Sometimes thought of as a domestic version of the Peace Corps, Americorps has been addressing issues and serving needs in the United States since 1965 when it was known as Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA. In 1993 the program was incorporated and renamed Americorps, but it’s much more than young people joining up after college — there’s even now an Americorps Seniors program.
We talked with Americorps CEO Barbara Stewart when she was in town recently to talk with students at Florida Gulf Coast University who are involved in the Earn to Learn program, which recruits, trains and deploys AmeriCorps members to provide near peer success coaching to economically disadvantaged students.
And we hear the second in a five-part series of stories by Florida Public Radio’s Lyn Hatter called “Committed: Florida’s Children Victims Of Dysfunctional Baker Act System” which explores what happens when kids get committed.