PHENND Awarded Next Steps AmeriCorps Grant

Posted by PHENND on June 16, 2014

PennSERVE: The Governor’s Office of Citizen Service recently announced that PHENND will be awarded a new AmeriCorps program for the 2014-2015 academic year.

The Next Steps AmeriCorps Program will engage college students in community service, mentoring, supportive workshops, and leadership development. Participants will complete 300 hours of community service in the course of one year. Corps members can choose any kind of regular service placement while also mentoring two incoming first-year students as part of their service. Hours spent in training and leadership development also count toward the 300 hours. Corps members will receive a stipend during the year through Federal Work-Study and will also receive an Education Award of $1195 upon completion of the 300 hours.

Unlike our previous Scholars in Service to PA AmeriCorps program, the Next Steps initiative is aimed at students at-risk of failing to earn a college degree on time. The Next Steps AmeriCorps Program is for rising sophomores and juniors who are graduates of Philadelphia high schools AND ALSO participated in a pre-college program while in high school. There are many pre-college programs in Philly such as White-Williams, College Access, GEAR UP, Steppingstone, and Upward Bound to name a few.

In the first year, PHENND and its partners will recruit 100 students to participate in the program, each earning AmeriCorps Education Awards, while providing 300 hours of community service.

More details will be announced shortly!