It Turns Out My Work Ethic Is Pretty Flexible
For the past eight weeks, I have been an employee for an organization that helps below-grade level students catch up to their peers. The kids all come exclusively from low income families, and they get free one-on-one tutoring and this all goes down in a large city with a bad school system. Your mom would probably love me.
I volunteered at this organization through out college, and now I’m employeed there through the AmeriCorps Vista Program. I’ve sworn an oath to the Constitution and foregone my right to take on any paying second job (“We will find out if you are making extra money,” our administer warned, “and we will dismiss you. We had to do it last summer”). This was not my first choice—I’d have rather had a better-paying job—but I knew the work was important, I figured a living allowance, albeit one that nobody could specify before I signed up, would be enough. I’d have enough money to pay the bills. Maybe.
As it turns out, God and country is trumped by my desire for cold hard cash.
Shitty pay is making me a truly shitty employee. I know it, and I’m not proud of it, but I don’t lie about it. Still, people have a hard time believing that folks doing humanitarian work aren’t good people; they think I must be exaggerating when I say that I’m not working hard. But I solemnly swear I’ve been up to no good.
When I roll into the office, I regularly eat a pack of Cheez-Its or animal crackers. These prepackaged goods that I furtively indulge in are supposed to be a stopgap for youth hunger. Most days, I leave work in the middle of the day for about an hour or so. I’m going to Power Yoga. Equally important: getting a haircut in the middle of a weekday. When I sheepishly returned two hours later (looking fierce!), I decided I should stay at least an hour or so after five. I lasted 20 minutes. About once a week, I spend a whole day applying for jobs. Other days I leave work early. Some days I say I’m working from home, and then I don’t really work.
If you are appalled, that makes two of us. My work ethic matters to me, or I thought it did. It’s always been important to me to work my ass off and not to be a drain on society. For me that meant two jobs through college, sometimes more. But somehow at this job, that work ethic has escaped me. Every day is “the day I’m going to knuckle down.”
But it’s tricky not to lose focus at $6.80 an hour, and I confess, I feel entitled to a wage above that. Especially when the federal minimum is $7.25 per hour, and even more where I live. Compensation at the barest legal level might mean I could buy a beer every once and awhile. But is is the policy of AmeriCorps to pay at the poverty level, and I knew that when I signed on. My flat monthly wage assumes a 40 hour work week, so even my forty-ish hour weeks get paid the same. And last summer’s intern, who claimed to work 60 hour weeks, got the same paycheck as I do. As long as nobody’s complaining, I’m not going to really strive to hit the minimum, and I’m definitely not going above it.
As important as the work is, I don’t feel obligated to go above and beyond when there’s no carrot and stick. I’ve found that if you want my A game, you’ll need to pay for it.
Olga Rodriguez wants a carrot and stick.
OK this might be horrible, but I am a firm believer of “you get what you pay for” and that includes what you pay your employees.
$6.80!? Wait, let me rephrase that, SIX DOLLARS AND EIGHTY CENTS AN HOUR!? Jesus, you’re not a saint. Get stuff done, yes, for the children, but…ugh, I’m with you. They pay less than minimum wage and then will fire you if you have a part time job on the side that may, perchance, allow you to eat food? Ew.
@la_di_da Um yeah, it should kind of be illegal to not pay a living wage AND not allow a second job.
@la_di_da Maybe you guys aren’t familiar with AmeriCorps? It’s not a private company or even a nonprofit, it’s a government-run national service program. And part of the idea is to get middle-class college grads to have some empathy for poor people.
EDIT: I see someone sort of addressed this below. But it’s important to point out that this is a government program, and it is somewhat intended to mimic the sort of national service work you do in those developed countries that still have military conscription. It’s not intended to be a big anti-poverty or social service provision program, in the same way that Peace Corps is not intended to be an international development program.
@stuffisthings Yup saw that. But if you have more than one minimum wage job to make ends meet, you are doing what the majority of lower class Americans are doing anyway.
@stuffisthings To be clear, I’m not saying you can’t disagree with the poverty wage concept — think a lot of the objections have merit. But that’s how the program was designed.
Actual nonprofits don’t pay *great* but they do usually pay a reasonable wage. They only pay badly relative to the amount of education and experience required. For example, I am in a slightly above entry-level job and I earn slightly more than the median salary for a single full-time worker in my area. But I do earn about 30% less than the average worker with my level of education.
