Principio Furnace
Principio Furnace and village is in Cecil County, Maryland, 4 miles northeast of Havre de Grace, MD. The Principio Iron Works were started here in 1719 by Joseph Farmer with British capital and an ironmaster, John England, who made it one of the most successful in the colonial ironworks by the 1740s, producing pig iron for sale in London. Thomas Russell, Jr. England's successor, produced cannonballs for the Continental Army during the Revolution; the works were part of the Principio Company, whose other holdings included the Accokeek or Potomac Ironworks on the land of George Washington's father, Augustine Washington. This works was developed by the ironmaster England as a source of iron ore; as early as 1726, it may have included a cold blast charcoal furnace. Accokeek/Potomac served as the headquarters of the Principio Company until it was closed sometime in the mid-1750s; the Maryland works were destroyed by the British in 1813. In 1836, the site and its ruined buildings were purchased by Joseph Whitaker, his brothers George Price Whitaker and Joseph Whitaker II, partners Thomas Garrett and William Chandler.
The site still had water power. The investors rebuilt the iron works and resumed production, opening a new blast furnace in 1837 and other improvements over the decades. Before the Civil War, the Whitakers divided their holdings geographically, with Joseph receiving the Pennsylvania properties and George Price the Maryland and Virginia ones. George Price Whitaker and his descendents continued to be involved in the steel business; the site produced iron until 1925. Part of the stone furnace still remains on the site. In 1972, Principio Furnace was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Remnants of the Principio Furnace Gordon, Robert B. 1996 American Iron 1607-1900. The Johns Hopkins University Press and London. May, Earl Chapin 1945 Principio to Wheeling: 1715-1945 A Pageant of Iron and Steel. Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York and London. Robbins, Michael 1972'The Principio Company: Iron-Making in Colonial Maryland, 1720-1781'. Unpublished paper. George Washington University, Washington.
Robbins, Michael 1986 The Principio Company: iron-making in colonial Maryland, 1720-1781. Garland, New York Whitely, William G. 1887'The Principio Company. A Historical Sketch of the First Iron-Works in Maryland'; the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography XI:63-68, 190-198, 288-295. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Principio Furnace, Cecil County, Inventory No.: CE-112, including undated photo, at Maryland Historical Trust website Principio Furnace, Port Road, Perryville vicinity, Cecil, MD at the Historic American Buildings Survey
Interstate 95 in Maryland
Interstate 95 in Maryland is a major highway that runs 109.01 miles diagonally from northeast to southwest, from Maryland's border with Delaware, to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge entering the District of Columbia before reaching Virginia. The route is one of the most traveled Interstate Highways in Maryland between Baltimore and Washington, D. C. despite alternate routes along the corridor, such as the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, U. S. Route 1, US 29. Portions of the highway are tolled. Between the Baltimore city line and the Delaware state line, I-95 is known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. Interstate 95 enters the state of Maryland concurrent with the Capital Beltway. From Alexandria, the roadways, five lanes in either direction, travel together over the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge cross the southern tip of the District of Columbia, touch down in Prince George's County west of Forest Heights. I-95/I-495 encounter the southern terminus of Interstate 295, known as the Anacostia Freeway, a route that serves downtown Washington, D.
C. and connects to the planned alignment of I-95 through D. C. Interstate 395. Just beyond I-295 the two routes interchange with MD 210, a major north–south route into southern D. C; the two Interstates continue along the Capital Beltway, interchanging with various local highways such as MD 5 and MD 4 on either side of Andrews Air Force Base, which the Beltway travels close to near its northern edge. Turning north past the MD 4 interchange, the Beltway runs through Glenarden, interchanging with MD 202, US 50/secret Interstate 595, MD 450, the latter route offering access to the New Carrollton metro station and the New Carrollton area. Turning northwest the Beltway enters Greenbelt Park, intersecting the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in the northeastern edge of the park. Just after the B-W Parkway the two routes interchange with MD 201, which connects to the southern terminus of the B-W Parkway at US 50 near the D. C. line. Now turned west, the Beltway runs through the northern edge of College Park, interchanging with the Greenbelt metro station's access roadway and US 1.
