AmeriCorps: Political activism in the guise of volunteerism

For the entire AmeriCorps profile, click here.

Selected highlights from the AmeriCorps profile:

AmeriCorps is a government-funded public-service network that was formally launched when President Bill Clinton signed the 1993 National and Community Service Trust Act … “to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering.” …

AmeriCorps members are paid workers, not volunteers….

Financed by the federal government, AmeriCorps funnels taxpayer dollars into the coffers of selected nonprofit organizations, which in turn use that money to pay the young people who register for a term of service with them. The recipients of AmeriCorps grants tend to be organizations whose politics fall on the left side of the spectrum, and whose efforts are focused on such projects as environmental activism, social-welfare programs, legal-aid assistance, political activism, teacher-education programs, community-organizer training, public health initiatives, childcare services, and ethnic-identity politics. Among the more notable recipients of AmeriCorps funding is the National Council of La Raza.

For the entire AmeriCorps profile, click here.