Where Connection Builds Resilience: How Investing in AmeriCorps Transforms Communities, Saves Money & Changes Lives

08/04/2025 |

In a converted apartment where children’s artwork mingles with AmeriCorps logos on the walls, twelve-year-old Hadisa raises her hand with quiet confidence. The space buzzes with the animated chatter of refugee children, their voices reflecting a multitude of countries and languages, while red, white, and blue streamers flutter overhead. This modest community center, nestled within an apartment complex that houses Houston’s newest Americans, has become something remarkable: a launching pad for dreams and a fortress against despair.

Hadisa’s transformation tells the larger story. Eighteen months ago, this shy Afghan girl struggled with reading and carried the weight of a homeland torn by war. Today, she speaks with determination about becoming a police officer—one who will “help my community.”

Her metamorphosis didn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of a partnership between AmeriCorps and Sewa International, a humanitarian organization whose motto—”Together We Serve Better”—has become a lived philosophy creating ripple effects throughout Houston’s most vulnerable communities.

The Economics of Hope

We are part of community resilience. We believe that prevention is always good. If you build a more resilient community, during disaster or emergency times, communities are more prepared to face the disasters, and it reduces the anxiety component when those things happen... With the program that we have from AmeriCorps, we got involved in the 'blue sky' preparations—our members are there in the community preparing them, and it's known that if you invest a dollar in preparation, it saves at least $13 post disaster.

Tarvinder Taneja, Community Resilience Manager

Tarvinder Taneja, who manages community resilience for Sewa’s AmeriCorps program speaks with the precision of someone who spent twelve years in biological research before discovering the immediate impact of community service. “Every dollar invested saves $13 during recovery,” she explains, referencing the stark economics of disaster preparedness as calculated in a recent report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But in Houston—a disaster-prone city that most recently faced Hurricane Beryl last July and devastating windstorms last May that left much of the city powerless—the mathematics of community investment extends far beyond dollars.

The AmeriCorps program has fundamentally shifted Sewa International from reactive disaster response to proactive community building. “Sewa has always been involved in the recovery aspects when the disaster happened, but with the program that we have from AmeriCorps, we got involved in the ‘blue sky’ preparation,” Tarvinder notes. In workshops held in community centers like Hadisa’s, AmeriCorps members set up small televisions on folding tables, arrange chairs in circles, and create spaces where “the energy is interactive, engaging, and friendly.”

These intimate settings allow for the kind of trust-building that transforms abstract preparedness into lived knowledge. “A lot of people don’t know not to light the candle because of carbon monoxide safety,” Tarvinder explains. “Unless we re-emphasize these things, it doesn’t strike your mind when a disaster happens.” The goal is building “muscle memory”—automatic responses that can save lives when crisis strikes.

The Art of Being Subtle

Anthony Powell embodies AmeriCorps’ capacity to unlock human potential at any age. Wearing his AmeriCorps shirt with unmistakable pride, Anthony’s journey from oil refineries to mental health specialist reveals the program’s transformative power. At age 60, after massive layoffs at the University of Houston Downtown where he was pursuing his master’s degree, a friend’s suggestion to rejoin AmeriCorps seemed almost too convenient to be real.

When Sewa AmeriCorps Program Director Carole Juárez called the next day, Anthony’s disbelief was palpable: “Right now it’s not the time to give me a prank call…You called me the next day, and when you called me, you asked me to come into your program in mental health, and I’m studying mental health. This can’t happen that fast.”

But it was real, and Anthony’s AmeriCorps experience has taught him what he calls the art of becoming “subtle”—a word he uses with the precision of someone who has discovered its deeper meaning rooted in humility and openness. “Subtle means accepting and understanding what you’re doing in the position. The situation where you’re at is much more than just where you’re at.”

This subtlety manifests in Anthony’s work with children like Hadisa. His approach combines practical mental health tools with genuine connection. “He tells us about what you can do so you can stay calm,” Hadisa explains. “He said if you are emotional, you can just take deep breaths and you can calm down.”

The impact is immediately visible in Hadisa’s transformed mornings. Where she once felt “tired” and resistant to interaction, Anthony’s guidance helped her become more open as only teenage girls can be: “When I wake up, I let people talk to me and stuff.”

T hey kept giving me the opportunity and the responsibilities to better myself within the program. It was like baking good chocolate chip cookies: once they come out the oven, I couldn't wait to take a bite, and I've been taking the bite ever since. Ingredients would be leadership initiative, sensitivity, partnership development, patience—all those things... I used to wanted to do thing quickly. I learned to become subtle through AmeriCorps.

Anthony Powell, AmeriCorps Mental Health Specialist

Breaking Barriers Through Connection

Anthony’s connection with youth transcends typical program boundaries. During his first presentation at the community center, faced with children who didn’t speak much English and “were scared to be here,” he made an intuitive decision that revealed his natural teaching gifts. “What I did was we all decided to go walking. We went walking around apartments, and I gave everybody the opportunity to raise their hand and ask a question.”

That simple act—taking learning outside the converted apartment’s walls—transformed both educator and students. “When we finished and we all came back to the center…I had the attention of all the kids…I realized that at that time, I was a teacher.”

For Hadisa, this personal attention has meant concrete improvements. “One time I asked them, ‘Can you help me with reading?’ because I wasn’t good at reading before I came here. Then they started teaching me and stuff.” The understated “and stuff” contains multitudes—not just reading instruction, but the confidence that comes from having adults who listen, who see potential.

Tarvinder, who also oversees Sewa’s community health and mental health outreach, observes this connection in Anthony’s work: “Language, culture, there are a lot of barriers here. So first, breaking those barriers and telling them they need to take care of themselves, both physically and mentally, to build a more resilient community, is important.”

The Holistic Vision

Sewa International’s programming reflects what Tarvinder calls a “holistic approach” to community building. The organization doesn’t address disasters in isolation, but recognizes the interconnected nature of community resilience. Physical health, mental wellness, disaster preparedness, and educational support weave together into a comprehensive system.

“It’s not just serving the kids—their parents, their communities together, because if just a kid is uplifted and their family is not, it is going to impact the kid when the kid goes back to the family in the evening,” Tarvinder explains.

The diversity of AmeriCorps members strengthens this approach. Tarvinder recalls the striking age range: “At one point in time, our AmeriCorps members were—one was 18, the other was 82.” One older member, a retired engineer, exemplified the program’s transformative power. After six months of service, his family called Tarvinder: “We are so impressed to see our family member. And he has become a better human being by serving the community.” He had gained what his engineering background couldn’t provide—essential soft skills.

Building resilience is like a very holistic approach we have to take. We want individuals to be more healthy, both physically and mentally. So for us to de-stigmatize the topic of mental health and even talking about prevention, how to take care of your health is extremely important. Exercise, eating healthy, talking to the kids is a part of more resilient community. Our members have been doing these workshops in these communities and talking about different areas of both mental health and physical health... Prevention is always better than cure.

Tarvinder Taneja, Community Resilience Manager

The Invisible Cape

AmeriCorps gives a regular person that golden opportunity to catapult themselves into a position of support. We as human beings, we need support... AmeriCorps does that: it supports. When these high school [kids] come in and they got their [AmeriCorps] shirts on, I just want to cry because they just don't know that they got a Superman cape on. They can't see it yet.

Anthony Powell, AmeriCorps Mental Health Specialist

Anthony’s passion for AmeriCorps extends beyond his current role. He sees the program as a launching pad for ordinary people to achieve extraordinary impact. “AmeriCorps gives a regular person that golden opportunity to catapult themselves into a position of support,” he says.

His metaphor for new members reveals his deep belief in the program’s power: “When these high school [kids] come in and they got their [AmeriCorps] shirts on, I just want to cry because they just don’t know that they got a Superman cape on. They can’t see it yet.”

This invisible cape represents potential unlocked through daily acts of service. Anthony’s own journey from someone who felt nobody else would give him an opportunity to a PhD candidate illustrates this transformation. “It’s like somebody walks up to you and gives you keys to a brand new car and the title…But that’s the way I felt when I came upon AmeriCorps.”

Expanding Impact

Preparedness, resilience, and partnerships have also gone up. When we have more partners, more collaborations, we are able to serve better. AmeriCorps program has not just brought more organized service in the community, but also building partnerships and serving together and more outreach. It has expanded.

Tarvinder Taneja, Community Resilience Manager

The partnership with AmeriCorps has exponentially expanded Sewa’s capacity to serve. “Our presence in the community has expanded. Preparedness, resilience, and partnerships have also gone up,” Tarvinder notes. Unlike volunteers constrained by time limitations, AmeriCorps members provide consistent presence that allows for relationship building.

“We have committed members who are doing this service year-round and making the community individuals more prepared, more resilient,” Tarvinder explains.

For Hadisa, this consistency has provided stability in a life marked by displacement. When AmeriCorps members ask “What do you want to be in your future…who did you help?” they’re communicating that her future matters, her contributions count.

