the South Side with five other corps members, all working 60 hours a week.
Saturn, one of City Year's corporate sponsors, will soon lend Topp a car, but for now she is taking the bus.
“You get very close to the members in your corps,” Topp said. “We live on a modest stipend, so it makes it that much easier to relate to the people we are serving.”
Topp got the community service bug doing food drives in her hometown of Kansas City, Mo., and organizing a march in Washington, D.C., to highlight women's health issues. She plans to hone her leadership skills during her City Year and someday work for a nonprofit women's shelter.
“You can't just isolate yourself. You have to be involved in the people around you,” Topp said.