@la_di_da If I’m not mistaken the 6.80/hour thing is a bit of a fib. Americorps members don’t receive wages, they receive a stipend. The stipend is non-taxable and it is not income.
So that that 6.80 and make it non-taxable – getting better, probably more like $8/hour. Then add in the fact that you can get full food stamps/SNAP benefits which, of the folks I’ve talked to who have done it, is about $240/month which is about another $1.25/hour. So more like $9.25/hour. Still rough going but not horribly awful for a middle-class kid just out of college whose parents are still probably paying his/her phone bill.
@Jeff Crystoff@twitter As a current AmeriCorps volunteer, yes, we receive a stipend, not a wage, but it is taxable income. I’m an AmeriCorps*STATE volunteer in VA, so it may be different for VISTAs.
@Jeff Crystoff@twitter SNAP is usually $200 and stipend as well as segal award is taxable!
Why are they so strict about the no-second-job policy?
@Weasley Because they are convinced that they are teaching you some kind of lesson about poverty–which I’m not convinced that they are. (I was a VISTA.) It’s poverty with a safety net for most corps members, first of all. Second of all, it makes capacity-building and non-profit work inaccessible to people who actually live in poverty, so the whole enterprise smacks of the white man’s burden. What’s really happening is that they are taking advantage of your goodwill so that they don’t have to help make nonprofit and community-based work sustaining and fulfilling.
@Weasley
My question as well! If they refuse to pay a living wage and you’re getting the job done (more or less) while drifting in and out to get haircuts and take yoga classes, how does it harm them if you pick up some bartending shifts or whatever, on your own time? Nonsense.
@mean terry gross body shamer
Thank you for explaining — though the explanation is kind of appalling.
A useful lesson about poverty would also be imparted by letting the poorly paid interns work second jobs, as many poorly paid workers tend to do.
@mean terry gross body shamer
Ugh how gross.
@City_Dater
Agreed.
@mean terry gross body shamer
I agree. The vast majority of Vistas I met during my year of service were at least upper middle class and attended top 10 schools. There were a few token poor people who received virtually no assistance from the CNCS, their host site, or the umbrella agency that sponsored us. Most of the people without safety nets or well of parents quit early without the education award and worst off than when they started. It was bullshit and just highlighted how elitist the non-profit world is. The people who were passionate, capable, and brought much needed perspective had to deal with unnecessary barriers that advantaged the most privileged. I have yet to speak with someone who has gained a real understanding of cyclical poverty, but many Vistas did leave with the ludicrous idea that they were better at poverty than people who are actually poor or that they or now capable of living in true poverty. I do miss the travel, discounts, and free food though.
@muffintoplowfat I worked in youth services and some of my clients actually got interested in my position through watching me, but helping them apply for AmeriCorps felt creepy and wrong. So much of AmeriCorps is about poverty tourism. But ideally, people who have been through youth services are the best people to help other youth in similar positions down the line, so it was a serious morality paradox.
hah! I did a VISTA year and my attitude was VERY similar to yours. the whole program is kind of a joke. managed very poorly. I finished the whole year and I guess I’m glad I did, but things in work-life have gotten nothing but better since I finished! the travel was unobjectively the best part of Americorps – I got to go to Atlanta, Mississippi, and Seattle during my year. the no-second-job thing is some bullshit, I hustled extra money on Craigslist doing odd jobs for people, but nobody at my org really cared so…
Olga, and anyone who wants to talk VISTA, email me. I have some Thoughts. dowagercountess@mailinator.com.
Is there no extra payoff, front or back end? School grant, or adjusted loan rates, or anything? How does it work?
@sally When you finish, you get $4200 to pay off federal, not private, loans. Nothing to sneer at, but not as much of a carrot as you think it will be when you sign up.
@sally You can defer your student loans for the year you’re in your program, and if you complete your year, you get an education award of about $5,000 or about $2,000 cash. Which is a tough choice for the people scrambling for a job as their term ends!
I was lucky to find full-time work right as my contract ended, and even luckier that my next employer was willing to let me finish my last 2 weeks of VISTA so I could get my education award.
@mean terry gross body shamer You can apply it to (ha!) graduate school, too. Some (mostly private, I think) schools will match your ed award.
@Miranda Everitt@facebook yeah, I used it for summer money after my 1st year of g-school.
I really liked doing VISTA, but I was married and had a bit of a nest egg from a few years in the post-college working world. It was a career bridge for me. But yes, I left it totally convinced that it’s a really pernicious part of this idea that people who do charitable/nonprofit work are in it for some kind of spiritual enrichment, and that’s BS. If we believe that feeding hungry people, teaching our kids, cleaning up our environment, etc, are important, we should pay for good people.