Building Hope for Tomorrow

AmeriCorps was giving me an opportunity to challenge myself to see how high or how strong I could be... That's the perks of the job. That's the grand tour of the service that I have had the opportunity to provide each day that I wake up and I put the [AmeriCorps] shirt on, because this shirt means something to me... It's a badge of honor.

Anthony Powell, AmeriCorps Mental Health Specialist

In the converted apartment where children’s dreams cover the walls alongside disaster preparedness posters, three very different people—a twelve-year-old Afghan refugee, a 60-year-old PhD candidate, and a research scientist turned community organizer—find common purpose in building resilient communities.

Anthony captures this when he describes wearing his AmeriCorps shirt: “Because this shirt means something to me. Because if it means something to me, it means something to others.” It’s a badge of honor representing collective commitment to the idea that communities can be stronger, that prevention is possible, that ordinary people can create extraordinary change.

As Hadisa continues growing into her dreams of service, as Anthony advances toward his goals of expanding mental health support, as Tarvinder continues building disaster-resilient communities, they embody Sewa International’s fundamental truth: together, we serve better.

The AmeriCorps shirts may not be visible Superman capes, but in Houston’s community centers and disaster preparedness workshops, in improved reading scores and calmer morning routines, their power is undeniable. Together, they build hope.

Where Medicine Meets Mission: How AmeriCorps Creates Healthcare Heroes Rooted in Community

07/29/2025 |

In the bustling pharmacy at Legacy Community Health‘s central facility, giant mechanical arms move with precision like oversized claw machines, plucking medications from towering racks while a complex conveyor belt weaves through the space, delivering prescriptions with clockwork efficiency. Amid this choreographed chaos, Amber Henry replenishes the robotic systems that serve as the arteries of healthcare for Houston’s underserved communities.

But for Amber, a 37-year-old AmeriCorps pharmacy advocate, the real medicine happens in the spaces between—in the conversations with patients who’ve never had someone explain their medications, in the phone calls navigating insurance labyrinths, in the moments when healthcare’s intimidating complexity gives way to human understanding.

“Just because you and I have those opportunities doesn’t mean everybody does,” Amber reflects, her voice carrying the weight of personal experience. “So we want to make sure that everybody has the same advantage, right? And healthcare for me allows me to do that.”

Amber’s path to this moment wasn’t linear. Armed with degrees in biology and Spanish, she worked as a claims adjuster before deciding to pursue nursing while simultaneously serving with AmeriCorps—a juggling act that nearly broke her until she realized her exhaustion would become “a testimony for someone else thinking that they can’t do it.”

The Human Cost of Healthcare's Maze

" Healthcare is incredibly complex. It's hard to navigate through. We need a lot of boots on the ground. That's really where AmeriCorps comes in. They serve as extensions of the community health centers, they serve as extensions of pharmacists, they serve as extensions of providers. They basically help connect people to care. Especially here in Texas where we have a lot of clients that are uninsured or health illiterate, we need those extra hands, and AmeriCorps really serves in that gap."

Kevin Aloysius, Director of Pharmacy Operations

Kevin Aloysius, Director of Pharmacy Operations at Legacy Community Health, has witnessed firsthand what happens when healthcare’s complexity overwhelms those who need it most. In a system where patients require “30 to 45 minutes of going and talking to them about their health condition, their medications,” traditional staffing models fall short.

“Healthcare is very complex,” Kevin explains, “and so there are times when patients are prescribed or given medications by their provider, but they don’t know how to take the medication. They don’t know how to get access to the medication.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas has one of the highest uninsured rates in the country, with 16.4% of its population lacking health care coverage.

This is where Legacy’s more than 80 AmeriCorps members become what Kevin calls “connectors”—human bridges spanning the chasm between medical expertise and patient understanding. Across Legacy’s more than 50 locations serving over 250,000 people throughout the Texas Gulf Coast, these young advocates tackle insurance prior authorizations, guide patients through patient assistance programs, and provide the individualized attention that transforms healthcare from a transaction into healing.

“I would call them connectors, actually,” Kevin says. “They link people not only with the client’s health, but also with our providers, with our pharmacists, with various liaisons in the clinic. So they kind of serve as that bridge between all of us.”

When Personal Pain Becomes Purpose

For Amber, the motivation runs deeper than job description. When her father passed away last year, she found herself translating medical jargon for her family, filtering complex information through her nascent nursing knowledge to help them make peace with an impossible situation.

“I was able, for us all as a family, to make the right decision for my dad because ultimately his status was not going to change, but it helped to provide that additional information for them to have some kind of peace with what was going on,” she recalls.

That experience of advocacy born from anguish now extends to her uncle in rural Louisiana, where resources are scarce, and to countless patients who find in Amber someone who understands that healthcare’s greatest barriers aren’t always medical—they’re human.

This shared experience creates authentic connections that traditional healthcare models often miss. “One of the good things about the AmeriCorps members is that they’re able to connect a lot more to our patients as well, because some of the AmeriCorps members have also had these challenges,” Kevin notes.

I wanted to make sure that other people had the same opportunities that I have. Just because you and I have those opportunities doesn't mean everybody does. So we want to make sure that everybody has the same advantage, and healthcare for me allows me to do that.

Amber Henry, AmeriCorps pharmacy advocate

Reaching the Unreachable

The transformation becomes tangible at community health fairs, where Legacy’s AmeriCorps members venture beyond clinic walls to meet people where they are. At the annual Lyons festival, a woman in her sixties approached their booth for a free blood sugar reading—the kind of simple gesture that can reshape a life.

Her glucose was dangerously high. She hadn’t seen a provider in years, worried about costs she couldn’t afford. But the AmeriCorps member didn’t just deliver bad news—they delivered hope. They explained Legacy’s sliding scale services, connected her with free blood glucose monitors, and discovered she was managing over 30 medications alone. “She said it was the first time that someone actually spent the time to talk to her… about her medications,” Kevin recounts. What began as a festival stop became a comprehensive care plan, complete with pharmacy transfers and home delivery service for someone living 45 minutes away.

“This wouldn’t have happened previously because we are not out there in the community sometimes doing health fairs. But the AmeriCorps presence out there in the community, we’re able to catch people, and share them the knowledge and also connect them to care.”

Building Tomorrow's Workforce, One Connection at a Time

AmeriCorps doesn’t just fill immediate gaps in service—it also cultivates a healthcare workforce uniquely attuned to community needs. Amber’s simultaneous pursuit of nursing school while serving as a pharmacy advocate exemplifies this dual pathway, where service and professional development intertwine.

“AmeriCorps led me to that decision because they helped me to realize just how much it is needed to have people to advocate and to have people to bridge those gaps,” Amber says of her choice to pursue an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse degree.

The program’s innovation extends beyond individual career development. AmeriCorps members have redesigned vaccine flyers to be more patient-friendly, organized HIV education conferences for college students, and even introduced wellness competitions using walking apps across Legacy’s four pharmacy locations.

“Something I wouldn’t have thought about,” Kevin admits about the walking challenge. “So I would say AmeriCorps members bring a little bit of tech savviness to our institutions as well.”

The Irreplaceable Human Element

It has definitely touched a lot of lives here at Legacy, both on the patient side and on the healthcare side. We're appreciative for the energy they bring in. We see our future leaders of America in these AmeriCorps... I see the excitement, I see the ambition, I see the heart for service."

Kevin Aloysius, Director of Pharmacy Operations

In an era of increasing automation—symbolized by those mechanical arms sorting medications—the most profound healthcare innovations remain fundamentally human. Amber has learned that “listening is just as important” as speaking, describing it as “a lost skill” that creates belonging for people often marginalized by healthcare’s complexity.

“At that point in time when they’re at those events, they are a priority,” she reflects about community health fairs. “Just being able to be there for them and being a listening ear, I think it’s just as important to listen as it is for speaking.”

For Kevin, who left a comfortable grocery store pharmacy position seeking greater purpose with community clinics, AmeriCorps members represent more than workforce development—they embody healthcare’s future. “We see our future leaders of America in these AmeriCorps. I see the excitement, I see the ambition, I see the heart for service.”

The Testimony of Transformation

AmeriCorps means so much to me. It's not just about serving and committing to hours and reaching those hours. It's about the feeling that you get doing the service. It's about the people that you meet, the connections that you make… Just having that sense of belonging, that community, it really helps people to be motivated and keep going no matter what your circumstance is.

Amber Henry, AmeriCorps pharmacy advocate

As Amber juggles nursing school, AmeriCorps service, and part-time work, she draws strength from knowing her struggles will inspire others. “This is going to be a testimony for someone else thinking that they can’t do it. And me reassuring them, you can.”

The testimony extends beyond individual achievement to systemic change. In communities where residents may go decades without healthcare, where insurance forms remain incomprehensible mysteries, and where the distance between “haves and have-nots” can be measured in miles to the nearest clinic, AmeriCorps members serve as essential translators of hope.

