Edmonds CC to host AmeriCorps college access and success program
06/23/2010
Washington Campus Compact has awarded Edmonds College an AmeriCorps grant to support
college access and success initiatives. The Corporation for National and Community
Service awarded a $585,000 AmeriCorps grant to Washington Campus Compact, based at
Western Washington University, and Edmonds College will receive three full-time AmeriCorps
members as part of the grant.
The grant will support the Retention Project program at higher education campuses in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
The Retention Project is a college-based mentoring program that utilizes service-learning as a strategy to reduce the dropout rates of the middle, high school and college students, improve the retention and academic advancement of college students, and support college access and success efforts by creating a pipeline to higher education.
“The Retention Project will provide middle school, high school, and college students who are at risk of dropping out of school with a college student mentor from Edmonds College,” said Washington Campus Compact Executive Director Jennifer Dorr. “Through this program, college student volunteers will mentor struggling students to achieve success in the classroom and continue their education through college.”
The grant is among the first made since the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act was passed last year. AmeriCorps resources are focused in five key areas: strengthening education, improving health, meeting environmental and energy efficiency needs, assisting veterans and military families, and fostering economic opportunity.
AmeriCorps is a national service program that engages Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to meet critical needs. Its members serve in thousands of nonprofit and faith-based organizations in rural and urban communities throughout the nation. Among other activities, tutor and mentor youth, expand health services, build affordable housing, run after-school programs, support veterans, help communities respond to disasters, and recruit and train volunteers.
AmeriCorps engages more than 85,000 people each year in intensive, results-driven service through more than 3,000 nonprofits across the country. Since 1994, more than 634,000 Americans have provided more than 775 million hours of service to their communities and country through AmeriCorps. Interested individuals can learn about available opportunities and apply online by visiting www.AmeriCorps.gov.
Established in 1992 and hosted at Western Washington University, the Washington Campus Compact membership of 37 colleges and universities are committed to providing meaningful experiences for students to become active, engaged leaders in their communities, furthering the civic and public purposes of higher education and strengthening communities. WACC is an affiliate state office of Campus Compact, a national organization comprised of more than 1,100 institutions committed to the civic and public purposes of higher education.