College Students with Disabilities Find Opportunities with AmeriCorps

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College Students with Disabilities Find Opportunities with AmeriCorps

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We hear it over and over again – you need to have experience in order to get

hired. But how do you get that experience if you need it to get the first job?

One possible solution is volunteering. And for college students with

disabilities, AmeriCorps may offer just the opportunity they're looking for.

The AmeriCorps Program

AmeriCorps is a government-funded program that offers 75,000 opportunities for

adults of all ages and backgrounds to serve through a network of partnerships

with local and national nonprofit groups. The commitment to service is for one

year, and may involve such volunteer activities as:

tutoring and mentoring disadvantaged youth

fighting illiteracy

improving health services

building affordable housing

teaching computer skills

cleaning parks and streams

managing or operating after-school programs

helping communities respond to disasters

building organizational capacity

You must be 17 years old to participate, with an occasional project requiring

you be 18 or older. Skills required vary by project, but it's safe to assume

that even if you don't yet have a strong set of job skills to rely on, there

will still be plenty of opportunities for you. Also, all participants receive

training at the beginning of their service year, as well as training specific to

the project they'll be working on.

How Does AmeriCorps Help College Students with Disabilities?

In return for your full-time year of service, AmeriCorps will provide you with

an education award of $4,725 to pay for college, graduate school, or student

loans.

But equally important, you'll be building a network of new friends and potential

colleagues, a portfolio of skills and experience, and documentation of your

ability to work successfully in challenging circumstances.

When one of the biggest challenges for graduating college students with

disabilities is to find employment, any means to knocking down the " no work

experience " barrier is something to consider. In addition, AmeriCorps provides

leadership and other training that you're unlikely to find in typical college

degree programs.

To learn more about the AmeriCorps program and see if it might make sense as a

part of your college and career plans, check out their Frequently Asked

Questions page.