That and the idea that you’ll “understand” your clients’ lives — that’s bullshit. For everyone in my cohort, there were roommates, help from mom and dad, and always always your middle-class manners, bachelors’ degree, computer skills, and pre-VISTA wardrobe to fall back on.
I’m glad I did it, and I might recommend it to someone fresh out of college — as long as you have a supervisor who understands the program and understands that you are not simply free labor for them, you can really decide what holes there are in your resume and plug them. But I don’t love the stipend or no-second-job rules.
This is why I never did Americorps, although I thought about it. $6.80 an hour is appalling enough, but the no second job policy, that is insane. You are not a Franciscan monk. Also, do they have a similar policy that prohibits VISTA workers’ parents and families from helping them out financially? If not (and I’m guessing they don’t) that kind of defeats their fucked up rationale about the necessity of an authentic experience of poverty.
This is the last three years of my work life in a nutshell. Except the pay is not that bad and I’m probably working less.
It’s almost like paying people shitty wages leads to shitty work? Capitalism strikes again!
I was an Americorps Vista (after grad school) and a Peace Corps Volunteer (after college). I stumbled into Americorps because I was finishing up my graduate degree and the job I really liked happened to be an Americorps job (I didn’t actively look to be in Americorps). Neither times I was a bleeding heart do gooder. I understood exactly how I stood to benefit from these programs, and so did most of the people around me. Frankly the ones who were die-hard going to change the world people were the worst volunteers because they were also the least pragmatic.
The two programs are completely different, with one having a ton more benefits and being actually worth the shit pay (PC), and one being a totally dud organization (Americorps). For example, Peace Corps offered great, inspirational training, and although tough as hell sometimes, expanded your knowledge. Even if you had a miserable time you learned a ton about yourself and the world. Plus, Peace Corps had great medical benefits, and I always felt taken care of medically (they even flew me to another country to see a dentist because my country didn’t have a dentist with the medical equipment needed to do what they needed to do on my teeth). However, Americorps is a scam. In Americorps I had to use the financial aid option when I went to a hospital because their crappy insurance didn’t cover ANYTHING. And I lived in a state at the time which provided free public health services, which I had to depend on. A federal government program that ditched their responsibility to their volunteers and forced us to use our state’s public health services and food stamps? Does that even make sense? Plus, one of their major benefits is “training” which is of little use if you’ve been out of college for more than a year and have had a real job. Plus, if you actually like your work, like I did, the “trainings” take you away from actually doing the work you like doing for boring, uninspired lectures for 2-3 work days a month. I can understand your lack of incentive completely. I was fortunate enough to be doing something I really, really liked, but if that were not the case I would have put in less than 40 too.
And let’s be honest, most Americorps (and Peace Corps) volunteers are educated, middle-class people who will never understand the plight of the poor. For a program to think people could understand what it’s like to live in poverty by offering below-poverty line wages for one year is insulting to those who struggle everyday and don’t have the option to leave poverty once their year’s up.
@Sara Hepburn That sounds about right — I did Peace Corps, and I know some people who have done both, and that is what I hear. A shame, because it sounds like AmeriCorps is just really badly run.
However, I disagree that the low wages have no impact whatsoever on the outlook of volunteers. In Peace Corps we actually earned slightly less than our counterparts, so obviously our experience was VERY different from other expats (even those on postings in remote areas). In fact, after leaving, I lived for a while in a nearby country at a similar level of development earning about 4x as much — still far below what other expats were earning — and had a totally different kind of experience.
Do I understand exactly what it’s like to be a poor person in Central Asia? No. Do I understand it better than an oil worker on $100k a year? Definitely.
Maybe this policy is misguided in the United States, but judging it by the standard of “gives the volunteer a full and complete picture of exactly what it is like to be in poverty” is a fairly ludicrous standard to judge by, I think.
My boyfriend and his sister both did an Americorps program (not VISTA, though) after college, and both had a fairly positive experience. Met a lot of great people, developed career interests, etc. Also, they got to live on Cape Cod for free, so… yeah. Caveat: most of their reminiscing revolves around food stamps.
@anderin I think “not VISTA” has a lot to do with it.
There’s no way the “you need to experience poverty to help these kids” excuse has any value. It’s an organization that preys on youthful exuberance and ignorance while paying well a small amount of administrators at the top who are rewarded for keeping costs down and staying within budget instead of showing results.
