Why Service in AmeriCorps Matters Now More Than Ever By Ethan Krenzer

Close to reaching my third month of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Montana Campus Compact (MTCC), volunteering during the 2021/2022 year is a significant time to serve. I am so glad/grateful that federal programs and organizations like this one exist. With everything going on across the country, what the United States of America really needs right now, are individuals generous with their time and the willingness to help underserved Americans attain necessary resources while working at or below the poverty line. In trying to address the need that so many citizens of this country have right now, AmeriCorps volunteers show that people can still come together to make a difference in communities across the nation.

Not since the creation of the Volunteers in Service to America program (VISTA) in 1964, has this opportunity been more needed. Poverty impacts people on both sides of the political aisle, and there should be more bi-partisan action to see it reduced. While the conversation on what causes this financial and social hardship will continue, measures to combat it most increase. As I continue my service as a VISTA, it is my hope that commitment that the communities I serve in Montana will improve and show that bipartisanship can have a positive effect on individuals from a local, state, and federal level.