Public Health AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps has a long history of members serving in public health roles:

• AmeriCorps members have served as recovery coaches to help individuals overcome opioid addiction, provide drug abuse prevention and education, build the capacity of drug treatment and recovery organizations, support safe disposal of prescription drugs, improve opportunities for employment for those in recovery, provide substance abuse screening and assessments, and more. In 2020, the Office of National Drug Control Policy formally designated AmeriCorps as part of the National Drug Control Strategy and Budget, an important milestone and recognition of the value of our work.

• AmeriCorps partners with health departments, nonprofits, and community-based organizations through which AmeriCorps members serve in roles related to healthcare access, health and housing, substance use, health promotion, community engagement, emergency management, and more.

• AmeriCorps members serve in public health and clinical settings where they provide education, strengthen access, and expand capacity related to healthcare and social services.

AmeriCorps members provided surge capacity to local public health agencies, including supporting case investigation, contact tracing, resource coordination, test result notification, isolation, and quarantine monitoring, and more.

• In one program, AmeriCorps members and volunteers completed 45% of the total case investigations and 48% of the contact notifications, serving 58,000 individuals. 11% of AmeriCorps members were hired as part of the paid workforce combating COVID-19 upon completion of their service.

• AmeriCorps members served at vaccination sites and were integral in operationalizing FEMA’s first mobile vaccination clinics, which were replicated across the country. They helped with community outreach, site-set up and logistics, vaccine registration, volunteer engagement and management, directing traffic, parking, patient monitoring and education.

• To date, more than 36,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers assisted 11.5 million people with COVID-related efforts, including 2.5 million people at vaccination sites. They have provided 34.4 million meals and 145 million pounds of food to individuals and families in need. They have conducted over 1.6 million wellness checks, served 3.4 million hours, and registered an additional 86,000 volunteers to serve.

Find out more

Whether you’re looking for a way to spend a gap year or gain post-graduate experience, you can help address the public health needs of local communities across the nation. Build your public health resume and gain valuable benefits to kickstart your career.

Benefits

• Education award (applicable to higher education or student loan forgiveness)
• Student loan deferment / forbearance
• Living allowance
• Hands-on experience
• Training from experts

Project Focus Areas

• Health equity and social determinants of health
• COVID-19 recovery, testing, and vaccination support
• Access to services and reducing barriers to care
• Behavioral health (mental health and substance use disorder)

Activities

• Health education and training
• Community outreach and engagement
• System navigation, referrals, and linkage to care
• Research, data collection, analysis, and assessments