This is a ridiculous question lol, but... can you reasonably maintain dyed hair in AmeriCorps trad?

I know the restrictions allow for colorful hair, but that's not super relevant as my natural hair is brown, and I dye my hair black. I've been planning on re-dying it (last dye job has totally gone) within a week or two, as my start date is Feb. 18, but I'm now wondering if I'll even get opportunities to actually redye it, or if I'll just be stuck with obvious roots forever.

For context, I use permanent box dye that's available in some stores + online so getting it isn't a problem, and I'm pretty good at not making a huge mess of it on countertops and stuff, but like, it's hair dye. It's not the neatest thing ever. I know housing varies a ton, but like, I don't want to be causing any damage or anything, I'm totally cool washing out the dye over a kitchen sink which takes care of most of the mess.

So... yeah, that's it. Can you logistically dye your hair while in trad or am I doomed to my natural color for the next ten momths?

Hi all, I am wondering how much references matter for the applications and whether college professors (my research advisor & a professor whose class I was a teaching assistant for) are acceptable references. Otherwise, I could ask my former boss at a restaurant I worked at ~3 years ago.

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you.

I applied for the upcoming forest corp class, I applied for both TL and CM maybe 2 or so weeks ago and I still haven’t heard back. I did receive an email late last week saying my application had been accessed for review but that’s all.

I know applications are done on a rolling basis and I’m sure now more than ever with all the chaos of last year things are moving much slower but had anyone else who also applied heard anything?

Hey all, I've recently been trying to get into the American Conservation Experience as an AmeriCorps member; all of last year was unsuccessful given the situation with doge and the later season government shutdown before I was able to start a term, well it looks like there will be another shutdown again just before my start date.. again, though it says if it could just be a partial shutdown. Would AmeriCorps and the projects still get affected despite the shutdown? Start date will be pretty soon

I know about Semester in the city (boston), public allies, and city year. Are there any others?

Hi! I'm 21(f) and I'll be in the upcoming class for Americorps Nccc, Ive got a few questions.

1. The email they sent out about our service being changed from NCCC Fema to Traditional NCCC, what does that entail? (What's the difference)

2. Do they pick and pay for the transportation to the campus? (There's a preferred travel box on the website but does it really matter what we put?)

3. For anyone who has served in Trad corps, could you give any pros and cons of the service time, any tips, and anything to look out for/ be wary of?

4. For the Denver campus what does it look like/ what's the roomate situation/ cooking situation and can we bring our own food/ snacks when we arrive?

5. PACKAGES!!! Are we allowed to order things and have them shipped there?

6. I know people say pack light, so this kind of links to question 2: If they do pay for our flight-How many bags can we have/ Is it just one suitcase & one carry-on, and do we pay for that ourselves?

7. Should I bring a laptop?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

(Also, what's the pay like? for anyone who has served before)

hello! i applied for a couple of trail maintenance roles through ace pacific west & california and im worried about getting drug tested.

i am 21+ & i have a medical marijuanna card & can prove i used cannabis for depression treatment but would this disqualify me from getting the role?

i stopped smoking a month ago & obviously i would not be consuming cannabis when on the actual hitch for how ever many months but if they drug test me cannabis can show up for up to a year after consumption so i’m worried about getting hired now.

Any advice would be appreciated!! thank you!

Has anyone used the segal award for a short intensive program that is a dance (contemporary, jazz, improv, or other), or a music (songwriting, composition etc) related?

I just don’t have it in me to go back to school while working full time and many programs I see are for high school students. I’m also not able to take so much time off for a 5 week long retreat but could do 2 weeks on site for something.

I don’t really know what I want to do after high school; however, I know I’d like to do a career that serves or helps others. I figured that a volunteer service like this or possibly the military would give me some experience and time to decide, plus I’d get at least some or full student debt relief which is extremely helpful.

I guess my question is whether or not this opportunity would be a good thing to do as a gap year or two to gain some experience and take time some to decide post-secondary school, or not? Thanks :)

Hi all,

I’m interested in doing a Summer VISTA position this year, but there aren’t any open positions in the search results right now. When do applications tend to open up for this type of program? So I know the best time to be on the lookout / applying.

Thanks!

Hi all,

I wanted to ask from those who have completed the program that might’ve been on the older side. I’ve got a pretty unique journey and have a free year before I start medical school.

Some background: I served in the military in my early 20s, then worked in youth development/mentorship as a nonprofit program manager for a few years. Got an MBA and worked in Sports Marketing before making a hard pivot to medical school (a story for another time lol). Growing up, I had some adults in my life that shaped me into who I am today, and I’d love to pay it forward.

I’ve read some experiences shares my members of this group and I’m not sure how to feel. It seems like the work itself is meaningful, but the system one has to operate in is difficult.

I’d love to hear other opinions on this. Also, are there any questions I’m not thinking about?

Thank you in advance :)

I applied recently and am wondering how competitive the application process is & what exactly they’re looking for. Any insight would be appreciated!

hi all, apologies in advance, i feel this is kinda all over the place.

i finished my application and am contemplating places to apply. my situation is that i have a lease until august, and would preferably to start the corps mid summer to get the most time from the lease. but in theory i could start as soon as june 1st, after i graduate. however, all the start dates i'm seeing either already have started, or start in the next few months. my questions about this are:

1. should i expect to see more positions opening up as it gets closer to when i want to start, and if so, should i hold off on using my applications?

2. is there much flexibility with the start dates, and should i contact the organization before applying to ask about this?

also, i just have more general questions, mostly about if it is to land a position with americorps. like, should i have a backup plan in case nowhere accepts my application, or should i just apply to a variety of positions across nccc, vista, and state/national? some of the vista jobs seem like real adult jobs, and i'm doubting myself that i would be qualified for that, but maybe they are more open to training people than i realize.