Beyond the US 1 interchange, I-95 encounters its own route at the College Park Interchange, separates from I-495 within this interchange. I-495 continues west, alone, on the Capital Beltway to Interstate 270, while I-95 turns north onto its own planned alignment; the interchange includes access to a Ride. Running northeast, I-95, still eight lanes wide, passes through Beltsville, interchanging with MD 212 near the community; the highway, completed in 1971, runs through undeveloped land to the interchange with the Intercounty Connector toll road before interchanging with MD 198 just west of Laurel. Passing over the Patuxent River just south of the Rocky Gorge Dam, the route enters Howard County and promptly interchanges with MD 216. North of the MD 216 interchange, the route encounters its first rest area in the state of Maryland, with each carriageway served by its own facility. Continuing northeast, I-95 intersects MD 32 at a modified directional cloverleaf. Within this interchange, I-95 grade-separates, with the northbound carriageway passing over MD 32 and the southbound carriageway passing under MD 32, allowing left exits from both of the latter's carriageways to merge into the left lanes of I-95 without conflict.
North of this unusual interchange, I-95 encounters MD 175, the main access route into Columbia, at a less-radical directional cloverleaf interchange. After the MD 175 interchange comes the MD 100 interchange, providing access to Ellicott City, US 29, Interstate 70 to the west, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and Interstate 97 to the east. Just beyond this interchange, I-95 encounters three more of its auxiliary routes within Maryland: Interstate 895, which splits from I-95 within the Patapsco Valley State Park, just south of the Patapsco River. Traffic not authorized to make use of either of the direct routes through Baltimore is encouraged to use the eastern half of I-695, which crosses the Patapsco River via the Francis Scott Key Bridge; when this part of I-95 opened to traffic in 1971, all interchanges in the stretch had high-mast lighting, but beginning in 2010, these were replaced with lower-mounted conventional streetlights. However, the MD 200 and southern I-895 interchanges now have high-mast lights.
South of Baltimore, I-95 is maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration. Continuing on its northeasterly track, the route intersects US 1 Alt. just beyond the city line. I-95's interchange with US 1 Alt. incorporates stubs and unused embankments that would have been used for the planned eastern terminus of I-70 within Baltimore. Continuing past this unbuilt interchange, I-95 intersects Washington Blvd. A local city street, before encountering the main access route into the central business district, Interstate 395. I-95 interchanges with
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and referred to as Washington or D. C. is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, first President of the United States and Founding Father; as the seat of the United States federal government and several international organizations, Washington is an important world political capital. The city is one of the most visited cities in the world, with more than 20 million tourists annually; the signing of the Residence Act on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of a capital district located along the Potomac River on the country's East Coast. The U. S. Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U. S. Congress, the District is therefore not a part of any state; the states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, which included the pre-existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria.
The City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia. Washington had an estimated population of 702,455 as of July 2018, making it the 20th most populous city in the United States. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during the workweek. Washington's metropolitan area, the country's sixth largest, had a 2017 estimated population of 6.2 million residents. All three branches of the U. S. federal government are centered in the District: Congress and the U. S. Supreme Court. Washington is home to many national monuments, museums situated on or around the National Mall; the city hosts 177 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many international organizations, trade unions, non-profit, lobbying groups, professional associations, including the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, AARP, the National Geographic Society, the Human Rights Campaign, the International Finance Corporation, the American Red Cross.
A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973. However, Congress may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, but the District has no representation in the Senate. The District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century. One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. In his Federalist No. 43, published January 23, 1788, James Madison argued that the new federal government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance and safety.
Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia. Known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. Article One, Section Eight, of the Constitution permits the establishment of a "District as may, by cession of particular states, the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States". However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital. In what is now known as the Compromise of 1790, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson came to an agreement that the federal government would pay each state's remaining Revolutionary War debts in exchange for establishing the new national capital in the southern United States. On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River; the exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, who signed the bill into law on July 16.
Formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory: the port of Georgetown, founded in 1751, the city of Alexandria, founded in 1749. During 1791–92, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants, including a free African American astronomer named Benjamin Banneker, surveyed the borders of the federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point. Many of the stones are still standing. A new federal city was constructed on the north bank of the Potomac, to the east of Georgetown. On September 9, 1791, the three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington; the federal district was named Columbia, a poetic name for the United States in use at that time. Congress held its first session in Washington on November 17, 1800. Congress passed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 that organized the District and placed the entire territory under the exclusive control of the federal
National Civilian Community Corps
National Civilian Community Corps, or AmeriCorps NCCC is an AmeriCorps program that engages 18- to 24-year-olds in team-based national and community service in the United States. National Civilian Community Corps teams complete about four different six- to eight-week-long projects during their 10-month term of service; each team is made up of eight to one Team Leader. Corps Members and Team Leaders are representative of all colors, creeds and economic status. 1,200 Corps Members and Team Leaders are chosen annually to serve at one of four regional campuses, located in Sacramento, California. Each campus serves as a training hub for a multi-state region. Members are required to complete a minimum of 1,700 hours of service, including 80 independent service hours, though members complete an average of 1,850 service hours per term. In August 2012, the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency partnered to develop FEMA Corps, a new cadre of NCCC members who follow the traditional NCCC model, but serve on disaster response and recovery related project through FEMA.
The mission of the NCCC program is "To strengthen communities and develop leaders through team-based national and community service." While serving in AmeriCorps NCCC, Corps Members receive: Living allowance of approx. $4,000 for 10 months of service Room and board Limited healthcare coverage Uniforms Training At least $5,730 taxable Education Award After completing a term of service, all AmeriCorps NCCC members are enrolled in the National Service Trust and are eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. A Segal AmeriCorps Education Award can be used to pay education costs at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training, or to repay qualified student loans; the award amount for full-time AmeriCorps programs, including NCCC, is $5,775 based on the maximum value of the Pell Grant. The award can be accessed in full or in part, those qualified have seven years after their term of service has ended to claim the award. Individuals can only receive Education Awards for two terms of AmeriCorps service: Full-time, half-time, reduced half-time, quarter time, minimum time terms of service each count as one term of service.
The NCCC program was loosely based on the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, although in practice, the differences between NCCC and CCC projects can be quite marked in both practical intent and outcome. In some respects, NCCC teams resemble their CCC predecessors, who were required to function under rugged conditions for prolonged periods and engage in strenuous conservation and wildfire-fighting projects, flood control, disaster relief. Unlike the original CCC, the NCCC was not created to be a public work relief program, but rather was designed to help communities meet self-identified needs through service projects and develop leadership skills in its participants. In 1992, "a bipartisan group of Senators worked hand-in-hand with the first Bush Administration to resurrect the CCC in a new form for a new era, creating what is now know as AmeriCorps NCCC" With bipartisan sponsorship, the program was enacted into law in 1993 and signed by President Bill Clinton as a demonstration program charged with determining: Whether federally funded residential service programs can increase the support for national and community service Whether such programs can expand the opportunities for young men and women to perform meaningful and consequential acts of community service in a manner that will enhance their own skills while contributing to their understanding of civic responsibility in the United States Whether retired members of the armed forces can provide guidance and training under such programs that contribute meaningfully to the encouragement of national service Whether domestic national service programs can serve as a substitute for the traditional option of military service.
