Bay Area LISC is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its AmeriCorps Program and applauds the passage of the Kennedy Serve America Act, which is dramatically augmenting the number of volunteers working to help benefit disinvested communities. Since 1994, we have placed 176 AmeriCorps members at 50 non-profit organizations located throughout the region. These volunteers work in low-income communities on a variety of issues, including affordable housing, financial literacy, and workforce development. Their work expands the capacity of the organizations where they are placed and enables these organizations to pilot new and innovative programs.

Bay Area LISC seeks individual and business sponsors to support our 2009-10 AmeriCorps program.  Help us meet our fundraising goal of $68,000!

Cumulatively our AmeriCorps members have:

• Galvanized the residents of the communities where they work and recruited over 5,000 volunteers to give back to their own communities, amounting to nearly 30,000 non-AmeriCorps volunteer hours of service;
• Advanced the construction of 885 affordable housing units by at least one stage in the development process and the completion of 115 units since 2002; and
• Boosted local economic development by helping to organize over 125 different neighborhood street festivals and other special events in communities around the Bay Area, which have attracted over 65,000 people and helped communities promote their identity and vibrancy.

Your investment in AmeriCorps is an investment in the Bay Area’s future leaders! Did you know that more than 60% of AmeriCorps members nationwide have chosen to work in a non-profit organization or public agency after their year of service? This strengthens local capacity and builds a pipeline of talent that will feed the non-profit and community development field for years to come. In the Bay Area, LISC AmeriCorps alumni have gone on to work at the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing, Alameda County, Chinatown CDC, Mission Housing CDC, East Bay CDC, Mercy Housing, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Community Housing Development Corporation of North Richmond, and La Clinica de la Raza, among other organizations.

Sponsors will have opportunities to:

• Mentor class members throughout the year, if desired;
• Experience an AmeriCorps member's journey through the program with regular updates;
• Take part in service projects and National Days of Service; and
• Receive public recognition as a LISC AmeriCorps sponsor.

Here are four suggested forms of tax-deductible donations that will support the LISC AmeriCorps program and help us meet our goal of $68,000:

• $5,000 supports one full-time member;
• $3,000 supports one half-time member;
• $1,000 supports one part-time member; and
• $500 supports one summer member.

For more information, please contact Anna Jennett at 415.397.7322, x20.

Meet Our AmeriCorps Members