“AmeriCorps means so much to me,” Amber concludes. “It’s not just about serving and committing to hours and reaching those hours. It’s about the feeling that you get doing the service. It’s about the people that you meet, the connections that you make… Just having that sense of belonging, that community, it really helps people to be motivated and keep going no matter what your circumstance is.”

In Legacy’s bustling pharmacy, those connections ripple outward like medications moving through conveyor belts—reaching patients who thought quality healthcare was beyond their grasp, training future providers who understand that healing requires both clinical expertise and profound humanity, and proving that America’s most complex healthcare challenges demand its most compassionate solutions.

“Without AmeriCorps, I don’t see myself being where I’m at today,” Amber says—a sentiment that echoes through examination rooms and pharmacy counters across the Texas Gulf Coast, where young Americans are discovering that the shortest distance between sickness and health often runs through the human heart.

Where Everyday Magic Happens: Art, Dignity, and the Transformative Power of AmeriCorps

07/22/2025 |

In a sun-washed studio tucked in the heart of East Austin, the walls breathe with the stories of artists who have found not only their voice, but their purpose. There are no sterile corridors here—just bright windows, bustling tables, and the scent of paint drying on canvas. Art is everywhere: stacked on shelves, propped against walls, waiting for their turn to be seen.

This is Imagine Art, a nonprofit that for nearly three decades has served as both sanctuary and springboard for adult artists with disabilities. It is a place where brushstrokes are more than aesthetic—they are assertions of identity.

And in recent years, that identity has been strengthened by a powerful force: AmeriCorps.

At Imagine Art, AmeriCorps members aren’t just assistants or facilitators—they are mentors, collaborators, and, often, fellow artists themselves. They bring time, talent, and a listening heart to a community that thrives on expression. Together, they are reframing not only canvases, but the systems that have long failed to support people with disabilities.

Service in Strokes: The Role of AmeriCorps Members

Every day magic happens at Imagine Art. All I have to do is walk out the door and I see it... It could be an interaction between somebody and their object and their craft. All of a sudden there is this profound moment where they realize something wonderful that they'd just never seen before... It's about maximizing yourself as a person. It's an easy place to make that happen.

Rick Hernandez, Director of AmeriCorps

“Our members come to serve as artists-in-residence,” said Rick Hernandez, Director of the AmeriCorps program at Imagine Art. “They serve as instructors and mentors. They work side-by-side with the artists and teach them new skills. Our real goal is to assist them in becoming job-ready… It’s about getting them to the point where they not only can produce the art, but they can represent it. They can discern the quality. They can decide when it’s finished.”

Before AmeriCorps, the organization was overextended. “We had 60+ artists coming in daily to work in the studios, and we had two instructors… It was a capacity issue,” Hernandez said. “The AmeriCorps program really changed our world in that sense because it gave us the capacity to truly be able to serve the artists and to focus on a goal.”

Each year, about 25 AmeriCorps members support up to 65 artists with unique physical, intellectual, and psychological disabilities—adding not just hands, but heart and dignity to the mission.

“It’s not just about learning to paint. It’s not just about learning to mix color,” Hernandez emphasized. “It’s about studio habits. It’s about understanding the business of the arts. It’s about them being able to represent their work to a potential buyer. It’s about them being able to archive their work, to inventory it, to recognize its value… Those are kinds of things that are happening between our members and our artists daily. That’s the kind of engagement that is happening. The members are engaging the artists fully.”

Finding Purpose at the Crossroads of Creativity and Care

Before she ever stepped into the Imagine Art studio, Kathryn Schulze was learning how to serve—not in a classroom, but at the grocery store and in strangers’ living rooms, watching her mother offer kindness to women in crisis.

“My mom basically helped women in crisis pregnancies,” Kathryn said. “She would go to the grocery store with them and help them use their SNAP benefits… We would go and collect clothes for them or literally just anything else they needed.”

Even as a child folding donated clothes or tagging along on shopping trips, Kathryn sensed the quiet power of those small, faithful gestures. “It was really cool getting to meet the people that she was working with… Seeing my mom serving the community, it taught me that it’s about the connection and building those personal relationships and seeing the confidence just grow. Feeling loved and cared about is what really made the big difference.”

So when Kathryn found herself unsure of her path after college—her sociology degree in hand and art still just a personal outlet—it was that early imprint of service that guided her toward AmeriCorps. “I always knew I wanted to do something helping a community,” she said. “I had no idea that I could incorporate art into that… AmeriCorps had the perfect mesh of those.”

What she found at Imagine Art wasn’t just a job, but a place that would shape her voice, confidence, and future.

“The artists here have taught me to be more brave with my work and just to take risks,” she said. “I’m inspired by them literally every single day.” That inspiration has spilled into her personal art practice—prompting her to participate in art markets, receive commissions, and even show in galleries. “If I wasn’t working here, I don’t think I’d be nearly close to where I am now in my personal practice,” she said. “Working here has just jump-started everything for me.”

Beyond technical skills, Kathryn speaks of something more essential. “It’s really taught me to trust myself,” she said. “Now I feel like I second-guess less… I’m just trusting that I can do this, and I’m going to try this. If that doesn’t work, that’s fine—I’ll try the next thing.”

Having that intersection of art and service, is what really drew me to AmeriCorps... Seeing my mom serving the community, it taught me that it's about the connection and building those personal relationships and seeing the confidence just grow. Feeling loved and cared about is what really made the big difference... I wanted to keep it at that intersection of art and healing and art and growth and confidence building, which is really why I think what Imagine Art does is so cool because it is all of those things.

Kathryn Schulze, AmeriCorps Artist in Residence

Kathryn and the Horse Painter: A Story of Mutual Transformation

One of Kathryn’s first clients at Imagine Art was a charismatic artist with developmental disorders named Steven Fisher, “known for his passion for horses and intricate depictions of them. Many of the colorful mares, colts, and stallions that Steven illustrates and paints, have elaborate backstories. Working mainly in watercolor on paper and acrylic on canvas, he has a knack for giving each horse a unique personality,” according to his artist bio.

“He is also just one of the most gracious people I’ve ever met. And he’s super appreciative and is always giving people words of affirmation. He’s really encouraged me too with my own art,” Kathryn said. “It’s just been really cool to see him grow and gain confidence as an artist too. We’ve become good friends for sure.”

For Steven, the feeling was mutual. “She’s really friendly, helpful,” he said. “She’s helpful when I don’t remember something, like not knowing how to shade that much, she helps… The support she gives is unique.”

Steven, who’s been coming to Imagine Art for more than six years, finds joy and dignity in the creative process. “I come for opportunities,” he said. “It brings more audience. They really like my stuff I present. It makes me feel really nice to share with the audience what they want. I think it’s the beauty of it.”

Rick has noticed recent changes in Steven’s skill and confidence: “What I’m seeing right now is that the quality of his work, the quality of his brushstroke, the quality of his design decisions, the quality of his color choices—all of that is improving radically. And that’s because [Kathryn] sits right next to him every day and one-on-one guides him… and the value of that, you just can’t beat it. It’s just profound.”

”There is this continuum of consistent attention and provision of valuable service that ultimately gets one to that place,” he adds. “He’s always painted well… But the quality of it that I’ve seen literally in the last couple months since she’s been working with him is just extreme… And that has everything to do with Kathryn’s interaction with him. It’s about consistent, good quality attention and mentorship.”

Kathryn reflects that her own sense of purpose has grown alongside Steven’s. “The clients, the artists we serve, they give you unconditional care and respect and love and make you feel good about what you’re doing no matter what,” she said. “It’s shown me that just showing up and doing good work, as long as your intentions are good and to serve and you really want to help, that’s enough.”

Trust as a Pathway to Leadership

John Molina doesn’t just make art—he makes things happen.

“I paint, and I make my own coloring book and stickers, and I help in the kitchen over there,” he said. “I’m on the board with Debbie… and I’ve been working on different paintings, different abstracts,” said John, who uses “circles, spirals, scratches and negative space to reveal the undercurrents of how his artistic mind works,” according to his artist bio. “ I do flower people paintings. I do big ones and little ones.”

His days are full—organizing events, tracking outings on the calendar, networking potential collaborations, even curating his own shows. “Before TOMS Coffee closed, I did a show there all by myself,” he said, referencing a local cafe. “I was there until 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock setting up, and then I had to pull everything out, and they let me do it there.”

John also values the partnerships with AmeriCorps. “A couple of AmeriCorps members… taught me how to do the base of the painting,” he said. “Because when I do big paintings… if somebody asks for a three-foot one, they have to make sure that I’m ready to do it.”

His mantra is simple but profound: “I trust them because they help me, and they trust me… We do everything we need to do for each other.”

I paint, and I make my own coloring books and stickers... I trust [AmeriCorps] because they help me, and they trust me. And when I trust them, they trust me, and we do everything we need to do for each other.

