First Lady Invites City Year Alumna to Join Her for President's Address
March 4, 2009 - Millions of people watched last night as President Barack Obama called on all Americans to renew their commitment to service to help address the critical problems facing our country. City Year is honored that alumna Roxanna Garcia Marcus sat with First Lady Michelle Obama for the address, underscoring President Obama's deep commitment to national service and AmeriCorps.
"To encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations," President Obama called on Congress to send him the Serve America Act, "the bipartisan legislation that bears the name of Senator Orrin Hatch as well as an American who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country - Senator Edward Kennedy."
City Year's vision is that one day the most commonly asked question of a young adult will be "where are you going to do your year of service?" The Serve America Act brings us closer to that day by setting forth a bold plan for the transformative role service can play in solving critical problems and improving lives and communities across our country.
City Year CEO and Co-founder Michael Brown was truly moved by the President's commitment, and what it means for strengthening America: "National Service has the potential to be a powerful force for change in this country, and all of us at City Year are ready to answer President Obama's call to serve by redoubling our efforts to help children succeed in school and in life."
AnnMaura Connolly, City Year's Chief External Affairs Officer, who leads City Year's involvement in convening several coalitions - Voices for National Service, ServiceNation, and America Forward - said, "We are deeply grateful to our nation's leaders for recognizing the critical role that citizens - especially young people - can and must play in strengthening our communities and addressing the enormous challenges facing our country."
The Serve America Act builds on service as a strategy to meet specific national challenges such as addressing the dropout crisis and strengthening our schools; improving energy efficiency; safeguarding the environment; improving health care and expanding economic opportunity in low-income communities; and preparing for and responding to disasters and emergencies.
Specifically, the bill will:
- Create new corps focused on areas of national need, building on the success of AmeriCorps. Will support 175,000 members, expanding the number of participants to 250,000;
- Enhance incentives for participants who are age 50 or older to serve and establishes "Encore Fellowships" to help retirees transition to longer-term public service;
- Establish a National Service Reserve Corps to deploy trained alumni to natural disasters and other emergencies;
- Expand opportunities for secondary school students and out-of-school youth in low income, high-need communities to participate in service-learning programs;
- Create "Campuses of Service," where students engage in service and service-learning; a larger percentage of Federal Work Study funds will be used for community service positions;
- Strengthen the current "Volunteers for Prosperity" program, which coordinates and supports short-term international service opportunities for skilled professionals to serve in developing nations;
- Establish a "Volunteer Generation Fund" to help nonprofit organizations recruit and manage more volunteers;
- Provide a tax incentive to employers who allow employees to take paid leave for full-time service;
- Provide a funding mechanism that helps scale effective programs; and
- Develop a social entrepreneur fellowship program for AmeriCorps alumni and veterans.
In addition, the House Education and Workforce Committee, led by Chairman George Miller and Ranking Member Buck McKeon, will hold a hearing on national service today. Witnesses include TIME Managing Editor and City Year Trustee Richard Stengel, former CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service and Founding City Year Washington DC Board Chairman Senator Harris Wofford and recording artist Usher Raymond IV, a longtime City Year partner and supporter.
The leadership of President Obama, Senators Kennedy and Hatch, and Representatives Miller and McKeon honors the 12,000 young people who have served as City Year corps members and the one million children they have served, and the future of service.
Roxana Garcia Marcus, the City Year alumna who sat with First Lady Michelle Obama last night, said "If there is one common experience I wish for every American, it's to know the power of service - to have the opportunity to be a part of something larger than yourself and make a positive impact on your community."
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Contact:
Alison Franklin
Director of Communications
City Year, Inc.
afranklin@cityyear.org