I saw through that BS as soon as I read the brochure.
Former Americorps here! You are allowed a second job if you’re not a VISTA, but it’s still the same basically horrible experience if you’re at the wrong agency. To elaborate: I spent one year at an after-school program, ostensibly run by those ‘in the community’. This meant that they let their alcoholic, drug-addicted, felony-convicted relatives wander freely among the children while they chain-smoked out back. This meant that explaining ‘healthy snacks’ for the kids meant pop-tarts and little hugs. This meant that when we went on field trips, the chaperones let the kids wreak havoc wherever because they couldn’t be bothered to get off their lazy asses to help the kids/teach them anything. So yeah, that experience taught me nothing except how to write grants to mask the shitshow actually going on.
However, I spent the next year at another AmeriCorps program (masochist?) at Habitat for Humanity, a well-staffed, non-religious program that was run by non-insane people and used its funding wisely. We traveled to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina to rebuild. We went to Dallas to build ten homes in one week, and we were sent to Seattle for seminars. So truly, your mileage may vary.
@Jake Reinhardt “taught me nothing except how to write grants to mask the shitshow actually going on.” You mean, exactly the skillset needed to work at any nonprofit ever?
I’ve completed 2 AmeriCorps terms, both of which I did for the experience. My city is overrun with do-gooders and AmeriCorps is pretty much the only way to get your foot in the door at a non-profit. I worked for really great organizations, and had a great team leader/group the second time around who had years of experience in homeless case management as well as good connections to actually helpful trainers. I was very passionate about what I did, and did the best work I could, but this article still rings very true to me – because in the back of my mind, I always knew I was being exploited. As my second AmeriCorps term ended, my supervisor wanted to hire me, but her boss told her the organization didn’t have the money. Do you know what this organization did? Took on a BRAND NEW TEAM of fifteen AmeriCorps members the next year. It’s not that they didn’t have the money – they did the math, and they wanted more almost-free low-commitment labor.
@Summer Somewhere YES. I feel like this happens a lot; it’s really a way for non-profits to get incredibly cheap labor if they don’t want to take employee happiness into consideration.
@Jake Reinhardt What kills me is that there actually are a lot of tiny, not-very-well-known organizations that do good work and have come to rely on the cheap labor that AmeriCorps provides. The organization I mention above does good work, but is not tiny or lacking for funds.
I’m a little taken aback by this pieceWith The Billfold, I’ve come to expect some pretty great analysis of young people dealing with money. This piece is just frustration lobbed at an underfunded government program that uses federal money to employ young people for a short amount of time. It freezes your debt, and assumes you’ll be going on food stamps (allocation for entitlements includes Americorps as part of their budget). She’s working on a summer program, so her education award is not as substantial, but still, it’s not the worst deal straight out of college. (Try the market’s solution for you, which is unemployment).
There’s a lot of criticism to be made towards Americorps (I did it). There’s a lot of very smart discussion of paying people poverty wages to fight poverty. But this doesn’t contain any of that, and frankly, is not the kind of material I expect The Billfold would publish. The loss of work ethic is universal in underpaid positions, and not unique to Americorps.
Um. I think I volunteer with the program you’ve been working for? Is the number of the building that houses the organization 1763?
@cherrispryte note: i have no interest in outing you to anyone, which is why i kept the identifying detail super-vague, there are just a large number of similarities between your piece and the place I tutor at (which I know is far from perfect!) so I had to ask.
Another former VISTA here! This article really frustrated me for a number of reasons, but I guess what it boils down to is why did the author take the position? At least in my experience, supervisors/CNCS are VERY upfront about how low the stipend is (and I find it really hard to believe she couldn’t find out exactly what that was before she started). It’s not a perfect program by far, and the rule about no second job is slightly ridiculous, but again – you knew what you were getting into. It’s hard to empathize with her position when she sounds so entitled and bitter about something she volunteered to do.
It always amazes me when people feel justified in taking a job, and a paycheck, but not doing the work. Which, when you come right down to it, is theft. It is even more amazing that the author is doing this when she knows how important the job is.
For everyone suggestiing “they” pay her more . . . the idea is to keep the overhead costs low, so that more can be delivered to the clients.
I think Ms. Fierce Haircut, who can somehow on her tiny wage afford nice haircuts and Power Yoga, should resign and let someone who is actually willing to earn the low pay take her position. And if not, I hope someone outs her to Americorps so they fire her.
