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Impact Mar 15, 2024
The state's Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday, Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson and honoree Alexandra Diaz attend a California Service Corps event in Riverside. | Photo courtesy of California Volunteers
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Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson and state officials announced Thursday an effort to recruit hundreds of Inland Empire residents into the California Service Corps, where members gain work experience and earn wages while providing community service.
Throughout this year, California Service Corps programs over 10,000 Service Corps members will work nearly 5 million hours implementing programs pertaining to climate change, education, disaster recovery, anti-hunger efforts and “connecting vulnerable people to vital resources and services,” according to California Volunteers.
“As Californians, the spirit of service and giving back is in our DNA — it’s why we have the largest service corps in the nation, bigger than the Peace Corps and a model for other states,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “In the coming year … service corps members will devote nearly five million hours to our communities as we work to build a California for all.”
Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said the city has benefitted significantly from work done by Youth Job Corps members.
“Their success is a model for how effective state funding can be for our communities when invested directly into building career pathways for the next generation of our workforce,” Lock Dawson said in a statement.
“These are California’s future leaders, and we need their passion, energy and enthusiasm to address our greatest challenges,” California Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday, who attended the recruitment launch event Thursday in Riverside, said in a statement. “These programs pave pathways for prosperity, propel progress on our most pressing issues, and promote unity to help unravel the crisis of social isolation and division.”
The governor’s California Volunteers agency administers the Service Corps, which consists of four paid service programs: Californians For All College Corps, California Climate Action Corps, Californians For All Youth Jobs Corps and AmeriCorps California.
“Combined, it is a force larger than the Peace Corps and will be mobilized at a time when California is addressing the climate crisis, post-pandemic academic recovery and shaping the future of the state’s workforce,” officials said.
The California Service Corps provides the opportunity to learn and develop a variety of professional skills while gaining work and connecting with others to help make a positive difference in one’s local community, officials said.
“Service experiences also foster a positive sense of connection and belonging, an answer to the loneliness crisis — as defined by the U.S. Surgeon General,” according to California Volunteers.
“I am thrilled that California Volunteers is providing opportunities to engage our next generation of leaders in service so that they can make a direct impact in our Inland Empire communities, while earning money and helping our state tackle some of its biggest challenges,” Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes said in a statement. “The California Service Corps will no doubt be instrumental in creating a brighter future for all Californians.”
More information on finding a paid service opportunity and membership applications are online at CAServiceCorps.com.