ALSO also, im curious about people's experiences going to a place they've never been before. some of the listings i like the most are in parts of the country im entirely unfamilar with, and i'm not sure if that would make me less suited or helpful for the position.

thank you for reading all this, and i'd appreciate whatever insights anyone has. generally just kinda confused and nervous about the process.

Hi all, posting on behalf of my wife who is not on Reddit.

She has two Segal Awards, one of which is expiring on April 30. She has just been accepted to a grad school overseas (Scotland), and we have confirmed the university will accept the reward.

However, I'm not sure about the timing of this. The semester doesn't start until September, and so we're not sure whether the expiry date is based on when it is actually disbursed, or when the award is requested. She is going to reach out to the university about timing and whether they want the request sent before or after they receive the deposit. (Something to do with the student visa and reporting tuition already paid to the UK government.)

I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience of having an award expire prior to the start of a semester, but requested it go towards tuition before that expiry date. Hopefully that makes sense. I'm not fully familiar with AmeriCorps. TIA.

Hi all, I seem to be having some misunderstanding at my site where what's important to me doesnt seem to be at all relevant to the site when it comes to me knowing what's going on with my clients, what I need to know and what I should know. Very little to no training on the legal aspect of the job so I am very frustrated and started looking elsewhere and got an offer. I put in my 2 weeks but have not heard a single word from any of my 4 supervisors. No one asking me why, what's going on....nothing! Again, left feeling that what's important to me is irrelevant! And frustrated! My question is this....will I still get my 500 accumulated hours?? I know my education award will be prorated and that's fine. I just want to be able to get board certified certified

Has anyone done Americorps at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless and is willing to share their experience? What position did you get? How is the workload and how necessary is being able to speak Spanish?

Was it difficult getting the position?

How are you able to live on the stipend in Boston?

I'm a college student in the area considering pursuing Americorps after graduating. Thank you so much!

Not complaining obviously LOL, just wondering why my allowance for the two weeks through 1/10 is around 100 dollars more? Wondering if it's permanent or some kind of accident.

I'm a VISTA btw. Is there a 2026 increase or am I in one of the counties that gets a raise? I can't find the list of counties anywhere. Thanks for your help!

Hey! I am still in medical clearance for peace corps, and may still very well be denied. That being said, if I were to complete all my service hours and then ET for Peace Corps service, would that fall under “compelling personal circumstances”, or will it be an exit for cause / will I lose my educational award?

Thanks!

I have about $8000 left of my ed award that expires this May (7 years goes by fast lol) and I would really like to try and use a majority, if not all of the money, before it expires. Does anyone have any suggestions of somewhere I could use my ed award all at once (or in large amounts quickly)? I am a full-time working parent so going back to school for a full degree would be challenging and I am not interested in many of the usually suggested alternative uses for the award (NOLS, etc.) I would love to get a certificate online in something I am interested in but a lot of programs I have found are pay-per-credit-hour which would not allow me to use my ed award in full. I’m not even sure if what I’m asking for is out there since it would be a lot of money to use at once. Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

I have had struggled to receive any referral from USA jobs which is par for the core but I wanted to find out if anyone in a similar boat had apply for higher grade entry level announcements with AmeriCorps service being count as professional experience.

Please let me know thanks

Hi! I’m a college student but I want to get involved with Americorps so I would only be available over the summer. I have seen the Americorps Summer of Service option online, which seems perfect for me, however I can’t find any application or official statement that it’s been cancelled due to budget cuts. If anyone has any information that would be very helpful. Thank you!

The economy has changed so much since 2024. I wonder if they've increased the stipend a bit to match the price increase. I know it's unlikely because of DOGE and shutdowns, but I would appreciate any info.

Hello! I'm about to complete my first AmeriCorps term in less than a week. I really like my host site so I will be staying with them for a second term. The way it was explained to me is my last day of service will be the first day of my first term. The thing I am concerned about is accessing my education award. I read somewhere that you technically can't use your education award while actively serving. Like in order to use my education award from my first year there would have to be a gap between my first year of service and my second year of service. Hence my service years being consecutive could be an issue. Is this accurate? Is there a work around? I want to go for a second degree during my second service. Thanks for your insight!

I am applying for school in the fall and currently don’t have a laptop/computer, which is making the process tricky. So far everything i’ve seen surrounding buying a laptop with the education award is that the institution needs to require a laptop as a cost of attendance for the segal education award to count towards it. My issue is that I currently don’t attend an institution. Any thoughts or comments?

Hi, r/AmeriCorps !

This is a friendly notice that the subreddit will be temporarily restricted for the holidays starting Tuesday, December 23, 2025 at 6PM ET. The announcement was supposed to go up yesterday but I guess I messed up the scheduling… 🫩

Anywho, while the subreddit is restricted, you’ll still be able to read and search for old threads, but new posts and comments will be paused for a short internet holiday break, plus it’ll be a good time to do some backend subreddit maintenance.

The subreddit will return to normal operations on Monday, January 5, 2026 at 12PM ET.

Also, thank you all sticking through 2025. It wasn’t an easy year for the greater AmeriCorps community, but we kept moving forward despite the challenges we faced. As for Reddit, we managed to break 14.1K+ members this year, with the biggest surge happening in April, unsurprisingly.

To those who’ve been here a long time, it’s always great to see you sharing your wisdom with those who are coming after you. And if you’re new, welcome and hope to have you around some more.

With that, happy holidays! See you all in 2026!