AmeriCorps: The Billion Dollar Investment of a Generation
“With Honor Action plays a critical role in encouraging more Americans to serve our country, including thousands of veterans who step up to serve again. Their passion inspires others, supports urgent needs of local communities, and helps unite people from all walks of life.”
According to a 2021 survey commissioned by With Honor Action, the expansion of voluntary national service is a rare public policy issue with widespread support across party and generational divides. That is why With Honor Action has worked hand-in-hand with Voices for National Service to advocate for our nation’s largest civic national service organization: AmeriCorps.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, With Honor Action led a coalition of Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) to advocate for the CORPS Act, a bill expanding service opportunities and programs for pandemic response and recovery efforts.
Working alongside Senator Chris Coons, Senator Roger Wicker and the Members of the bipartisan For Country Caucus, With Honor Action embarked on a comprehensive grassroots effort that included a national communications and advocacy program. A bold, but practical response to the varied needs of a nation in crisis, this effort culminated with a once-in-a-generation investment in America’s national service programs.
Read LetterIn 2021, With Honor Action, Voices for National Service, and the For Country Caucus successfully passed a historic $1 billion expansion to AmeriCorps, increasing living allowances for over 250,000 AmeriCorps participants with a special focus on placing members in rural and high-poverty community-based organizations who were the most affected by the pandemic.
For this work, With Honor Action was awarded National Service Advocate of the Year by Voices for National Service, alongside then-For Country Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Don Bacon.
Read more about this first major expansion of voluntary national service in more than two decades in this USA Today op-ed written by Mary Tobin, then-AmeriCorps’ Senior Advisor for Wounded Warrior, Veteran, and Military Family Initiatives, and With Honor Action’s Co-Founder and CEO Rye Barcott.
Army veteran Mary Tobin at the 2021 With Honor Action Gala with founding For Country Caucus Vice-Chair, Air Force veteran and Teach for America alumnus, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan.
"With Honor Action was one of the most important partners we had in our effort to successfully expand AmeriCorps for the first time in more than 20 years. With Honor is a key partner on many of my office’s top priorities, ranging from expanding voluntary national service to supporting our Afghan wartime allies and other important legislation in national security.”
Senator Chris Coons
"With Honor Action is one of our most trusted partners and always delivers results across party lines. In the recent successful effort to secure a significant new investment in AmeriCorps, With Honor Action mobilized a wide range of post 9-11 veteran service organizations, leading to dramatically increased support for national service across the country.”
AnnMaura Connolly Voices for National Service President