John Molina, Artist

From Passing Time to Building Purpose

Before he was participating in Imagine Art programs, he was in programs that were not suiting his needs... The social interactions were also not as enriching as he needs for his own satisfaction and personal growth. So we were delighted that Imagine Art filled those needs in spades and provided him with creative outlets... It really took his daytime activities to a new level of enrichment, social benefits, and opportunities for growth.

Caroline Molina-Ray, sister of artist John Molina

John’s journey has not gone unnoticed by his sister, housemate, and guardian Caroline Molina-Ray. A decade ago, they were searching for a place that could offer meaningful engagement—not just custodial care.

“Imagine Art came into our lives at just the right time. It was really a godsend,” she said.

Today, John is not just an artist but an entrepreneur and community leader. One of Caroline’s proudest moments? The day John published his first coloring book. “It makes for a nice gift. Interspersed among the images… are John’s favorite sayings, and they’re very uplifting,” she said. “‘You’re my friend and I love you’ is just placed in the book as an affirmation.”

Caroline credits AmeriCorps for amplifying that impact. “It’s clear from their focus on serving individual clients, as well as the larger community, that they do this as a labor of love. It’s more a lived experience of giving,” she said. “We wouldn’t be able to see the benefits in the lives of the clients at Imagine Art unless we had such a dedicated and talented group of AmeriCorps members.”

Caroline has a deep appreciation for the AmeriCorps members devoting their time and talent to support artists with disabilities. “ They do it by sitting one-on-one with the artist, helping them to develop their skills, helping them to develop new ideas for their art, helping them to refine the artistic abilities that they already have. They do it by helping artists interact effectively with each other and with other members of the community. So they help artists build social skills and communication skills. They also accompany the artists into the community on field trips, on outings, and help the artists discover how art is integrated into the real world.”

One story stands out in her memory: “We got a little nervous not knowing exactly where we were,” she said of trying to locate a field trip site. “We called the AmeriCorps member… and [she] walked to us and physically ushered us to the right spot. That’s, I think, symbolic of AmeriCorps members playing a leadership role, playing a role as guide, but also just helper and support and trusted friend.”

The Bigger Picture: Art as Infrastructure

Beyond the individual stories lies a broader truth: the arts have economic and social power. According to a recent report by the Texas Cultural Trust, the arts and culture industry has grown more than 30% in the last decade, generating $6 billion annually for the Texas economy and contributing nearly $380 million in state sales tax revenue.

“One of the things that people don’t understand is the value that the arts have on a community from perspectives outside of just engagement,” said Rick, who led groundbreaking economic impact studies as former executive director of Texas Commission on the Arts.

It’s a clean, safe, scalable engine—and Imagine Art is proof that it can also be inclusive.

“Most of our artists will never leave here,” said Rick. “This place is forever for them… This truly is a community. It’s not just a place where you come to learn something and then leave.”

Rick has spent a lifetime championing the arts as public infrastructure. “Everybody’s enjoying it in some way or another and don’t even know it most of the time because they don’t understand the source of what it is that they’re enjoying,” he said.

And at Imagine Art, “everybody involved becomes a beneficiary of this activity.”

A Studio Where Lives Take Shape

Back in the Imagine Art studio, it’s just another day. Paintbrushes are rinsed. Critiques are held. Someone laughs over a half-finished landscape. Someone else leans over a communal table to adjust the edge of a canvas.

It’s not flashy. It’s not headline-grabbing. But it is, as Rick puts it, “everyday magic.”

“All I have to do is walk into one of these rooms, and I see it happening,” he said. “It could be an interaction between somebody and their object and their craft, that all of a sudden there was this profound moment where they realized something wonderful that they’d just never seen before.”

In that moment—in that revelation—is everything: the artist, the mentor, the system transformed.

This is Imagine Art. This is AmeriCorps. This is what happens when service meets soul.

Where Hope Takes Root: How AmeriCorps Grows Community & Opportunity in Killeen

07/16/2025 |

A massive heart-shaped sculpture sits at the center of the community garden outside the Killeen Creators studio, with a joyful message adorning its vibrantly painted facade: Community, Healing, Growth, Hope. Around it, tomato plants climb sturdy stakes, kale grows in neat rows, and the morning sun filters through colorful wildflowers. It’s a lush green oasis amid the cracked concrete and strip malls of this corner of Killeen—and it’s where Jacqueline Hewitt (affectionately known as Miss Jackie) faces her hardest challenge every single day.

“I did a lot of negative stuff… back in the day. If anybody knows my story, this area right here from the Taco Bell up there on 10^th Street all down the street—I used to do a lot of stuff,” says Miss Jackie, whose confident bearing and assured voice belie the vulnerability of her confession. This neighborhood holds her darkest memories—the blocks where she once worked the streets, struggling with pharmaceutical addictions and “was eating the dirt to try to find nutrition.”

Now she tends the soil here as an AmeriCorps member with Killeen Creators, planting seeds instead of destroying dreams. The irony isn’t lost on her—finding redemption in the earth she once consumed in desperation. “I do it because I want people here in the community to see that if Miss Jackie picked herself up out of the dirt, y’all can do it too,” she explains. “And I think that’s why I like working with dirt. If I can pull myself up out of that dirt, y’all can too… I’m [serving] right here in the area where all my mess took place. It’s a challenge each and every day, but it’s a rewarding challenge.”

Miss Jackie’s story is both deeply personal and universally resonant—a testament to the human capacity for transformation when given the right support and opportunity. The same streets that witnessed her lowest moments now watch her walking with dignity, greeting neighbors by name, carrying herself with the quiet authority of someone who has earned every ounce of respect she receives.

Building the Nervous System of Change

"AmeriCorps have become like the root system for a tree or the veins in your body. They're conduits. They carry messages, information, and tasks that need to get done throughout the city and the county... Our community is an organism, and we have utilized AmeriCorps in ways to fill needs and niches that don't really get met."

Kristin Wright, Executive Director

Miss Jackie’s transformation from addiction to respected community leader illustrates something profound happening in Killeen—a city of nearly 160,000 next to Fort Hood where military families come and go, leaving behind a complex web of need. In a region that, according to Built For Texas research, has the fewest nonprofits of any area in the state, organizations like Killeen Creators depend on AmeriCorps to provide what Executive Director Kristin Wright calls the “nervous system” that connects a fragmented community.

Kristin has watched this fragmentation firsthand. Military families arrive with hope and leave with orders, but not everyone can follow. Some are left behind by divorce, by disability, by the simple economics of relocation. Others choose to stay, putting down roots in a place that was supposed to be temporary. The result is a community of people who need connection but lack the traditional support structures that develop over generations in more stable towns.

When Killeen Creators began in North Killeen—where there were no major grocery stores and little public transportation—the founders discovered that good intentions weren’t enough to address the widespread homelessness and food insecurity. “Gardening is an every day commitment, especially in Texas, and not all the volunteers who signed up really knew that as fully as we found out,” Kristin recalls. The Texas heat doesn’t pause for busy schedules or competing priorities. “So AmeriCorps was an essential godsend to have people who have made a commitment, and they show up daily, so we’re able to water our gardens and plant seeds that actually thrive and turn into vegetables that feed people.” Kristin continues. That reliability became the foundation everything else could build upon.

That daily commitment creates more than vegetables. It creates relationships, trust, and hope in a community where many residents struggle with military transitions, food insecurity, mental health challenges, and addiction. Kristin describes AmeriCorps members as “conduits” who “carry messages, information, tasks that need to get done throughout the city and the county.” They’ve become the root system that allows community partnerships to flourish.

The Power of Lived Experience

The ten AmeriCorps members at Killeen Creators work both in the organization’s four community gardens and in their small studio on 10th Street, where a mural declares it a “Safe Space” with rules like “No judgment,” “Mistakes welcome,” and “Be kind (to yourself & others).” The studio serves as both classroom and sanctuary, a place where people can try new things without fear of failure or ridicule.

Many AmeriCorps members bring their own experiences of hardship—homelessness, post-traumatic stress, addiction, even incarceration. This isn’t coincidental—it’s intentional. Kristin and her co-founders recognized early that the most effective peer support comes from people who have walked similar paths.

“Having [AmeriCorps members] with very different lived experience, people in the community who have really intense needs and often low trust find someone on our team they connect with,” Kristin explains. “They’re the best peer support and coaches, natural coaches in our community for people who really do need that help.” There’s something powerful about hearing ‘I’ve been there’ from someone whose scars tell the same story as your own.

This approach challenges traditional nonprofit models that often create clear distinctions between service providers and service recipients. At Killeen Creators, those lines blur intentionally. The individual teaching a gardening class in the morning might be attending a peer support group in the afternoon. The AmeriCorps member helping someone find housing might have been homeless themselves just months earlier.

Miss Jackie’s story exemplifies this power of lived experience. Her journey to AmeriCorps began when she started volunteering at the gardens, finding peace in the morning ritual of watering plants. The simple act of nurturing growth became a form of meditation, a way to quiet the chaos in her mind and focus on something life-giving.

