Had a job interview and killed it, but its a one year contract with AmeriCorps. IDK AmeriCorps, are they cool?

IDK shit about AmeriCorps. Anyone got the lowdown on them?

The actual org I'd be working with is an anti-homelessness org in my city. The pay is super low and they were transparent in saying "yeah a lot of the people that work with us have other jobs" but after 2 years of hardly any income, and a chance at a job where I'd actually be helping people, I'd take it in a second.

Guess what I'm looking for here, is "is there anything shitty about AmeriCorps I should know if they offer me a job?"

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AmeriCorps is a pretty shit neolib organization that's going to work you to the fucking bone for a pittance. But. You can do some good work through them and maybe make some connections through them to other orgs in the city. So if you're open to working hard for not nearly enough then it could be okay
- Right on, ty! Seems about what I expect, but still am excited if this works out!
- I will also say if you work hard and drink the cool aid there are often opportunities to work with them more permanently but you really gotta drink the cool aid and suck up to make that happen.
I used to volunteer to help teach kids to read in a summer daycare program led by AmeriCorps. Everyone was super cool and really wanted to do good.
More of a bandaid for a gunshot wound kind of government aid, but that’s not to say they don’t do some actual good.
- Cool! Overall it sounds like about what I expected from the org, I was curious if they had some hideous shit under their belt that isnt super public. Im pretty psyched for the job and hope they offer it to me!
the big draw is that if you have student loans, as I understand it, americorps will make a significant pay down on them after your term of service.
I haven't been an americorps worker, but I have worked with them. they tend to work with very limited resource non profits doing some public service, so the work bends towards being very rewarding.
and I have seen those non-profits eventually hire those americorps workers if they can find sustaining funding to cover the cost, but it isn't a guarantee. it's more like the hope of an americorps funded position.
anyway, just knowing that the pay is crap (thought the student loan kick in can mitigate this) and that it may not result in a permanent position at the location is all you need to know. the experience can be invaluable and you will almost certainly get to know and work with a group of people who really give a shit about people, natural resources and community, and you can all be broke together.
that's how I spent a big chunk of my 20s and 30s and I wouldn't trade it for anything. it can be very affirming to meet and become friends with people who live simply and try to help others.
that first hand experience with organizations that try to work on helping people is pretty invaluable too, just having a better understanding of how systems and institutions fail us... if you end up going into government service later in life, americorps and the smaller non profits they intersect with provide a great context to public agency work and hiring managers look for it.
- Hell yeah thanks for the good writeup!
Teach for America, which is part of Americorps, is explicitly used to bust teachers unions. You're essentially an underpaid scab on a 2-3 year contract intended for charter schools in low income areas. They most often hire people fresh out of college who have no teaching experience and they provide little to no teaching support. Not sure if it's the same with other Americorps roles
We've got three AmeriCorps VISTAs at my org right now. Two of them are pretty on edge because of the DOGE stuff, the third just got here and don't really know his vibe on it. I think they like the work but that's very dependent on the actual organization you'd be working at
- Americorp Vista is exactly the thing I'm referring to actually! Not entirely sure what it means, but it was on the job application
  
  "Volunteers In Service To America" so officially you're paid by the govt to volunteer at the place you'll be working
Looking at the Wikipedia page it’s a US government org and has been a target of DOGE cuts so probably just keep that in mind.
- Word, thanks!
I did two years, working in elementary schools. The pay is super low, we would always joke that we were "AmeriPoor". The work was very "scabby". Like, I'm pretty sure a lot of what I did probably should have been done by a unionized paraeducator, but idk. The big benefits for me were paying off a chunk of my student loans, and meeting cool people from all over the country. It gave me an excuse to move to the midwest for a year. I spent both years in large programs, with people who moved from all over to do it. We were all a bunch of 20-somethings far away from home, often in big houses with a bunch of our coworkers, so it was a pretty fun post-college environment. Lots of parties and hooking up and all sorts of drama I'm too old for now.
There were a couple older people in my programs too. I wonder what their experience was.
- The best part is the monthly service projects. I mostly taught little kids how to read, but once a month the whole team would get together and we would do some cool community service stuff. I once helped build a playground, and I got to use a jackhammer to help break down pavement.
https://therealmainstream.com/hopes-dashed-the-downside/
I think AmeriCorps is one of the good Fed institution doing good work. But know that they are lowballing the value of your labor
You'll do good work for people who really need it but you'll be paid like shit
They'll pay a good chunk of student loans but i think you owe taxes on it
Nothing to add but I hope it works out for you
- Ty thanks!
Will you be like a member under a team lead? If you are, they let pretty much anybody be one. I was under a different program and my team lead didn't do shit and embarrassed us in front of people we were trying to help. A lot of the people you work with might be younger too, some are good eggs with a passion for helping people, others are there for daycare basically. It's a roll of dice on who your teamed up with.
Actually, Vista looks a little more hands off compared to my program where they provided housing. Probably a lot less of those daycare babies. But the gist of my comment is your team can make or break your experience.
- Thanks! Im not sure what the structure looks like yet, will probably know more tomorrow!

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