Hope Corps Team Works for Congressional Support of Volunteerism

Following the introduction of the Global Service Fellowship Program bill (S. 1464) in the U.S. Senate, Debbie Hoover (World Hope International’s Hope Corps director), Rachel Drevlow (Hope Corps assistant), and Amber Hirschy (Hope Corps volunteer) attended a related briefing on Capitol Hill on May 24. Co-sponsored by Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Russ Feingold (D-WI), the bill would appropriate $50 million annually to increase the number of Americans volunteering overseas to 10,000 each year. Volunteers would be congressionally nominated to receive an average of $5,000 each to facilitate a one-month to one-year period of overseas service through a qualified NGO, faith-based organization, or university service learning program. Areas of acceptable service will include general development, capacity building, skill-transfer, and cross-cultural communication.

The bill emerged from the efforts of a Brookings Institution working group comprised of international volunteer experts. Ms. Hoover has been a part of the working group for the past year, and her team shared their experiences volunteering through World Hope International in congressional meetings following Thursday’s briefing.

Click here to read the Brookings Institution’s policy briefing, Global Service Fellowships: Building Bridges through American Volunteers, which introduces this important piece of legislation and its potential impact on the world of volunteer service.