If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that people need other people. Membership in community helps us see our stake in our neighbors’ dreams and struggles, as well as our own. It deepens our understanding of others. We could use that in America right now. And that healing can begin with a robust investment in national service.

The American Rescue Plan, signed into law by President Biden this month, includes $1 billion for national service, the largest amount in decades. This funding will help provide living wages to young Americans and create additional positions that are accessible to Americans regardless of their financial means. Now we need to find the best ways to put that money to work in communities. And no one knows how to do that better than local leaders who are on the ground. That’s why everyone from the leaders in the statehouse to those in the schoolhouse should be at the forefront of deciding where to direct national service resources.

Service Year Alliance wholeheartedly denounces the tragic hate attacks and racist violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Atlanta this week. We stand in solidarity with the families who lost loved ones and everyone who is feeling heartbroken, fearful, and outraged at this moment. As an organization, we are committed to racial justice and equity — in national service, within our own organization, and across America — and this includes condemning white supremacy and anti-Asian hate. We have a responsibility to not only denounce and condemn but to stand up to racist policies and rhetoric while understanding the long history in America of violence against the AAPI community, and specifically Asian women. We stand in solidarity with the AAPI community and encourage every member of society to act with love for humanity by accepting, respecting, and valuing our differences — our nation will be stronger as a result. We must Stop Asian Hate. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

National Service Opportunities to be Expanded with Passage of American Rescue Plan COVID-19 Relief Bill  

Serve America Together Celebrates Major Step Forward in Effort to Make National Service More Accessible

WASHINGTON, DC (March 10, 2021) – Serve America Together, a campaign working to make national service part of growing up in America, released the following statements today applauding congressional leaders on the passage of the American Rescue Plan COVID-19 relief bill. The legislation, which now awaits the signature of President Joe Biden, prioritizes $1 billion to help communities across the country recover from the pandemic through the expansion of national service opportunities. This additional funding allows for an increase in the national service living allowance, making the opportunity to serve more accessible to all Americans, and represents the largest investment in national service in decades.

Service Year Alliance Statement for the Record for the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on: 

Final Recommendations and Report of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Inhofe and members of the Armed Services Committee,

Service Year Alliance is pleased to submit this testimony for the record for the hearing on the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service.

Service Year Alliance is an organization working to make a year of paid, full-time national service — a service year — a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans. We do that through our Serve America Together campaign, which brings together a coalition of military and civilian service organizations, among others, to advocate to make civilian national service part of growing up in America. We also support service year programs and help stand up new innovative models, and maintain the only online portal — ServiceYear.org — that connects young people to all different types of available service year opportunities, including AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, YouthBuild and non-federally funded programs. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Service Year Alliance Statement on the House Education and Labor Committee Inclusion of $1B for National Service

Funds would be used to expand and strengthen opportunities for national service

WASHINGTON, DC – Service Year Alliance, a national non-profit organization that is working to make national service a common expectation and opportunity for all young people, released the following statement in response to the House Education and Labor Committee including $1B in its portion of the budget reconciliation bill toward the expansion of national service opportunities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New Poll: As President Biden Calls for National Unity, Majority of Americans Support National Service to Bridge Divides 

Nearly 7 out of 10 Americans Believe President Biden Should Prioritize Programs that Work Towards Healing the Nation

WASHINGTON, DC – New polling data released today by the Serve America Together campaign show that the majority of Americans support President Joe Biden’s focus on healing the nation and believe an expansion of civilian national service opportunities for young Americans can help accomplish that goal. President Biden’s inaugural speech focused largely on the idea that for the nation to heal and move forward national unity must be prioritized, arguing that we never fail when we act together. More than three-quarters of respondents to the poll said they support Congress passing legislation that would expand national service opportunities, such as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps. 

By JEFF HUBER, December 27, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Prominent Americans Urge Presidential Candidates to Expand National Service to Renew Civic Spirit

In an open letter to President Trump and Vice President Biden, bipartisan group advocates for national service to be prioritized as solution to countries’ challenges

WASHINGTON, DC (October 29, 2020) – In the final days of the presidential election, a diverse group of more than 120 Americans from across the country today called on President Trump’s and Vice President Biden’s campaigns to prioritize the expansion of national service in the next presidential term as a way to address the polarization of the nation. In a letter released as a part of the Serve America Together campaign, former governors and members of Congress as well as leading philanthropy, thought and faith leaders, impressed upon the importance of national service as a tool to unite Americans and to help renew the nation’s civic spirit. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

National Business and Workforce Development Leaders Call on Presidential Campaigns to Prioritize Expansion of National Service

More than 60 of the nation’s leading business and workforce development leaders sign bipartisan letter 

WASHINGTON, DC (October 26, 2020) – The Serve America Together campaign today released a letter signed by more than 60 of the nation’s leading business and workforce development leaders calling on President Trump’s and Vice President Biden’s presidential campaigns to prioritize the expansion of national service.