@DarnSkippy@twitter I actually don’t actively wish that people have harder lives than the ones they’re actually living. How’s that work out?
I participated in VISTA 5 years after I went to college. I was changing the direction of my career and it was a good experience for me. It was extremely humbling. I used food stamps & got subsidized bus tokens for transportation. It was hard not to become jaded, but it taught me a lot about what it feels like to be trapped financially.
I was able to pay off a good chunk of my college loans at the end which was great! I agree the organization could be run better (like any), but at the same time, I’m glad it is around. It seems like something that could get cut pretty easily. For anyone who can swing it and can align with a program of interest, do not be discouraged. You will come out better for it in the long run. It is what you make of it.
I have worked at jobs that made very little money. I know how hard it is trying to pay your rent working for pennies. What I don’t understand is why this person wrote this article – is she looking for sympathy? Are we supposed to tell her it’s o.k. to go to yoga and get haircuts when she should be working? Lady, get real. What I am about to say is very childish but I’m going to say it anyway – You Suck.
Ugh thank god I saw some not anti-AmeriCorps posts here at the end. I am an AmeriCorps program director and this post completely disgusted me. AmeriCorps members come into the program knowing the benefits, restrictions and responsibilities and this is the kind of member that makes me want to scream when I have to deal with them.
AmeriCorps members are volunteers. If you’re not in it to give back to the community, don’t do it. I receive about 9 applications for every 1 opening, so there are people out there who would LOVE to have the opportunity this person is laughing off.
Also, the author failed to mention the end of service award ($5550 toward student loans/ going back to school or $1500 cash), the health benefits provided, the federal student loan deferment, the interest pay back on federal student loans, and the training they received. All of this is federally funded and really a great deal that ends up to be a lot more than the below minimum wage living allowance.
I can understand frustration with the not having an outside job policy and let me clarify this a bit. This policy comes from the 1960′s when VISTA was a full immersion program and members really were expected to work “24/7.” The immersion part of the program has changed but federal regulation hasn’t quite caught up on this one.
To sum up- AmeriCorps is great if you understand what is required at the beginning and you go into it for the right reason. There is a lot of federal beaurcracy and regulations, but the government is paying you, and that comes with the territory.
If you want to chat AmeriCorps I’m your girl. I can give you ten times the success stories than I see complaints on here :)
Also, the
@langedangereux oh ad I served two years as a VISTA member with little help from my parents (they paid my cell bill and car insurance, so about $100 a month). It’s hard. But it’s doable and SO rewarding!
@langedangereux some of your volunteers probably feel like the writer does. maybe consider that.
@mean terry gross body shamer Actually, I do consider that and that’s why I do everything I can to ensure my members are prepared for their year abs have an excellent experience. Not all programs are successful at this, but it doesn’t sound like the work is the writer’s problem. It sounds like she feels underpaid and entitled to more money. If she didnt know the stipulations, then, fine her program didn’t do it’s job. But my guess is she was aware.
@langedangereux I think you have a good point, and I’m actually very glad I stuck out AmeriCorps for two years, because I can tell you that I was 1,000% more motivated at the second position. It was the same amount of money, but I did not feel like I was expendable cheap labor that no one cared about. I felt like I was an attribute to the organization, and that my work was valid and important. I tried my damndest to feel that way at the after-school program, but after about 6 months of constant degradation, any of that ‘volunteer spirit’ that spurs you is really worn away.
For example: One day, after months of roof leakage that my boss knew about, an entire sopping wet ceiling time FELL ON MY STUDENT’S HEAD during homework time. I was incredibly upset, and after taking care of said student, called our main center to tell the director what had happened, and that we needed this fixed immediately because the kids were actually in danger. For that, I was severely reprimanded, because it ‘wasn’t my place’ to call the main center. The center also employed this student’s grandmother as an AmeriCorps employee; she hit him when he misbehaved. On the clock. Maybe I’m projecting my own experiences onto the author, but I had plenty of days when I felt like that-and a salary about 25K would have helped me motivate a LOT more, because I would have felt like at least someone was recognizing my work through pay instead of undermining and degrading me.
As another AmeriCorps alum, this article disgusted me. When I signed my contract, I was told exactly how much I would be making every two weeks and what I could and could not do on AC time. People in my program had hours cut for taking lunch breaks; I can’t imagine they would let yoga class and haircuts count.