Kristin noticed her pain during one of their early conversations, and Miss Jackie shared pieces of her story—the addiction, struggle, and shame experienced on these very blocks. “It was really in that exchange with her that James, a co-founder and director, and I said, ‘We’ve gotta find a way to take these people who want to move forward and help give them an opportunity to do that,'” Kristin remembers.

Miss Jackie became their first AmeriCorps member and has since earned her certification as a professional peer support counselor. “It’s the first paid employment that’s legal that she’s ever had in her life,” Kristin notes. The significance of this cannot be overstated—not just the living allowance and education award, but also the dignity of legitimate work and the respect that comes with professional credentials.

Creating Space For Vulnerability

"You’ve got to face your fears. I was always a runner from the age 13 until I became a member of AmeriCorps — I always ran from stuff I didn’t want to face or deal with... But now on the daily, you’ve got to get up, you’ve got to suit up, and you’ve got to take care of your business... I think that's why I like working with dirt. If I could pull myself up out that dirt, y'all can too."

Jacqueline Hewitt, AmeriCorps member

Miss Jackie’s influence ripples through the community in ways both seen and unseen. She has an “uncanny ability to connect with people,” Kristin observes, whether they’re teenagers caught in the juvenile justice system or elderly residents in wheelchairs who need help reaching tomatoes on the vine. Her approach is direct but never harsh, honest but never judgmental.

The power of her presence becomes most apparent in moments of crisis. “We had a lady come a couple weeks ago who as part of her journal share disclosed—and very distraught and nervous to be telling this group of people—that she had gone back to prostituting to help pay for food,” Kristin recounts. The room fell silent, heavy with shame and fear of judgment.

“And it’s just a very different thing to have somebody in the room who can say, ‘I feel that. I know that. I’ve done that, and I don’t judge you,'” Kristin continues. Miss Jackie’s response wasn’t a lecture or advice or even comfort in the traditional sense. It was recognition—one human acknowledging another’s pain without trying to fix it or explain it away.

This non-judgmental approach transforms lives in unexpected ways. Jeffrey Nagel, a chef struggling with severe anxiety that manifested in compulsive skin picking, found his way to Killeen Creators through his friendship with Miss Jackie. Initially resistant to art classes—”I’m like, ‘Oh god, I don’t do art,'” he recalls—Jeffrey needed someone who wouldn’t take no for an answer but also wouldn’t push too hard.

Miss Jackie’s invitation was persistent but patient: “He’s a very friendly, outgoing person, but he wasn’t social like that. I used to tell him, ‘You got to just come down to the Killeen Creators and just hang out for a little while and just see what we do,’” recall Miss Jackie.

At Killeen Creators, what Jeffrey found is a place where he is safe to explore, take risks, and play. He discovered the art of paint pouring as an antidote to his high-pressure work environment where “everything has to be in control.” The art form became therapeutic precisely because “you have limited control because as you put the paint down… you have no control over how it looks until the end.” This lesson in letting go has helped calm his anxiety and given him new purpose as a monthly instructor, sharing techniques he’s learned with others seeking their own creative outlets.

“Teaching gives me a satisfaction that I never really had before,” Jeffrey reflects. He’s even brought paint pouring classes to the retirement facility where he works, watching elderly residents light up as they create. The joy is infectious and mutual—both teacher and student discovering something new about themselves through art.

From Homelessness to Hope

The ripple effects extend to those who seemed furthest from hope. Derrek McIlwain, a reserved man with a distinctive mullet, was literally living on Killeen Creators property when Kristin and co-founder James first encountered him. After losing his job due to injury and illness, spending time in mental health facilities, and nearly three years of homelessness, he had found his way to their gardens—not as a participant in programming, but as someone seeking shelter.

“In between 5 a.m. and 3 p.m., I was here,” Derrek says with a chuckle. He had learned the rhythms of the property, when staff arrived and when they left, how to make himself invisible during business hours. The gardens offered something he couldn’t find elsewhere: a sense of peace, of purpose, of being surrounded by growing things instead of decay.

“When they first noticed I was on the property, they were like, ‘Hey, why don’t you come in and cool off? See if you feel like a class or something?'” That simple invitation—free of demands or conditions—began a slow process of connection. Trust built gradually, one conversation at a time, one small act of inclusion after another.

When an AmeriCorps position opened up, they encouraged him to apply. The transition from homeless resident to AmeriCorps member wasn’t immediate or easy, but it was possible because the foundation of relationship had already been laid.

“I’ve been off the street for about a year and a half now in my own place. It’s all thanks to AmeriCorps,” Derrek reports. The work has shown him “that I can do more than I thought I could, and some of the issues I have aren’t as hard to deal with in a job that is made for your issues.” The phrase “made for your issues” captures something essential about the AmeriCorps model—not asking people to hide their struggles, but finding ways to make those struggles part of their strength.

"I’ve been off the street for about a year and a half now in my own place. It’s all thanks to AmeriCorps. It made me figure out that I can do more than I thought...in a job that is made for your issues. AmeriCorps means I can stay off the street and have a roof over my head and feel like I'm contributing. Killeen Creators is friends, family, coworkers, community, and just having a place to be myself and to be able to work."

Derrek McIlwain, AmeriCorps member

Filling the Gaps that Matter

For Kristin, these individual transformations represent something larger—AmeriCorps filling gaps that neither private sector nor traditional nonprofits can address: “You don’t make money feeding poor people. You don’t make money addressing homelessness. So it has to get done another way through partnership between for-profit, private, government, and AmeriCorps has really been that nervous system or vein system that connects us.”

This connective function is especially crucial in Killeen, where military turnover creates what Kristin calls “unmet needs.” The constant rotation of personnel means fewer sustained nonprofits and weaker social infrastructure. People arrive needing services that don’t exist, or exist but can’t be sustained by volunteer labor alone. AmeriCorps members bridge these gaps, linking Killeen Creators with roughly 20 other organizations and government entities to share resources and coordinate services.

The military context adds layers of complexity to every issue. Veterans return with PTSD and find limited mental health resources. Military spouses struggle with employment gaps caused by frequent moves. Children change schools repeatedly, disrupting their education and social development. Elderly parents of service members find themselves isolated when their children deploy or relocate.

Miss Jackie understands this broader impact from lived experience. “Since I’ve been working for AmeriCorps, I have seen it take people from nothing. I’ve seen it change homeless people. I’ve seen it change addicts. I’ve seen it change elderly people. I’ve seen it change people with PTSD,” she reflects. The transformation happens because AmeriCorps creates what Killeen lacked: “a building for all these different nationalities of people to come in there, and they interact like they’ve known each other for life.”

Tending Both Soil & Souls

The military connection makes this work especially poignant. “Fort [Hood] being the biggest Army post in the United States,” Miss Jackie notes, means there are “parents that you’ve left here, there’s grandparents that you’ve left here, there’s wives, there’s children, there’s mentally disturbed, there’s all that stuff that you’ve left here in Killeen, but no help programs for them.”

The phrase “you’ve left here” carries weight—an accusation and an observation wrapped together. Military families don’t choose where they go or when they leave, but the impact on communities like Killeen is real and lasting. AmeriCorps fills that void not through programs alone but through the daily presence of people who show up, water the gardens, staff the classes, and ask how you’re doing.

Kristin calls it “the daily work that gardens require”—but she could be describing community building itself. Both require consistency, patience, and faith that small daily acts will eventually yield something life-sustaining. You can’t plant seeds sporadically and expect a harvest. You can’t build trust with sporadic attention and expect lasting relationships.

“The food means nothing if it doesn’t get to people,” Kristin observes. The same is true for hope, healing, and second chances. They mean nothing if they don’t reach the people who need them most—the veterans struggling with reentry, the elderly residents in food deserts, the young people caught in cycles of trauma, the community members society has written off.

Miss Jackie, who has become a fixture in the neighborhood, embodies this daily commitment. “I’ve got my respect back, not just only from the community or from people in a higher position than me. I’m very respected here in the neighborhood,” she says with quiet pride.

Standing in the garden outside the Killeen Creators studio where her past and present intersect daily, Miss Jackie embodies the metaphor that drives her work: “I can plant the seed. I can water it. But it’s the love that makes it grow. I can’t do that all by myself.”

AmeriCorps provides that love—not as sentiment, but as the patient, daily commitment to show up for people and communities that others might overlook. In Killeen, AmeriCorps members have become the root system that allows an entire community garden to flourish, proving that sometimes the most powerful transformation happens not through grand gestures but through the simple act of planting seeds and tending them with care.

“AmeriCorps really provides a unique opportunity for people who have some work challenges, but also work ability, to figure that out and become as productive a member of society as they can,” Wright reflects.

In a nation that often sees only binary categories—success or failure, housed or homeless, employed or unemployed—AmeriCorps creates space for the much larger group of people who exist somewhere in between. They nurture what Wright calls “everyone has something to offer,” creating conditions where both individuals and communities can discover what that something might be.

