Guest writer: Let’s pause to celebrate national and community service

This letter is a shoutout of gratitude to everyone who improves our country through service. I am writing to encourage all of us to serve our communities, but will focus on AmeriCorps programs for three reasons.

First, it’s what I know. I served with the Washington Conservation Corps for a year and a half, and currently am proud to mentor a fantastic AmeriCorps team. Second, I believe our country needs community service now more than ever. Third, we recently celebrated AmeriCorps Week, when we highlight and celebrate the people who dedicate a year of their lives to serving their country and community. 

AmeriCorps is a national and community service program that pays a stipend for service within the United States. If you’re serving this year — THANK YOU! Other national service programs, such as the military and the Peace Corps, also provide many benefits and come with their own challenges; if you’re serving our country in these ways, THANK YOU, too. Please write letters to the editor if you want to add stories of your service to this conversation — we’d love to hear from you. 

Community involvement is good for everyone 

Numerous studies show that community involvement is good for humans of all ages. People who are involved in their communities are consistently found to be happier, less prone to depression and anxiety, and have even been proven to be less vulnerable to physical ailments, from heart disease to Alzheimer’s. But as a nation, we may not understand the importance of community involvement. In a recent New York Times study examining why Americans are wealthier but unhappier than our industrialized-nation peers, only a slim majority of Americans thought community involvement was an important metric to consider when measuring happiness. Remember how devastated we were during the pandemic? Think of what we missed most — in-person community. 

National service increases community involvement

Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, in their book “The Coddling of the American Mind,” cite a study showing that young people who were involved in some kind of in-person community activity (such as sports, church youth groups and Scouts) have proven to be more resilient to the mental health crisis. In the early 2010s, social media use proliferated, in-person social activity decreased, and youth mental health took a steep and terrifying nosedive. Young people who were committed to in-person community fared far better.

One way to increase involvement is to invest in national service. Many AmeriCorps programs provide youth activities, and members themselves also benefit from serving. During my own AmeriCorps terms, I got more involved through my service as well as the program’s encouragement of volunteering. That investment of time not only made me happy but led to future fulfilling employment.

In my current role as an AmeriCorps supervisor, I have witnessed this growth in others, and I myself continue to learn from my successes and failures as a leader. Everyone at some point finds the experience humbling and difficult. But by the end of their year of service with our team, many of our members report feeling more connected and confident. Several have said “After this, I feel like I can do anything.” Is that unlimited potential not our highest hope for our younger generations — or really, for everyone? Is that not worth a massive investment, let alone a modest one that comes with numerous other benefits? 

National service is good for democracy 

AmeriCorps has a strict mandate to be nonpartisan. In my own AmeriCorps service, I grew to respect our community partners for their skills, expertise and frequent kindness, even if they did not share my political views. I learned to question the good-versus-evil narrative applied all too often in our politics, and it became painfully clear that complaining about problems does little to solve them. My AmeriCorps experience made me a better community member, citizen, voter and conversationalist.

I have seen this shift in understanding play out in our AmeriCorps members, and I have seen communities grow to love and respect our members, even those who may challenge their perceptions. And the data show that community engagement is habit-forming — one study from the Corporation for National and Community Service found that AmeriCorps alumni continue to participate in their communities at far higher rates than their peers. 

Finally, national service is good for communities

AmeriCorps programs provide after-school activities, educational support, health and nutrition services, environmental stewardship and many more essential services. Even if these were the only benefits, it would be well worth supporting and investing in these programs and the people who participate in them! Thank you again to everyone who serves. May we all be inspired to embrace understanding, resilience, responsibility and connection by participating in service.

Sarah Wheatley grew up in Bellingham and works for Common Threads Farm, where she’s doing her best to build community in school gardens all over Whatcom County.

Editor’s note: Funding for AmeriCorps comes from federal grants, state allocations and private matching funds. As is the case with other public-service agencies, its future federal funding is uncertain.