NC service year programs build community and meet local needs

When I describe what I do for a living, I often reference the Beloved Community – a vision that we will one day share space grounded in justice, where all will be equally valued.

I count the young people I work with through Johnson Service Corps among those helping to achieve that, starting with the year they spend in the Triangle deeply engaged in local nonprofits, their neighborhoods, area faith communities, and with each other.

While they take various shapes, service-year programs provide the opportunity for participants to meet local needs through hands-on engagement. Frequently these are younger people placed in under-resourced areas helping with everything from offering educational programming to assisting families impacted by domestic violence to running food pantries. They are making the world a better place while challenging the rest of us to step up our game. They are embodying servant leadership.

Led by the Service Year Alliance out of Washington D.C., a national effort is underway to elevate this work and expand its reach, and North Carolina has become an incubator for how that might happen across an entire state. The N. C. State-based Institute for Emerging Issues has launched the Service Year NC Initiative with the goal of making a year of service a viable opportunity for all young people here. Of the eight locations working with Service Year Alliance in this initial effort, North Carolina is currently the only statewide partner.

Maggie Woods, a Policy and Program Manager at IEI, knows first-hand how valuable a service-year experience can be. She served as an AmeriCorps VISTA before coming to Duke to study public policy. Her VISTA experience directly related to that choice.

“When you are spending every day of your life serving others, it gets in your bones and stays with you,” she said. The AmeriCorps experience “was the first time in my life that I understood what community meant, and it propelled me into a life of public service.”

The Service Year Alliance, wants to increase the number of young people serving nationally in programs like AmeriCorps, Teach for America, and the Peace Corps from the 65,000 currently engaged to 100,000. That effort got a boost in September when increased funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service was included in appropriations at the national level despite efforts earlier in the year to defund it.

In North Carolina, the goal is to double participation to 2800, and efforts are already underway in four communities to build and strengthen service-year opportunities in each. Darryl Lester joined Service Year NC in July as the program’s director, and one of his first priorities is strategic planning. Lester’s background includes work with the service-year organization Public Allies, the philanthropic sector, and the UNC system. Beyond the national collaboration, Lester said he will work within North Carolina on shared training, recruitment, and supporting the programs already providing service years here. That’s good news for smaller organizations like the one I work with the potential for additional opportunities to collaborate with larger groups.

Also important to Lester is diversifying the pool of participants in a service year, making it practically and financially accessible to all. And he emphasizes the preparation service-year programs provide young people as they prepare for what comes next, offering valuable employment experience and workforce development.

“Service Year NC is a good marriage between the service-year community, civic engagement, and creating spaces for individuals to promote their time, talent, and resources within the community,” Lester said.

Bringing it all back to a beloved aspiration.

Community columnist Aleta Payne of Cary is executive director of Johnson Service Corps, a community of young adults committed to social justice and spiritual growth.

This story was originally published October 6, 2018 at 6:35 PM.