I am salaried and nobody truly cares that I leave at 3 to go to yoga, I do it. I do my job, too. It makes leaving the job hard. But, somedays there is no more “work.” Now, I could go all management brain and use my leftover time to work on my objectives/goals/strategic plan. But, nah. They need to pay me more for higher level thinking. Until then, YES, I can pick you up from the airport at 10am.
Another former Americorps person here – I did Americorps as a part time job in college, and had a really good experience. I worked as a reading tutor in inner city schools, and I was paid a fair wage, over minimum wage. It was valuable experience in a community based/non-profit setting, experience that I’m having a hard time replicating now years later for any pay at all, even with a degree now under my belt. I would do it again.
I hope you pass this on to future employers, so they know that you want them to monitor you closely to ensure you fulfill the responsibilities you’ve agreed to at the wage you agreed to. Some folks aren’t self-motivated, and I understand that, and it’s good that you recognize it I suppose?
If you don’t want to be a glorified volunteer, don’t be a glorified volunteer. Americorps is a service organization.
I guess I’m glad that the author has had a reality check about being on the way to sainthood, but I’d be even gladder if on Monday morning, she goes in thinking, ‘I am going to do what I am legally contracted to do.’ If you have ever been unemployed, or gone freelance, you know that it is not that hard to get into the right mindset about a short term contract that pays $6.80 an hour.
I think the writer meant “throughout” college but no one’s paying me to proofread.
@OhYouKnow see also the typo in the header of her full-legal-name tumblr
all the benefits (or lack thereof) of americorps aside, i don’t understand why the writer would write an article like this with her name on it? i would be terrified of this following me when i’d need to apply for real jobs once the americorps tour is up, especially if someone googles “olga rodriguez americorps linkedin” or something. that said, i work at a nonprofit and am well paid, i don’t think i’d have the constitution to do something like this…so i’m not. but i also have an extremely well developed sense of guilt (or an overactive superego, according to my therapist) so i would worry constantly about stealing from the children who deserve dedicated mentors, even if i didn’t care about stealing from my employer (the latter is understandable if they’re treating you poorly).
@dotcommie That was so my thought as well like, “I sure hope that’s a fake name you’re never using for anything else,” but given the Tumblr I guess not?
That said re: leaving in the middle of the day: isn’t that just a lunch break? Is there an AmeriCorps rule against lunch?
Anybody who has volunteered for any national service— be it military or Peace Corps or AmeriCorps—will tell you that these sad-sack, “they-don’t-pay-me-enough” half-ass slackers are an inescapable inevitability. Every team, every company, every organization has them. Along with other commenters here, I encourage Rodriguez to make this article a permanent portfolio piece. What a pathetic contribution.
You suck, as do all the commenters who are saying that you can’t be expected to do more for $6.80 an hour. Americorps ISN’T an hourly job. It’s a VOLUNTEER POSITION with a STIPEND. You signed up for it, you jerk, and given the competitiveness of the program over the past few years, you probably took someone’s place who would have done a better job.
This is why socialism/communism does not work. People, in general, are not going to give their all for a subsistence wage (though, based on some of the comments, this perhaps was more than subsistence, if the stipend was tax-free and there was an end-of-contract payoff of loans or cash) to help the rest of society also have a subsistence wage. The American dream that is supported by capitalism is that we all have a means to a better life, if we work and strive hard enough. Working in a situation where hard work does not pay off tends to reduce ambition and, as the author says, work ethic.
As a third year AmeriCorps I believe that you can only comment on this page if you have done AmeriCorps or PeaceCorps or lived under the poverty line unsupported in your adult life. AmeriCorps is not about being a saint. It’s about showing up to an under-resourced community and doing your best and many times you begin to realize why actual employees in these communities are not striving to do their best. Poverty is a high stress situation and there are various ways to respond to it. Perhaps it is buckling down and becoming the best AmeriCorps member ever and being a leader in your community or perhaps it means that you are constantly trying to escape the situation. Unless you have been in the situation you can not judge because you do not know your own reaction yet.
I have done three separate VISTA assignments and a State assignment. I am in total agreement with the author of this article!!! The organizations I have worked for have exploited my talents, of which their employees seem not to have and hired in permanent employees who are at the least inept. My supervisor and my fellow VISTA’s have no idea what they are doing and to rub salt in the wound, a complaint to AmeriCorps goes nowhere…fast. I continue to do this every couple of years to give back, but I have yet to serve with an organization who cares…really. I wish AmeriCorps would pay closer attention to the organizations that are taking advantage of the program, the services and those of us who truly would like to serve and help in our communities.