While some of the primary motivations cited in the 1993 inception of AmeriCorps NCCC changed and evolved over time, the basic focus of the program has remained the same: environment, public safety, other unmet needs, disaster relief, the addition of a "disaster services" heading in 2006/7. Much of the Fiscal Year 2006 and 2007 funding issued to NCCC was directly specified as being intended for hurricane relief in the Katrina impacted upper-gulf region. In 2007, in response to budget pressures, the Corporation for National and Community Service announced the closure of the Charleston, SC and Washington, DC campuses. Sixty percent of the remaining NCCC will be deployed to the Gulf Coast to aid with Hurricane Katrina relief until at least 2010. In 2008 the National Civilian Community Corps opened a new campus in Iowa; this was followed in July 2009 by the opening of a new campus in Mississippi. In 2014, the Mid Atlantic Headquarters moved from the Perry Point VA Medical Center Campus to the Sacred Heart of Mary School in Baltimore County, MD.
In 2012, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and The Corporation for National and Community Service created FEMA Corps. FEMA Corps, a track of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps program, is a national service program dedicated to disaster response and recovery. FEMA Corps is described as a "dedicated and reliable disaster workforce". Members serve full-time for ten months on federal disaster recovery efforts; the first 231 members of the FEMA Corps class were inducted on September 30, 2012. Members serve on teams of 8
Commuter rail
Commuter rail called suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that operates between a city centre and middle to outer suburbs beyond 15 km and commuter towns or other locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who travel on a daily basis. Trains operate following a schedule at speeds varying from 50 to 225 km/h. Distance charges or zone pricing may be used. Non-English names include Treno suburbano in Italian, Cercanías in Spanish, Rodalies in Catalan, Proastiakos in Greek, S-Bahn in German, Train de banlieue in French, Příměstský vlak or Esko in Czech, Elektrichka in Russian, Pociąg podmiejski in Polish and Pendeltåg in Swedish; the development of commuter rail services has become popular, with the increased public awareness of congestion, dependence on fossil fuels, other environmental issues, as well as the rising costs of owning and parking automobiles. Most commuter trains are built to main line rail standards, differing from light rail or rapid transit systems by: being larger providing more seating and less standing room, owing to the longer distances involved having a lower frequency of service having scheduled services serving lower-density suburban areas connecting suburbs to the city center sharing track or right-of-way with intercity or freight trains not grade separated being able to skip certain stations as an express service due to being driver controlled Compared to rapid transit, commuter/suburban rail has lower frequency, following a schedule rather than fixed intervals, fewer stations spaced further apart.
They serve lower density suburban areas, share right-of-way with intercity or freight trains. Some services operate only during peak hours and others uses fewer departures during off peak hours and weekends. Average speeds are high 50 km/h or higher; these higher speeds better serve the longer distances involved. Some services include express services which skip some stations in order to run faster and separate longer distance riders from short-distance ones; the general range of commuter trains' distance varies between 200 km. Sometimes long distances can be explained by. Distances between stations may vary, but are much longer than those of urban rail systems. In city centers the train either has a terminal station or passes through the city centre with notably fewer station stops than those of urban rail systems. Toilets are available on-board trains and in stations, their ability to coexist with freight or intercity services in the same right-of-way can drastically reduce system construction costs.
However they are built with dedicated tracks within that right-of-way to prevent delays where service densities have converged in the inner parts of the network. Most such trains run on the local standard gauge track; some systems may run on a broader gauge. Examples of narrow gauge systems are found in Japan, Malaysia, Switzerland, in the Brisbane and Perth systems in Australia, in some systems in Sweden, on the Genoa-Casella line in Italy; some countries and regions, including Finland, Pakistan, Russia and Sri Lanka, as well as San Francisco in the US and Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia, use broad gauge track. Metro rail or rapid transit covers a smaller inner-urban area ranging outwards to between 12 km to 20 km, has a higher train frequency and runs on separate tracks, whereas commuter rail shares tracks and the legal framework within mainline railway systems. However, the classification as a metro or rapid rail can be difficult as both may cover a metropolitan area run on separate tracks in the centre, feature purpose-built rolling stock.
