Service Year Alliance is committed to supporting local communities in their efforts to make national service a common expectation and opportunity in cities and states while addressing critical local needs. Our Impact Communities are a network of diverse communities where trust and learning are fostered as values and best practices are developed and shared. Service Year Impact Communities make the case for universal national service by fostering relationships with champions and working to bring universal national service to life in their communities and ensure all young people have the opportunity to serve.
Download our summary documents:
Whether you are looking to come together to utilize service years to address your most urgent community needs or you are part of an existing Service Year Impact Community that wants to understand how to integrate the principles of Universal National Service in your community — the Service Year Impact Communities toolkit offers a place-based guide for utilizing service years.
National service is a powerful tool for communities to address local needs. Service Year Alliance has been working closely with select community collaboratives, taking a hands-on approach to helping them craft strategies and create the conditions to scale national service locally.
These communities are demonstrating that there is a real demand for service years across the country, while becoming models for other local communities of how to make national service an opportunity for all young Americans.
Service years are a highly effective form of community development. They’re a powerful strategy in a community’s toolbox for addressing local needs including developing future leaders that increase a region’s economic mobility including connections to talent pipelines and careers, increasing educational attainment and advancement, and supporting disaster preparedness and recovery. They offer invaluable experiences that support hands-on learning and service opportunities and in some cases, even workplace credentials that can foster economic development and advance connections to workforce development needs.
Learn more about our 10 Service Year Impact Communities:
- Appalachian Kentucky
- Central Florida
- Central Texas
- Flint, Michigan
- New York, New York
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Poughkeepsie, New York
- South Carolina
- Stockton, California
- Western New York
Interested in becoming an Impact Community or want to learn more? Check out the application overview and email Maureen Eccleston at [email protected].