“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.”

Expansing voluntary national service is a rare public policy idea with widespread support across party and generational divides, according to a 2021 survey that With Honor commissioned. That’s why we 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 COVID-19, With Honor led a coalition of Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) to advocate for the CORPS Act, which would expand service opportunities and programs for pandemic response and recovery efforts.

Working alongside Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and, Roger Wicker (R-MS) and the House’s bipartisan For Country Caucus, With Honor launched a comprehensive grassroots effort that included a national communications and advocacy program. A bold but practical response to the needs of a nation in crisis, this effort culminated with a once-in-a-generation investment in America’s national service programs.

In 2021, with help of With Honor, Voices for National Service, and the For Country Caucus, Congress passed a historic $1 billion expansion for AmeriCorps, increasing living allowances for over 250,000 AmeriCorps participants, with a special focus on placing participants in rural and high-poverty community-based organizations that were the most affected by COVID-19.

For this work, With Honor Action received the National Service Advocate of the Year award by Voices for National Service, alongside Rep. and then-For Country Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE).

Read more about this first major expansion of voluntary national service in more than two decades in this USA Today op-ed by Mary Tobin, then-AmeriCorps’ Senior Advisor for Wounded Warrior, Veteran, and Military Family Initiatives, and With Honor Co-Founder and CEO Rye Barcott.

Army veteran Mary Tobin at the 2021 With Honor gala with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), founding For Country Caucus Vice Chair, Air Force veteran, and Teach for America alumnus.

"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

D-DE
"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