The fact that the terminology is not standardised across countries further complicates matters. This distinction is most made when there are two systems such as New York's subway and the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad, Paris' Métro and RER along with Transilien, London's tube lines of the Underground and the Overground, Thameslink along with other commuter rail operators, Madrid's Metro and Cercanías, Barcelona's Metro and Rodalies, Tokyo's subway and the JR lines along with various owned and operated commuter rail systems. In Germany the S-Bahn is regarded as a train category of its own, exists in many large cities and in some other areas, but there are differing service and technical standards from city to city. Most S-Bahns behave like commuter rail with most trackage not separated from other trains, long lines with trains running between cities and suburbs rather than within a city; the distances between stations however, are short. In larger systems there is a high frequency metro-like central corridor in the city center where all the lines converge into.
Typical examples of large city S-Bahns include Frankfurt. S-Bahns do exist in some mid-size cities like Rostock and Magdeburg but behave more like typical commuter rail with lower frequencies and little exclusive trackage. In Berlin, the S-Bahn systems arguably fulfill all considerations of a true metro system (despite the existence of U-Ba
ZIP Code
A ZIP Code is a postal code used by the United States Postal Service in a system it introduced in 1963. The term ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan; the basic format consists of five digits. An extended ZIP+4 code was introduced in 1983 which includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, followed by a hyphen and four additional digits that reference a more specific location; the term ZIP Code was registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, but its registration has since expired; the early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers. The United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example: The "16" was the number of the postal zone in the specific city. By the early 1960s, a more organized system was needed, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide on July 1, 1963; the USPOD issued its Publication 59: Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code on October 1, 1963, with the list of two-letter state abbreviations which are written with both letters capitalized.
An earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. According to Publication 59, the two-letter standard was "based on a maximum 23-position line, because this has been found to be the most universally acceptable line capacity basis for major addressing systems", which would be exceeded by a long city name combined with a multi-letter state abbreviation, such as "Sacramento, Calif." along with the ZIP Code. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with the exception of Nebraska, changed from NB to NE in 1969 at the request of the Canadian postal administration, to avoid confusion with the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Robert Moon is considered the father of the ZIP Code; the post office only credits Moon with the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or "sec center." An SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The fourth and fifth digits, which give a more precise locale within the SCF, were proposed by Henry Bentley Hahn Sr.
The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes. The mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, most of their employees work the night shift. Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. In the case of large cities, the last two digits coincide with the older postal zone number thus: In 1967, these became mandatory for second- and third-class bulk mailers, the system was soon adopted generally; the United States Post Office used a cartoon character, which it called Mr. ZIP, to promote the use of the ZIP Code, he was depicted with a legend such as "USE ZIP CODE" in the selvage of panes of postage stamps or on the covers of booklet panes of stamps. In 1971 Elmira Star-Gazette reporter Dick Baumbach found out the White House was not using a ZIP Code on its envelopes.
Herb Klein, special assistant to President Nixon, responded by saying the next printing of envelopes would include the ZIP Code. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4 called "plus-four codes", "add-on codes", or "add-ons". A ZIP+4 Code uses the basic five-digit code plus four additional digits to identify a geographic segment within the five-digit delivery area, such as a city block, a group of apartments, an individual high-volume receiver of mail, a post office box, or any other unit that could use an extra identifier to aid in efficient mail sorting and delivery. However, initial attempts to promote universal use of the new format met with public resistance and today the plus-four code is not required. In general, mail is read by a multiline optical character reader that instantly determines the correct ZIP+4 Code from the address—along with the more specific delivery point—and sprays an Intelligent Mail barcode on the face of the mail piece that corresponds to 11 digits—nine for the ZIP+4 Code and two for the delivery point.
