Whether it’s for personal growth or to serve a higher purpose, taking a gap year or dedicating a year to public service is both very appealing and very impractical. It often happens. How are you doing in life and most importantly financially?
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is trying to find a way to make it work for more people.
One of the highlights of his administration is the newly created Office of Service and Civic Innovation. This includes the two-branch public service program, the Service Year Option for Maryland residents within three years of graduating from high school, and the Maryland Corps. Open to a wide range of applicants. Each agency offers access to entry-level positions in nonprofit organizations, state agencies, and a small number of companies with strong service components such as public health and community development. Participants are paid a minimum wage of $15 an hour and provided with assistance with transportation and child care, which may otherwise prevent participants with fewer support systems from participating. At the end of the minimum nine-month period, all participants will receive his $6,000 scholarship, which will be cashed out to attend college or as a down payment on a car or home.
The program is small at the moment. The Maryland General Assembly next week will decide whether to include a $13 million expansion of both programs in the state budget to increase the number of participants from 200 to 500 per year, with a goal of 2,000 service-year participants by 2026. Take a vote.
With budget constraints and the collapse of the Port of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, the timing may not seem great, but Moore doesn’t see it that way.
When I spoke to him earlier this week, he said, “I will always protect the profits from this investment.” “This is the kind of program that gives people hope and inspiration. I truly believe in the idea that service can save us, especially in times like these.”
I’d like to think he’s right. The goals of the Maryland Legion and the Year of Service are to strengthen community bonds, motivate and train Marylanders, and better prepare them for their futures.
The Maryland State Corps is similar in many ways to the federal government’s AmeriCorps program, removing barriers for people who are often excluded. Importantly, we also welcome non-citizens with valid documents and people with criminal records who may have difficulty participating in other programs. Providing this kind of access is a “prerequisite,” Moore said.
Justin Pereska credits the Service Year Option with the structure and support he needed after a suicide attempt and mental health crisis.
“Even though I had not yet recovered from what I had experienced, I felt it was my mission to give back to the community that had given me so much,” said Pereska, 21. said. He works for a nonprofit organization that helps women recovering from addiction.
During the pandemic, Romona Harden, 22, dropped out of school after one semester and returned to her home in Prince George’s County. She knew she wanted to re-enroll in college someday, but she didn’t know how to take the next step. She began working for a nonprofit community organization that registered as a service year option provider and encouraged Harden to apply for her.
“I need a mentor,” Harden wrote in her application. “I have a lot of hopes and dreams, but I need someone to push me.”
“My biggest hurdle is myself,” she said in a Zoom interview. “I know I’ve put in a lot of effort in school and tried to get to the next place in my personal and professional life, but I still feel so discouraged. It’s hard to imagine that it can be done.”
Like all participants, Harden received training, opportunities to network with other participants, and a “success coach” who she met regularly as a kind of mentor.
“My success coach is bomb dot com,” she told me. Harden said the coach felt like a therapist at times, she said. “She helped me get to know myself. can Do it. There are people who believe in me. ”
For Jabalia Alvi, a Pakistani immigrant and mother of three, the Maryland National Guard’s support system was essential to her return to work. Due to childcare needs, Alvi had to work remotely while trying to pivot to her IT career, but the Maryland National Guard allowed her to receive on-the-job training. , we were able to develop an app that helps new immigrants connect with services and legal assistance.
“I couldn’t attend training because of childcare issues,” Alvi told me. “I didn’t have access to daycare, but I was able to reach out to a success coach who gave me a lot of options.”
This is the type of program that can provide those who need it most with meaningful skills for education, career, and community life. It also gives participants what Moore calls “an opportunity to find something that gets your heart beating a little faster and helps you get on that path.”
And this is the kind of program that has bipartisan support, and it did when Congress first approved it. And while the nation needs to recover from devastating and financially devastating losses, human investment in the future is just as important.
Perhaps the aftermath of a bridge collapse, the kind of catastrophe that usually motivates communities to take action, may be the perfect time to think about funding public services.
“If this tragedy motivates people to dedicate their time and service to Maryland, this is a great opportunity for them to help,” said Governor Moore.
