AmeriCorps has been serving as a modern-day Civilian Conservation Corps that's more diverse, equitable, and focused on 21st-century environmental challenges. For 30 years, AmeriCorps has focused on the environment, helping to conserve natural habitats, improve energy efficiency, protect clean air and water, and mitigate the effects of climate change.
AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers from coast to coast develop into well-rounded, problem-solving citizens while receiving workforce training and supporting a sustainable future for our planet.
95-Year-Old Volunteer Continues to Make a Difference
In Iowa, an AmeriCorps Seniors volunteer, Jerri, has been serving with RSVP since 2011, helping preserve and protect the Decorah Butterfly Garden. The garden needed help after the Iowa flood 2008 wreaked havoc on the prairie and butterfly garden, overgrown with non-native and invasive plants.
Serving for more than 13 years, Jerri has helped to bring a diversity of plants and colors to keep the Decorah Community Prairie and the butterfly garden thriving. Jerri is a vital member of the prairie who helped recruit more volunteers to preserve the butterfly garden. Through the years, Jerri and the volunteers have met every Tuesday to cull, plant, and mulch to create a cultivated space for the butterflies. Today, visitors can walk along an encircling sidewalk and wander mulched paths between plots of plants and various butterfly species that continue their life cycles.
"I joined AmeriCorps Seniors because I was looking for a way to help the community. I have so much fun and enjoy the friendships I made with volunteers. I am grateful to the local landowners who have converted the land to reconstructed prairies. It's valuable for the communities of Iowa to appreciate the prairie that is left and appreciate our native plants for the endangered pollinators," said Jerri.
Young Adults Help Support Jackson, Mississippi's Environmental Stewardship
Our nation's young adults also serve to create a greener and cleaner planet. In Jackson, Mississippi, members of AmeriCorps NCCC Team Bayou 1 are helping address the community's needs, such as increased environmental awareness and engagement and the void in recycling services after the city suspended its program in 2018. Our members serve with Keep Jackson Beautiful, and the Jackson Zoo helps to meet these challenges.
"What I enjoy most about my service with Keep Jackson Beautiful is helping to promote a sense of pride for the city of Jackson, Mississippi. I love meeting and connecting with community members like Mr. Wendell, who has lived in Jackson his whole life. At 80 years old, he was volunteering with us and sharing great stories of what the city was like for him growing up. This project has been very special for me," said AmeriCorps member Megan.
With Keep Jackson Beautiful, the team has collected more than 18,000 pounds of water bottles in the city, visited three community gardens to assist in revitalizing and preparing for planting crops, and is planning to help educate local high school students about the effects of littering and pollution. In addition, members are supporting the Jackson Zoo's animal care improvements, building repairs, and various landscaping projects to provide a quality recreational and educational environment dedicated to wildlife and conservation.
Women-Led Nonprofit Helps Launch North Carolina’s Environmental Stewardship Program
Conserving Carolina, formerly Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, was created in 1994 by the League of Women Voters to protect local land and water resources vital to the state’s heritage. In 2004, Conserving Carolina established AmeriCorps Project Conserve to add capacity to local conservation organizations to meet environmental and conservation needs in western North Carolina. For the past two decades, AmeriCorps members have helped educate and involve local communities in addressing critical conservation issues through volunteer engagement, climate resilience activities, and direct support of conservation initiatives, including habitat restoration, trail creation and improvement, land management, river clean-ups, and water quality monitoring.
“My time as an AmeriCorps member has been intense, in a wonderful way! I feel that the Project Conserve cohort is a band of friends and will be a network for life. From my experience as an AmeriCorps community engagement associate with Conserving Carolina, I have learned that there are many people who care for our world and are willing to spend time and energy on solving the problems we all face,” said AmeriCorps member Mary.
For six years, AmeriCorps Project Conserve members have educated more than 45,000 individuals about environmental and conservation issues, recruited more than 9,500 new volunteers, and improved more than 530 acres of public lands. AmeriCorps members also help preserve native species like the river cane, which stabilizes streambanks, reduces erosion, provides habitat for animals, improves water quality, and holds cultural significance for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Since 2023, AmeriCorps members have been supporting a local river cane restoration project.
AmeriCorps’ Commitment to Our Planet is Not a Moment, It’s a Movement
Our members and volunteers, like those serving in Iowa, Mississippi, and North Carolina, treated more than three million acres of parks and public land and more than 25,000 miles of trails and rivers last year.
AmeriCorps is grateful to the thousands of Americans who not only help protect our planet every day but also create a pathway for a new generation of Americans to work to conserve our lands and waters, bolster community resilience, and advance environmental justice.