For Post Office Boxes, the general rule is. The add-on code is one of the following: the last four digits of the box number, zero plus the last three digits of the box number, or, if the box number consists of fewer than four digits, enough zeros are attached to the front of the box number to produce a four-digit number. However, there is no uniform rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box; the ZIP Code is translated into an Intelligent Mail barcode, printed on the mailpiece to make it easier for automated machines to sort. A barcode can be printed by the sender, it is better to let the post office put one on. In general, the post office uses OCR technology, though in some cases a human might have to read and enter the address. Customers who send bulk mail can get a discount on postage if they have printed the barcode themselves and have presorted the mai
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is a voluntary civil society program supported by the U. S. federal government, foundations and other donors engaging adults in public service work with a goal of "helping others and meeting critical needs in the community." Members commit to full-time or part-time positions offered by a network of nonprofit community organizations and public agencies, to fulfill assignments in the fields of education, public safety, health care, environmental protection. The program is seen as a domestic Peace Corps, it employs more than 75,000 Americans in intensive service each year. AmeriCorps is an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Senior Corps and the formerly-funded Learn and Serve America, it was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, incorporating VISTA and the National Civilian Community Corps. A third division, AmeriCorps State and National, provides grants to hundreds of local community organizations throughout the United States.
The program first became operational in 1994 and has expanded over time, with over 80,000 members participating annually as of 2012. Members may be provided low financial compensation in the form of cost-of-living allowances, student loan deferment, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, the Americorps Education Award. Less tangible benefits include professional skill work experience. An internal study found that participation in AmeriCorps strengthened civic attitudes and sentiment, making members more to choose careers in public service. AmeriCorps VISTA, or Volunteers in Service to America, was founded in 1965 as a domestic version of the Peace Corps; the program was incorporated into AmeriCorps and renamed AmeriCorps*VISTA with the creation of AmeriCorps in 1993. VISTA provides full-time members to nonprofit, faith-based and other community organizations, public agency to create and expand programs that bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. There are over 5,000 VISTA members serving in 1,200 VISTA programs nationwide.
AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps is a full-time, residential team-based program for men and women ages 18–24. Members serve at one of four regional campuses located throughout the United States; each campus focuses efforts on states within its region but may travel to other areas in response to national crises. Former campuses were located in Washington, DC. AmeriCorps State and National is the largest of the AmeriCorps programs, provides grants to local and national organizations and agencies, including faith-based and community organizations, higher education institutions, public agency. Grants assist these groups in recruiting and placing AmeriCorps members to meet critical community needs in education, public safety and the environment. AmeriCorps State operates through Service Commissions in each state, such as Volunteer Florida and the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service; each state's Service Commission dispenses funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service to organizations in their states through annual grant competitions.
Thousands of organizations across the nation have been awarded AmeriCorps State and National grants since the program's inception. AmeriCorps State and National members engage in direct service activities, such as after-school tutoring or homebuilding, capacity-building activities, such as volunteer recruitment, for the organizations they serve. After completing their term of service, AmeriCorps State and National members may be eligible for an Education Award of up to $5,920 or equal to the full Pell Grant for the year in which service was approved; the Education Award can pay for additional college or graduate school courses, or it can pay off existing student loans. Full-time members complete 1,700 hours of service over 11 months. According to the AmeriCorps website, since the creation of AmeriCorps in 1993 more than 250,000 individuals across the United States have served hundreds of communities in every state of the nation; some of the programs and institutions partnering with AmeriCorps include Communities In Schools, Jumpstart for Young Children, Public Allies, Citizen Schools, City Year, YouthBuild.
Youth Volunteer Corps, YMCA, International Rescue Committee, Hands On Mississippi, Notre Dame Mission Volunteers - AmeriCorps, Girl Scouts of the USA, Boy Scouts of America and Girls Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Camp Fire, College Forward, New York City Coalition Against Hunger, Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, the Student Conservation Association, Project Transformation, Reading Partners, FoodCorps, Minnesota Reading Corps, Teach For America and the Virginia Community Corps. While discussion has occurred about the range and efficacy of evaluating the successes of AmeriCorps, there has been a variety of documentation supporting the program. AmeriCorps provided fiscal and personnel to support the start-up of national programs, including Public Allies and Teach For America, it brought vital resources to established programs, including City Year and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the American Red Cross. AmeriCorps is reported to increase the effectiveness of community service.
Successes for individual AmeriCorps members include increasing their commitment to community service, increasing c
United States
Maryland
Cecil
