AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engages more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment. AmeriCorps members serve through more than 2,100 nonprofits, public agencies and faith-based organizations. They tutor and mentor youth, build affordable housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, run after-school programs and help communities respond to disasters. Created in 1993, AmeriCorps is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) (hyperlink?), which also oversees Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. Together these programs engage more than 2 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service each year.

AmeriCorps is made up of three programs: AmeriCorps* State and National, AmeriCorps* VISTA, and AmeriCorps* NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). AmeriCorps is open to U.S. citizens, nationals or lawful permanent residents aged 17 or older. Members serve full or part time over a 10- to 12-month period. After successfully completing a term of service, AmeriCorps members who are enrolled in the National Service Trust are eligible to receive an education award. The education award can be used to pay education costs at qualified institutions of higher education or training or to repay qualified student loans. The award is currently $4,725 for a year of full-time service, with correspondingly lesser awards for part-time and reduced part-time service.

Equal Justice Works

Equal Justice Works was founded in 1986 by law students dedicated to surmounting barriers to equal justice that affect millions of low-income individuals and families. Today, Equal Justice Works leads the country in organizing, training and supporting public-service-minded law students and in creating summer and postgraduate public interest opportunities. Through more than $8 million in annual donations from prestigious law firms, corporations, foundations and the federal government, Equal Justice Works funds law students and lawyers in programs that bring justice to millions of low-income persons and families.

Between 1994 and 2003, Equal Justice Works received a grant from CNCS to create and administer an AmeriCorps program called the National Service Legal Corps (NSLC), which provided national service opportunities for attorneys, paralegals, social workers and community educators to address housing and domestic violence issues in low income communities across the country. (This seems to need a little more info… shall you say it was a 10-year grant? Or some other explanation why it no longer exists?)

Pro Bono Legal Corps

In 2003, Equal Justice Works launched the first year of the Pro Bono Legal Corps (PBLC) program. The mission of Equal Justice Works' PBLC is to build a commitment to pro bono service at law schools and among future lawyers by expanding law student and school involvement in the delivery of critically needed legal services through a talented corps of dedicated public interest attorneys. Equal Justice Works serves as the lead national partner for the PBLC and works to provide support for the program and its participants, ensure compliance with AmeriCorps requirements and oversee overall program quality.

The PBLC places attorneys at pro bono and legal aid organizations to promote public service among law students and at law schools. As an AmeriCorps Attorney, your primary responsibility will be to collaborate with community legal aid providers, law students and law schools to develop quality pro bono opportunities, which expand legal resources in low income and underserved communities. You may also develop creative ways to instill a public-service ethic at law schools by raising awareness about issues faced by disadvantaged clients, engaging law schools and students in innovative activities that expand the availability of legal aid to low income and underserved communities and by developing sustainable public interest programming. In addition, to ensure you gain hands-on, law-related expertise and experience, Equal Justice Works has asked host sites to enhance your skills by allowing you to handle cases and provide direct legal assistance to clients and/or by providing you with opportunities to develop substantive legal resources.

As part of your training each year, Equal Justice Works will bring you and your fellow PBLC members together for a comprehensive training program. During the training, you will have the opportunity to meet one another, share effective practices and gain new skills to develop your projects. You will be contacted with more details on the annual training.