The more I speak with others about my negative Americorps experience, the more I want to see some actual figures of how many participants complete a full year in the program. I want to see what kind of background they took into the program with them and what their degree of financial independence was. I don't want to discourage anyone who's interested in finding out more about joining, but someone has to stick their neck out to put some of the more negative aspects out there.
Out of the four VISTAs in my orientation group that were involved in the same community organization, two of us quit within 45 days. The guy from another NC city who had quit had a better opportunity fall into his lap and had basically stated in his resignation letter that he would be "foolish" to remain in Americorps when he could recieve full-time pay for doing similar work. When we corresponded during the first week on the job, we were both having similar experiences of doing a lot of grunt work and not having any real accountability.
I don't know the status of the other two participants, however given that their supervisors were present at the orientation or else active in their on-boarding, I'm almost certain that they recieved more support from their work sites than we did.
Every so often I run a Google search looking for other negative participant accounts of the program or else for some statistics. All I can find is the form you fill out to quit early (because if you quit, it's something wrong with you, not them). I just wanted to make myself feel better for leaving something I was so incredibly unhappy with.
I want to make it very clear that this program may NOT be suitable for people who have accumulated assets and benefits from previous work experiences, because the chance that you'll lose what you've gained is pretty high. You shouldn't need to have thousands of dollars in savings to be able to do AmeriCorps - that would have been the only way I could have been able to get through the program, even if I had wanted to stay. The living allowance they provide is supposed to help you cover your living expenses, but what it DOESN'T do is ensure that you'll be able to maintain your quality of life (the rationale is that you're supposed to be at the same income level as the people you serve). If you have a car, good health insurance, and a nice apartment, chances are good that you'll have to give up those things to make ends meet. Seeing as how bus transportation in Durham is neither particuarly safe nor running close to my home, giving up my car was out of the question.
The interesting thing is that many of these programs depend on you using your personal vehicle to get around. While Americorps provides "health benefits," after a full month of tenure, I had yet to recieve my card. They also insist that if you have other insurance, you use that as your primary because, well, the benefits aren't that good. I STILL HAVEN'T RECIEVED PAY STUBS or endorsed copies of all those forms I signed in duplicate, but they sure yanked my payroll entry fast after I quit.
Basically, anybody with enough smarts to apply for food stamps and section VIII and such before entering Americorps will do so. And can someone explain to me the point of enlisting volunteers to go out and help the community when those very volunteers are DRAINING THE SYSTEM OF THE LIMITED RESOURCES IT HAS TO GIVE OUT? UH, duuuuuuuuuuuuh!
The real kick in the ass is that because you're a "paid volunteer" and not an employee, if you have to leave the program you can't apply for unemployment benefits. Americorps doesn't make any effort to help participants re-enter professional/academic society smoothly after their service year. True, if you apply for the "stipend" instead of the educational award, they'll give you $1000 or so at the end (broken up over several pay periods) for the purpose of transitioning out of the program. In a lot of cities, you can't even put a deposit on an apartment without a full month's rent - who are they kidding?
I have an arm's length of complaints that I want to put out there, but for right now I'm going to cut this off. I've stated in the past why I left my particular program site, and now I'm stating why the program as a whole is deficient.
I now have the great displeasure of tactfully explaining to everyone I interview with why I was only at that place for a month. While some people are understanding, I can imagine that there are even more jobs that I've applied for that I haven't been called in to interview with because of that one-month stint. I AM NOT A FLAKE.
Posted by Tiffany at October 4, 2006 12:38 PM | TrackBackSounds like a typically craptastic government program!
Posted by: Mark at October 5, 2006 07:17 AMI have a friend who enjoyed her time with AmeriCorps and actually worked on the development of a program via AmeriCorps. She felt the experience was enriching.
Perhaps your disdain for the program stems from the area[s] in which you served & the support you lacked during your stint.
Regarding interviews, etc., do you *have* to list AmeriCorps at all? It usually takes people about a month to job-hunt, so I don't think that omitting it would do you any harm.
Why should something the length of an internship mar your overall work experience?
My 2 cents,
Paula
Posted by: Paula at October 10, 2006 03:15 AMPaula, I recognize that some people are able to go through the program and come out feeling like they've been both useful and have learned a lot. I was not one of those people. I know there are others like me as well who have had some bureaucratic problems and choose not to speak up. I signed on as a VISTA to help administrate programs as well, but ended up doing a lot of heavy lifting and grunt work. I left a very professional work environment and stepped into a very unhealthy situation. The problems at my work site combined with the difficulties I had accessing ANY of the benefits that were promised to me through AmeriCorps made serving far too difficult.