The heart-shaped sculpture in the garden captures it perfectly: Community, Healing, Growth, Hope. These aren’t just words carved in metal—they’re the daily reality of what happens when AmeriCorps members show up, day after day, to tend both soil and souls. In Killeen, they’ve grown more than vegetables. They’ve cultivated the kind of community that transforms lives and proves that everyone, indeed, has something precious to offer.

Without AmeriCorps: The Impact of Federal Budget Cuts in Texas

08/05/2024 |

The U.S. House of Representatives is proposing to eliminate AmeriCorps, the 30-year program that provides the people power that local nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations train and deploy to respond to our country’s most immediate and critical needs.

If this happens, it will have a devastating effect on Texas communities that rely on the service of more than 3,200 AmeriCorps members each year to address complex social challenges and provide support to vulnerable populations. In a state as vast and diverse as Texas, AmeriCorps offers a responsive and scalable solution that adapts to the unique needs of local communities by centering human connection and relationship.

For example, as teacher attrition rates in Texas reached a record high of 13.4% last year, AmeriCorps members provided individualized educational support to students both in and out of the classroom. Approximately 22,000 students improved in their academic performance, and an estimated 25,000 students enrolled in post-secondary education thanks to evidence-based interventions provided by AmeriCorps members. In addition, AmeriCorps members reached more than 43,000 Texans with social services that improved local health and safety, including increased access to medical care, food security, and disaster readiness. This year, Texas is piloting a dedicated Youth Mental Health Corps that will offer one-on-one and small group case management to nearly 600 students, while also providing skills development for 80 AmeriCorps members. This workforce pipeline advancing the behavioral health field is critical in Texas, where 251 of 254 counties have been federally designated as mental health professional shortage areas.

Without AmeriCorps, more than 700 nonprofits, schools, and agencies will struggle to bridge gaps and ensure a unified and coordinated approach to supporting Texans in need. In addition, at a time when Texas faces shortages in teachers, government workers, and other public service positions, cuts to AmeriCorps would eliminate a valuable career pathway for potential leaders who care about making a difference in their communities.

AmeriCorps funding also supports state service commissions like OneStar that play a vital role in ensuring that states have a voice in how millions of dollars in federal funding are used at the local level. State service commissions are attuned to the needs of our communities and can direct resources to meet local priorities. In addition to stewarding AmeriCorps grants, OneStar also plays key roles in advancing volunteerism and harnessing the power of service in Texas. This includes coordinating regional volunteer centers, recognizing excellence in volunteerism statewide, organizing disaster philanthropy efforts, and advocating for a stronger statewide nonprofit sector.

Without AmeriCorps and state service commissions, states would lose the opportunity to leverage federal resources that are responsive to state-identified needs. Without a state service commission, there would be no one to foster innovation, coordinate statewide collaboration, or advance efforts to scale service and volunteerism. Texas would end a 50-year legacy of supporting and harnessing the power of service to strengthen local communities.

Texas joins new national initiative to address America’s youth mental health crisis

05/15/2024 |

Texas joins 10 other states, the Schultz Family Foundation, Pinterest, and AmeriCorps to launch country’s first Youth Mental Health Corps

AUSTIN – In response to America’s youth mental health crisis, Texas is joining forces with 10 other states, the Schultz Family Foundation, Pinterest and AmeriCorps to recruit, train, and deploy the nation’s first Youth Mental Health Corps to help teenagers access critical mental health resources.

The new Youth Mental Health Corps is an innovative, public-private collaboration, with a robust set of partners that include America’s Service Commissions, America Forward, and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. The Corps will address the growing needs of young people while creating career pathways to address the national shortage of mental-health professionals. Corps members will be trained as navigators serving middle and high school students in schools and in community-based organizations.

In Texas, Youth Mental Health Corps AmeriCorps members will serve with Communities In Schools programs in Central Texas, North Texas, and San Antonio, offering case management through weekly one-on-one or small group sessions to economically disadvantaged students.

Corps members will gain valuable on-the-job experience, receive a stipend, and earn a credential to advance their career. They will also be eligible for education awards to pursue higher education or pay back qualifying student loans.

One in three high school students report persistent feelings of hopelessness, and approximately 122 million people live in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area, where there is a shortage of more than 6,000 practitioners, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

There is also broad concern about the impact of social media on the mental health of young people. Youth Mental Health Corps members will work directly with students to develop trust, share resources for digital and media literacy, and help students navigate social challenges online such as harassment, bullying and bias.

The Youth Mental Health Corps seeks to address the crisis by leveraging the power of national service. Conceived by the Schultz Family Foundation and Pinterest, the program was developed in consultation with hundreds of experts and practitioners. Both organizations will provide financial support to participating state service commissions to design and adapt the initiative to meet local needs, including providing training and credentials at no cost to Corps members. AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteerism, will provide operating support to organizations hosting members, as well as stipends and education awards to Corps members.

Hundreds of Corps members will be deployed in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Texas starting in September 2024. Seven other states— California, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Utah—have received planning grants and intend to launch their own Corps in the fall of 2025. As the program expands, thousands of young adults will participate each year, providing mental-health support to tens of thousands of teens.

Anyone ages 18-24 with a high school diploma can apply at www.youthmentalhealthcorps.org.

QUOTES:

“In Texas, we are committed to growing the mental health workforce and ensuring our students have access to the resources they need in school. We are honored to partner with Communities In Schools as one of the first states to implement the Youth Mental Health Corps and offer school-based mental health navigator career development opportunities for young people, while they provide critical wrap-around services to middle and high school students.” – Chris Bugbee, OneStar President & CEO
“National service is a win-win for addressing the teen mental-health crisis because it allows young adults to support each other peer-to-peer while gaining valuable skills and experience, getting paid, and earning a credential. The Youth Mental Health Corps demonstrates the power of philanthropy, business, government, and non-profits partnering to create innovative solutions to critical national challenges.” – Sheri Kersch Schultz, Schultz Family Foundation co-founder and chair
“At Pinterest, we’re committed to creating an inspirational and positive online experience for young people. Supporting youth mental health requires everyone across the industry coming together, and we’re proud to support the Youth Mental Health Corps. Together, we’re leveraging our collective expertise to provide youth-led mental health resources and meet young people where they are.” – Wanji Walcott, Pinterest Chief Legal Officer
“We are at a critical moment where we must act with urgency to address the mental health crisis that is impacting millions of our children. I am incredibly thankful for our grantees and partners at America Forward, Pinterest, and Schultz Family Foundation for standing up Youth Mental Health Corps. This innovative cross-sector partnership will build on AmeriCorps’ 30 years of hands on experience supporting youth mental health and well being. AmeriCorps members will serve as peer support specialists and navigators at schools and in communities to connect students with care.” – Michael D. Smith, CEO, AmeriCorps

About OneStar

OneStar strengthens Texas communities by creating pathways for individuals and organizations to engage, connect and accelerate their impact. We advance service and volunteering as effective solutions to our state’s toughest social challenges. We are recognized as a statewide voice for the Texas nonprofit sector and a respected partner to foundations, state agencies and the business community. Born from state government in 1974, we carry out our mission with direction and guidance from the Office of the Texas Governor. Learn more at onestarfoundation.org.

About the Schultz Family Foundation

The Schultz Family Foundation’s mission is to create greater opportunity, accessible to all. Our work is deeply rooted in the lives and values of our co-founders, Sheri and Howard Schultz, who believe talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. We seek to apply the lessons they have learned over the decades to seed innovations and scale solutions to help young people successfully navigate the transition to adulthood and positively impact the trajectory of their lives. We are investors in unleashing potential and unlocking opportunity, working in partnership with employers, entrepreneurs, non-profits, and governments that share our aspiration of enabling everyone to access the full promise of America. Learn more at: www.schultzfamilyfoundation.org

About Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual search and discovery platform where people find inspiration, curate ideas, and shop products—all in a positive place online. Headquartered in San Francisco, Pinterest launched in 2010 and has over half a billion monthly active users worldwide.

About AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for volunteerism and national service, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.

Media Contacts

OneStar: Joshua Winata, josh@onestarfoundation.org
Schultz Family Foundation: Zack Hutson, zhutson@emesproject.com
Pinterest: Alise Marshall, amarshall@pinterest.com
AmeriCorps: Press@AmeriCorps.gov

Celebrate the Moment. Strengthen the Movement. | 2024 AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Meeting

03/07/2024 |

In recognition of AmeriCorps’ 30th anniversary, we aligned the 2024 AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Meeting with the larger celebration of national service with the theme Celebrate the Moment. Strengthen the Movement. This milestone provided a unique opportunity to leverage the wisdom of the past while embracing innovative approaches to drive even greater impact across the Lone Star State.

