As AmeriCorps Celebrates 30 years of impact during AmeriCorps Week 2024, MCAN is reflecting on what service has meant to the Sixty by 30 movement in Michigan.
MCAN is proud to receive funding through the federal AmeriCorps agency and the Michigan Community Service Commission to support more than 110 AmeriCorps service members that serve in Michigan communities in support of Sixty by 30 through AdviseMI and College Completion Corps. These members work with students and families, building college-going cultures, opening postsecondary opportunities, and providing support to help more Michiganders succeed in college and earn a degree or credential. Additionally, we’re tremendously pleased to have strong partnerships with the Michigan State University College Advising Corps, Michigan College Advising Corps, and the Michigan Community Service Commission AmeriCorps VISTA program. Members who have served in these programs have leveraged their AmeriCorps service to launch their own careers while making a huge impact in communities and helping Michigan get closer to achieving Sixty by 30.
MCAN is also proud to be part of the AmeriCorps movement in Michigan, which engages 8,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors in service in Michigan each year. This is part of the national movement, empowering 250,000 Americans each year in sustained, results-driven service. Since AmeriCorps launched in 1994, more than 1.25 million Americans have taken the pledge to get things done through service.
While MCAN’s AmeriCorps members are focused on college access and success in support of Sixty by 30, across the country, members help communities run public health intiatives, improve educational outcomes, combat hunger and homelessness, respond to natural disasters, fight the opioid epidemic, help seniors live independently, support veterans and military families, and much more.
AmeriCorps Week, March 10-16, 2024, is a way to thank and celebrate our currently serving AmeriCorps members, the staff and on-site supervisors who support them, and the many AmeriCorps alumni who have come through our programs.
At MCAN, we have seven AmeriCorps alumni on our permanent staff who continue to serve our state by working to get more Michigan students to and through college. Thank you to Lexi, Doc, Lacey, Kiersten, Ryan, and Patrick for carrying forward the AmeriCorps legacy to get things done during your term of service and beyond. As a fellow AmeriCorps alum, I recognize how valuable the service experience can be, and I know it helped launch me to where I am today. Also, a huge thanks to our currently serving AmeriCorps VISTA member, Genesia!
A recent AdviseMI alum said, “My year of service mindset quickly transitioned to a lifetime of service due to AdviseMI and the people I was around." This is true for the alums on our staff, for the hundreds who have gone through our AdviseMI and College Completion Corps programs, and AmeriCorps members and alums across the state and country.
This is the triple bottom line of AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps makes a difference in the lives of individuals served, in communities that are positively impacted, and in the careers of members providing the service. After 30 years of impact, AmeriCorps is now essential to the prosperity of our state and country.
For the service of all our MCAN AmeriCorps members and alums, the tireless work of our MCAN Service Strategy staff who support them every day, and the partnership of the sites where they are serving, we say a huge #AmeriThanks. Happy AmeriCorps Week 2024!
As AmeriCorps Celebrates 30 years of impact during AmeriCorps Week 2024, MCAN is reflecting on what service has meant to the Sixty by 30 movement in Michigan.