Has anyone here worked with AmeriCorps?

[realisticphish]

I'm having a tough time locating jobs in my field (libraries/archives) at the moment, and there are some local-ish AC positions being advertised which would give great collections digitization experience, along with other organizational skills.

I was just wondering what the "stipend" consists of, etc. Does it vary from job to job? It's a year commitment, so I don't want to do this lightly, and I don't want to spend a year going into even more debt because the stipend won't cover minimum living expenses. I'm not expecting to get rich or anything; the experience will be invaluable to my resume, and to my skills in general, and as long as I can get by for a year, that's fine with me.

Any info would be greatly appreciated...

[mcctatas]

1. i did

i served two years (98&99) so i cant speak to what the current stipend is but at that time it was about 8K for a year commitment. They also provided insurance and educational grants totalling about 3k annually which I used to pay off my student loans (also, loans payments are deferred interest free during your term of service). I waitressed part time to supplement my income but overall the experience was well worth two lean years :)

[realisticphish]

2. thanks

I know the educational grant was something like 5k after the year... but they weren't clear on the stipend.

If I can swing it to live at home and do this, I very well may; if I can live rent-free, 8k (probably 10k now, I would think) would be nice

[KatyaR]

3. We usually have two or three AmeriCorps folks every year at my job.

We've had some great workers, and a few have been hired as FT employees. If you can make it with the stipend they pay, I think it could be a good way to get some experience and maybe a job later on down the line.

[Chan790]

4. I did it.

The stipend is set nationally (it was $9,900 when I did it, I think it's 10-and-change now.), but may differ from program to program because some sponsor organizations supplement the stipend. You also get a student loan deferment and an educational stipend of around $4500. I used mine to pay off my Perkins Loan.

A lot of organizations hire their AmeriCorps member at the end of the year of service so f you're really interested in the organization, it can be a great foot in the door.

Any other questions, just ask. I recommend it highly. It's a better idea if you live someplace cheap.

[realisticphish]

5. that sounds about right

Hopefully, i would be able to live at home; if i can't swing that, there are lots of subleased rooms in the area that I could deal with (~300/month, that kind of thing).

It helps that I'm already finishing my graduate practicum at the institution that's running the project... so hopefully I have a step up in terms of getting in.

Thanks for the info!