Some notable highlights of this year’s AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Meeting include:

Celebrating a 30 year legacy. We commemorated 30 years of AmeriCorps by reflecting on how much national service has grown in Texas – from 10 programs with $3.6 million in funding in 2004 to 40 programs funded at $33.6 million this year! The impact of national service was also evident in the stories in the room: nearly 30 percent of attendees were AmeriCorps alums, each individual a testament to the life-changing influence of answering the call to service. During the event, we displayed stories and photos from attendees who had previously served.
Engagement from national leaders. We were honored to have leaders from the federal AmeriCorps agency host sessions that offered forward-looking, big-picture perspectives to grantees. AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith facilitated an engaging panel of AmeriCorps alums that provided diverse examples on how national service can lead to meaningful careers. Stephen Ravas, who leads the AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General, equipped grantees with insights on how to fight against waste, fraud, and abuse and improve efficiency of our programs. We are grateful for federal leaders who take the time to listen, back up words with action, and cast an inspiring vision for the future national service.
Reconnecting with AmeriCorps alums. We had a special opportunity this year to bring together AmeriCorps alums to reconnect with the network and meet with current leaders of the national service movement. Nearly 40 participants gathered for our AmeriCorps Alums Social Hour at Turnstile Coffee, Beer and Spirits during the first day of the AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Meeting. Special thanks to AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith, AmeriCorps Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships Yasmeen Shaheen-McConnell, and AmeriCorps Director of Public Engagement Tannikka Richardson for joining us in this special celebration!
Highlighting excellence through AmeriCorps Texas Awards. We were thrilled to host the first-ever AmeriCorps Texas Awards as a showcase of the stellar accomplishments of AmeriCorps programs that have demonstrated an inspiring commitment to strengthening local communities and building up future leaders. We could think of no better way to commemorate 30 years of AmeriCorps than to raise up these impactful and innovative programs that embody the best of national service. Congratulations on this year’s extraordinary awardees, and thank you for inspiring us to reach for the stars!

I joined AmeriCorps given a commitment to educational excellence and equity. Through my experience, I learned that real, long-term change happens most enduringly through community and in partnership with others… It is the act of service that provides the opportunity to work in partnership, to develop community, and to create lasting, positive change in our country.

Richard Carreon
Vice President, Public Affairs for Texas, Teach For America
AmeriCorps alum 2003-2004

AmeriCorps Texas Awards 2024

Stellar First Year	Boys & Girls Club of Pharr – San Juan
Member Experience Shining Star	CitySquare
Member Development Guiding Star	Austin Achieve Public Schools
Collaborative Partnership Constellation	Communities In Schools of San Antonio
Stewardship Superstar	Equal Heart
Community Impact Supernova	Literacy First

AmeriCorps Texas

| Past AmeriCorps Grantee Meetings

RE:engage | 2023 AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Meeting

03/02/2023 |

The 2023 AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Meeting featured the theme of RE:engage, a “subject line” that regards the need for engagement in its many forms. How can we inspire and support our current, future, and past AmeriCorps members? How do we keep service site partners and communities we serve interested and involved in our work? The theme also doubled as a call to renew our enthusiasm for the impact of national service and take bold action as we move forward together.

This year, our AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Meeting was integrated with the Texas Nonprofit Summit, our annual statewide conference for Texas nonprofit changemakers, which offered AmeriCorps grantees extended opportunities for growth and networking.

Here are a few memorable highlights from this year’s AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Meeting:

Coming together in-person. After three years of online events, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to bring all our grantees together to participate in community live and in-person. While we have remained engaged virtually, nothing beats holding space together in the same setting. Being in-person allowed the AmeriCorps Texas team and grantees to meet new folks, reconnect with long-time colleagues, and strengthen current relationships. The Ready, Set, Connect networking activity provided attendees with time to discuss challenges and best practices with new and old colleagues. It is through this relationship-building and sharing of insights that we can all grow AmeriCorps in Texas.
Strategizing creative ways to recruit and retain members. Through a robust lunch and learn discussion with CitySquare and Serve Houston, grantees heard about recruitment challenges and best practices to address them. Three of our Workforce Development Planning grantees — American YouthWorks, Communities In Schools of San Antonio, and Reading Partners — shared career pathways they are seeking to develop for their members. Some of these strategies include member/mentor matching and coordination with employers to offering certifications and graduate school admissions support. Additionally, Mission Capital provided grantees with information on ethical data collection and strategies for how to share data stories through an equitable lens which could help support recruitment efforts.
Supporting sites through a holistic approach. It is through supportive service sites that AmeriCorps members grow and thrive. Communities In Schools of Central Texas shared how incorporating member and site supervisor input and feedback sessions informed and improved their program model by making it more strengths-based and community-centered. Grantees learned about how Sewa practices cultural humility with their community by learning more about their cultures and using that information to inform how they do outreach and build productive service environments. Amy Salinas from On3Learn presented on the four dimensions of success and provided attendees with tools and strategies for successful multi-site management.

AmeriCorps Texas

| Past AmeriCorps Grantee Meetings

Earn a Certificate in Nonprofit Career Development

10/24/2022 |

AmeriCorps members and recent alums are invited to apply for a Nonprofit Career Development Certificate program through the Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy at The Bush School at Texas A&M University. The program will run February to April 2023. Coursework is approximately 3 hours a week: 2 hours asynchronously, and one hour Monday evenings. All coursework is virtual, and course descriptions are listed below.

Priority selection will be given to individuals who:

are between 17 to 25 years of age
are serving or recently served as an AmeriCorps member in the state of Texas
reflect the race and/or income of communities being served

Selected individuals will receive a scholarship to cover the full cost of the certificate program. Technology scholarships may also be available to ensure access to technology is not a barrier to participating.

Applications are currently being accepted through November 30, 2022. Individuals will be notified of scholarship decisions early January 2023.

This opportunity is powered by OneStar, and made possible with the support of the National Philanthropic Trust as recommended by the Schultz Family Foundation.

Course Descriptions

Social Justice Leadership at Nonprofit Organizations

Deepens participant knowledge of biased systems within nonprofits which have contributed to a longstanding culture of inequity with regard to leadership roles, build participants’ abilities to recognize and take inventory of associated fairness barriers, and empower learners to address these issues from a data perspective to accelerate racial equity at nonprofit organizations.

Situational Leadership Model

Focuses on and introduces the highly regarded theory of leadership, known as the Situational Leadership Model, which focuses on leadership in situations. The assertion of the theory is that different kinds of leadership are required for different situations, and it continues to serve as an important tool for managers and leaders in a variety of professional settings.

Nonprofit Strategic Management

Provides a framework, the Nonprofit Strategic Management Cycle, which identifies strategic decision areas to consider as nonprofit leaders to create social value and sustain organizational operations.

Nonprofit Performance Measurement

Highlights performance measurement as a system that organizes information based on the regular collection and analysis of performance data. Course is designed to assist learners develop implementation skills by using a public service performance measurement system which is built on the concept of the balanced scorecard.

Understanding Fundraising

Introduces participants to the fundamentals of philanthropy at organizations. Participants will acquire knowledge about trends in giving, fundraising ethics, understanding revenue streams, and the various professional fundraising functions and their associated leadership best practices.

Developing workforce pathways for AmeriCorps members

09/30/2022 |

AmeriCorps members make an extraordinary impact meeting the needs of Texas communities, and OneStar is committed to investing in the development of workforce pathways for these dedicated individuals to expand the impact of their term of service.

We are pleased to announce OneStar has awarded $1 million in AmeriCorps funds to 15 organizations to develop more opportunities to support these committed AmeriCorps members in leveraging their service experience into employment opportunities, equipping them to continue making a difference after their service ends. Selected programs will create program models that focus on the service-to-career pipeline, including:

designing and developing training opportunities,
developing community and employer partnership,
creating data tracking systems, and
developing certificate or training programs.

Funding was prioritized for program development that would engage opportunity youth and would create pathways to employment through a term of service for AmeriCorps members that are 17-25 years old whose race and income reflect the communities served.

All 15 organizations that have received this funding will be participating in a monthly learning collaborative to share ideas, best practices, and lessons learned. These learnings will then be shared more broadly within the AmeriCorps Texas network. The learning collaborative is made possible with the support of the National Philanthropic Trust as recommended by the Schultz Family Foundation.

The $1 million in funding, administered by OneStar, will be distributed to the following organizations operating in Texas. Click to learn more about each program’s workforce development initiatives!

American YouthWorks
Austin Achieve Public Schools
Breakthrough
ChildFund International
College Possible
Communities In Schools of Central Texas
Communities In Schools of San Antonio
Imagine Art

Reading Partners
Sewa International
Teach For America
Texas Network of Youth Services
University of North Texas
University of Texas at Austin
West Texas A&M University

AmeriCorps Texas Workforce Development Initiatives

American YouthWorks

American YouthWorks (AYW) is working to create an AmeriCorps service year experience that effectively blends service and training to create meaningful career pathways for our AmeriCorps members. AYW will work with local employers to identify and implement industry-recognized occupational certifications that both enhance employability and can be integrated into an AmeriCorps Training Plan. By strengthening AmeriCorps as a pathway to careers, AYW will have developed a powerful tool for marketing AmeriCorps to recent and soon-to-be high school graduates. From there, AYW will develop and implement a multi-level engagement strategy with local high schools. Together these two strategies will help AmeriCorps service fulfill its potential to impact local communities both through service and workforce development.