I don't have any particular disdain for the area I served. I LIVE in the community I was working in and specifically chose the program site because I recognized a real need for improvement in our schools. Unlike many participants who enter AmeriCorps, I did not relocate to another community to serve in. I actually had a vested interest in succeeding in the program.
The reason I list my AmeriCorps exerience on my résumé is because I have prior experience handling hundreds of résumés and job applications per day working in a recruiters office. It is easier to explain a short-term position than a gap in employment. If I didn't put that information in my résumé, it would acutally read that I've been unemployed for THREE months. That's dangerous in a job market as tight as it is here for people with liberal arts degrees.
Posted by: Tiffany at October 10, 2006 02:05 PMHey - I just wanted to comment that I was in Americorps-VISTA (from '03 - '04) and I had complaints similar to yours -- I ended up with over $700 in medical bills because the health plan didn't cover pre-existing conditions -- I was actually just doing some research trying to figure out how that was compliant with HIPAA regulations (that's how I found your blog) and it turns out that they can get around it by classifying members as "participants" and not employees, and also the health plan is self-administered, and not a group health insurance plan.
Anyway -- I agree with you -- that the program really does fall short of providing some reasonable level of support to people who are doing a lot of hard work. Good luck.
Posted by: Lauren at October 10, 2006 02:33 PMTiffany,
By area[s], I meant the department[s] where you worked & not the community in which you lived. Apologies for the confusion.
Also, for some reason it seemed there wasn't as long a gap between your last job & this VISTA experience. I thought it was just about a little over a month & not three months. Fortunately, I think it'll serve as a community-minded service, so the length of time won't be much of a blemish.
Good luck with your future job search.
Paula
Posted by: Paula at October 14, 2006 07:04 PMI am in Americorps VISTA right now and I'm ready to print and fill out the termination of service form. Who are they kidding when they state the living allowance is able to cover your living costs!!! Well not if you live in Los Angeles and your rent is more than your whole months salary! I also have to depend on my personal car to get to events by my organization and my car is so old already, my poor car and I'm not compensated for the gas or the wear and tear. I have also noticed that the peple I serve are actully doing beeter than I am because they are reeping off the govenment and getting SSI and I can barley affird to eat. Honeslty, the educational award was attractive to me at first but I would rather take out another student loan at this point. You know what really makes me laugh about these non-profits, they really expect so much from us that we have to give up everything, for example, preparing to return to school, I was filling out some college paperwork and got the stinky-eye for not being prodictive! I wanted to laugh so hard, like my duties are really that importaint! Half the time I am paper-pushing and making cold calls to other partners that are annoyed by hearing from us.
I'm quiting as soon as I get a postion in the same feild that pays more. At least then I can pay for my first semester just working PART TIME!
Volunteer work is for those who are not paid and thrown into a year commitment and have the funds to do so.
I am currently serving as a VISTA volunteer and I am ready to resign as soon as I leave for the new year. I am in the process of job searching and I am truly unhappy with everything. I can barely make ends meet with the pay, and I am still without health insurance. It amazes me that we are volunteering our time and they do not take better care of us. I also have been trying to find statistics on people who actually complete their whole year of service. Between student loans and other expenses, worrying about my finances has consumed most of my time here. I can work at the grocery store and be paid more money. I have now realized that volunteer work is for people who at the place financially to do so! Good luck to everyone and have a happy new year!!
Posted by: Anonymous at December 10, 2006 08:00 PMHi Everyone,
Interesting how I found this blog. I too am an Americorps member and am hoping to resign within the coming year. Its funny because I was interviewing for a few different jobs after I got laid off, and with planning on going back for my masters became a better option I thought I'd look into Americorps. Well...what a mistake. The people I serve with, basically just take advantage of me. And also 2 people at my site quit and after hiring one replacement...guess who is filling in the gaps...ME!!! So needless to say, I am working 3 different people's jobs and getting the same shit pay. My supervisor at my service site is a real pain in the ass and she is causing nothing but trouble since she keeps giving me more work to do. I think the problem is a lot of these sites are looking for 'cheap labor' hense non profit organizations. I just had a phone interview this morning with one of the companies I interviewed at before Americorps. That company was my first choice and unfortunately the position fell through at the time. They've since emailed me asking me if I'd be interesting in a position that will be opening up soon and I said ABSOLUTLEY !!!! Let's all hope we can end this Ameri-nonsense soon because they really need to treat their members better.