Washington Campus Compact receives $1.3 million in AmeriCorps grants

The Corporation for National and Community Service has awarded two AmeriCorps grants totaling $1.3 million to Washington Campus Compact, based at Western Washington University.

One grant, for $585,000, will support The Retention Project program at higher education campuses in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The second grant, for $775,000, will support Students in Service, a part-time AmeriCorps program.

The Retention Project is a college-based mentoring program that utilizes service-learning as a strategy to reduce the dropout rates of disadvantaged and nontraditional students at the middle- and high-school level, improve the retention and academic advancement of first generation college students, and support college access and success efforts by creating a pipeline to higher education.

Students in Service supports the recruitment of college students to volunteer in their communities — helping to increase the capacity of local nonprofit agencies and schools and meeting critical needs in communities. In return, college students earn a modest stipend to help offset their educational expenses.

Students in Service currently operates in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and will expand to 13 new states across the country. More than 3,700 college students will participate in the program and will contribute approximately 1.4 million hours of service to their local communities.

“The Retention Project will provide 15,000 middle school, high school, and college students who are at risk of dropping out of school with a college student mentor,” said Washington Campus Compact Executive Director Jennifer Dorr. “The Students in Service program has proven to be incredibly valuable to communities, while also helping students financially to stay in college while gaining valuable workforce and civic skills through their service experience.”

The grants are among the first made since the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act was passed last year. AmeriCorps resources are focused in five key areas: strengthening education, improving health, meeting environmental and energy efficiency needs, assisting veterans and military families, and fostering economic opportunity.

“I worked hard to pass the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act because I believe that national service is good for the volunteers and good for the communities they serve,” said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. “Washington Campus Compact’s initiatives are exactly the sort of effort these grants were meant to encourage. And I am proud that this investment is going to give thousands of young people the support they need to stay in school and keep their lives on track.”

AmeriCorps is a national service program that engages Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to meet critical needs. Its members serve in thousands of nonprofit and faith-based organizations in rural and urban communities throughout the nation. Among other activities, AmeriCorps members tutor and mentor youth, expand health services, build affordable housing, run after-school programs, support veterans, help communities respond to disasters, and recruit and train volunteers.

Established in 1992 and hosted at Western Washington University, Washington Campus Compact has 35 collegiate members throughout the state of Washington. WACC is committed to providing meaningful experiences for students to become active, engaged leaders in their communities, furthering the civic and public purposes of higher education and strengthening communities. WACC is an affiliate state office of Campus Compact, a national organization comprised of more than 1,100 institutions committed to the civic and public purposes of higher education.