Austin Achieve Public Schools

Austin Achieve Public Schools (AAPS) will create two pipeline programs during the upcoming year: one for teachers and one for education administrators. AmeriCorps members who are interested in teaching as a career will have an opportunity to earn their teaching certification during their second year of service through a partnership with a local provider. Similarly, we will develop a pipeline for those wishing to enter school administration careers following their service.

Breakthrough

Breakthrough will be developing a variety of support initiatives to set-up year-round full-time members and quarter-time members for the next step after service. A key strategy will be to investigate options for providing a path toward a professional credential such as alternative teaching certification, nonprofit certification, or other transferable and marketable micro-credentials. Breakthrough will also focus on partnership development with colleges, corporations, and community organizations to support the skill development of members and placements in careers.

ChildFund International

ChildFund International’s Workforce Development funding will support the mapping and mobilization of key stakeholders to contribute towards the design of ChildFund’s AmeriCorps Workforce Development “service to career” suite of skills-building, training and other activities. Stakeholders include: 1) Local employers to identify most desired and gaps in workforce skills/competencies (i.e. life skills, digital skills, technical, etc.) among current pool of young employees; 2) A Youth Reference Group of representative youth currently seeking or part of the workforce to develop audio/visual materials highlighting their own and peers’ workforce development perspectives, challenges/needs and interests. Based on input from key stakeholders, ChildFund International will develop and organize suite of resources to support AmeriCorps members exploration of “service to career” pathways and secure a living wage, including: 1) Online career resources and training courses with certification for completion; 2) a database of and “badge” recognizing ‘Youth Friendly Employers’ and 3) Training of Trainers for ChildFund Texas AmeriCorps staff who will implement these workforce development initiatives among AmeriCorps members in the coming years.

College Possible

Core to College Possible’s objectives will be the hiring of a Corporate Engagement Manager to serve as a liaison between members and the local business community and create visibility for our members in the Austin job market. Additionally, College Possible intends to create a customizable training program using existing and new systems that identify weaknesses in the member’s hiring profile as well as future career interests and tailor a program of skill-building training to their individual needs. We intend for this to improve members’ post-service career opportunities, as well as be a powerful recruitment tool.

Communities In Schools of Central Texas

Communities In Schools (CIS) of Central Texas will buildout Next Step, an eight-week service and post-secondary readiness program delivered during June and July beginning in 2023. Next Step will engage recently graduated CIS students as AmeriCorps Members in a service opportunity that is designed to provide both on-the-job training through summer program support and individualized coaching to develop employability skills connected to their post-secondary goal. The workforce development funds will be used to support CIS staff capacity to create this program and to build additional capacity by engaging consultants to design participatory feedback and evaluation activities for the target audience that will directly inform curriculum development and support strategies for program implementation.

Communities In Schools of San Antonio

Communities In Schools of San Antonio’s (CISSA) AmeriCorps program will develop the next generation of representative and culturally sensitive social services professionals by providing participants with hands-on experience in providing case-management and wraparound support services in the school environment. The COVID-19 crisis has compounded the need for well-qualified social services professionals with the knowledge, skills, and commitment to meet the needs of vulnerable students and families impacted by the long-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. CIS-SA will hire a consultant to create a model for individualized professional development pathways where members create a unique professional development plan based on their individual goals with guidance from their Site Supervisor. CISSA will create a network of support and resources for members to prepare to the next step in their career after their service ends.

Imagine Art

Imagine Art is offering a workforce development track that is designed to strengthen and prepare AmeriCorps Members for post service employment opportunities. Imagine Art recognizes the need to provide specialized career and workforce development to its AmeriCorps members to ensure a successful career transition after AmeriCorps. These new services will support the member’s basic needs around career planning and execution, career exploration, structured job training, career advising, employment services and access to employer networks.

Reading Partners

Reading Partners will develop and launch the RPNTX AmeriCorps Career Pathways program. In our newly designed program, AmeriCorps members will select one of five offered career pathways at the beginning of their term. Each pathway experience will include courses and professional development activities taught by experts and professionals in fields related to their chosen pathway. In addition to specific pathway work, all AmeriCorps members will take part in resume building, interview and networking practice, and time with an assigned mentor.

Sewa International

Sewa Houston AmeriCorps Program will originate a bold blueprint to foster prosperity for individuals and their communities by providing training, professional and personal development opportunities, and access to employment resources that will maximize success along their career pathway. Sewa will create a workforce development initiative that supports AmeriCorps members in gaining employment upon completion of their service terms by training in a mix of soft and hard skills, using a holistic approach that helps members to interface professionally and enhance eventual on-the-job productivity. Our program will take a long view that focuses on what members need to know in the future to maximize their personal and professional growth and their long-term contributions to their communities.

Teach For America

Teach For America – Texas proposes to launch a statewide career services program, available to existing and recently exited AmeriCorps members in Texas, regardless of their prior service location; this statewide career services program will be coordinated through the Austin regional team, with support from our regional teams in Houston, Dallas – Fort Worth, the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and the national Teach For America alumni team. First, through this initiative, Teach for America (TFA) would focus on creating systems and guidelines to clearly define the talent matching work, sharing statewide opportunities, and connecting with alumni across regions. Second, TFA would develop a deeper understanding of where TFA alumni are currently working across the state and identify all organizations across the state that meet the needs of TFA alumni and fall within a catalytic career pathway – school/system leadership, policy, social innovation, and community/civic leadership.

Texas Network of Youth Services

Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) will research and scale best practices to bolster the current TNOYS AmeriCorps Program, a service opportunity specifically designed for Youth and Young Adults (YYA) with lived experiences of system involvement in foster care, homelessness, juvenile justice, and others. Specifically, TNOYS will be exploring options for a certification or credential for work-based learning in the youth services field to ensure TNOYS AmeriCorps members are competitive job candidates. Additionally, TNOYS will research and develop best practices and training on employing YYA with lived experiences and reconnecting Opportunity Youth to work to bolster the youth services field. Finally, TNOYS will leverage their relationship with employers and develop and design a job fair for TNOYS AmeriCorps members so that they gain employment after their term of service ends.

University of North Texas – Texas HIPPYCorps

Texas HIPPYCorps will further establish mechanisms leading to members’ successful transition to the workforce following service. In the first phase of a three-phase approach, Texas HIPPYCorps’ efforts begin with gathering information from former HIPPY members about what supported their transitions to employment, what benefits they gained from their service, what skills they developed, what barriers they faced, and how their experiences impacted their career trajectories and transition to the workforce. This information creates the foundation for developing evidence-based training modules and skill-building activities supporting current and future members’ successful workforce transition and ameliorating barriers identified by former members. The final phase focuses on creating a formal tracking system to trace current and future members’ post-service workforce and education related activities.

University of Texas at Austin – Literacy First

The University of Texas Charles A. Dana Center Literacy First Program will use the planning grant funds to strengthen the AmeriCorps program serving in Austin/Central Texas with a focus on the Bilingual Teacher Certification pipeline and other workforce development pipelines attractive to the non-traditional AmeriCorps member (High School Graduate/Associate Degreed Adults). Literacy First staff will evaluate recruitment practices, design responsive workforce development training specific to the bilingual community, explore additional supports for Adult English learners (as well as Spanish learners) and prepare for piloting workforce development trainings as a result of these activities. The objectives and priorities of this project will be to focus on a more diverse population as AmeriCorps tutors for the Literacy First program including non-traditional AmeriCorps members from the parent community, as well as those finishing high school and early college (Associates Degreed individuals).

West Texas A&M University

As part of this planning grant, West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) proposes to develop a training and certificate program that will focus on the development of skills the panhandle’s regional employers are looking for in current and future employees. These skills will improve the overall employability, economic mobility, and economic stability of members serving with our program. Working with local employers, the University’s Continuing Education Department and Career Services, our local workforce development board, a consulting firm, and other relevant groups WTAMU will build a program for professional development. Partnering with local employers and our region’s Workforce Solutions, we will create a professional network and career pipeline for members that connect them to living wage employment opportunities. Upon completion of their term of service, members will not only be prepared for the workforce, but employers will know members possess the skills they are looking for and recognize them as highly qualified candidates

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Texas joins 10 other states, the Schultz Family Foundation, Pinterest, and AmeriCorps to launch country’s first Youth Mental Health Corps

About OneStar

About the Schultz Family Foundation

About Pinterest

About AmeriCorps

Media Contacts

AmeriCorps Texas Awards 2024

Course Descriptions

Social Justice Leadership at Nonprofit Organizations

Situational Leadership Model

Nonprofit Strategic Management

Nonprofit Performance Measurement

Understanding Fundraising

AmeriCorps Texas Workforce Development Initiatives

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