· What are my goals for doing full-time service?

Your experience of full-time service should be a reciprocal relationship between your aspirations as a volunteer and the needs of the community and organization you serve. Spend some time considering your long-range personal and vocational goals and how service supports or expands them.

· What type of service do I want to do?
Do you have a specific area of interest (like women's issues, health care, the environment, or legal issues)? Reflecting on the jobs and activities you find interesting will make your search easier.

· How much time do I have to commit?
Programs are designed around varying time commitments. Some programs require several months or a summer, while others have a minimum commitment of one to two years.

· Where do I want to serve?
Is your priority to stay close to home or explore a new location? Would you like to work in the inner city or in a rural area; in the United States or abroad? Do you want to utilize or develop a second (or third!) language?

· What work environment do I want?
Do you want to work consistently with the same agency, or with a variety of connected agencies? Are you hoping to work in advocacy or direct service? Would you like to work indoors or outdoors?

· What living situation would I enjoy?
Many programs offer group or communal living arrangements, some arrange for individual housing with families, and others require volunteers to make their own living arrangements on the basis of a stipend.

· What is my financial situation?
Financial benefits related to travel expenses, health insurance, living stipends, and room and board costs vary from program to program. Additionally, some programs assist in student loan repayment or deferment during your period of service. Some programs require a participation fee to help defer program costs.
·

Do I know anyone who has done this?
The University of Maryland boasts over 25 former Peace Corps members and uncounted alumni from programs such as Americorps*VISTA, Teach for America, and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Former post-graduate volunteers are usually interested in sharing their experiences with interested students. To find local former volunteers, inquire at the Office of Community Service-Learning and the Career Center.


Americorps: Corporation for National Service
(215) 597-2715 or 800-942-2677
http://www.americorps.org
Contact: Jason Scott
A national network of hundreds of programs throughout the US. Americorps members help communities in areas of education, public safety, human needs, and the environment. Time commitment varies from 10 months to one year, and most assignments are full-time.

Amigos De Las Americas
(202) 331-4999
http://www.amigosdc.org
Contact: Susan Davis, volunteer@amigosdc.org
Amigos volunteers spend six or eight weeks in the summer working with people in a Latin American country to improve health care and the environment. At least one year of Spanish or Portuguese or the equivalent is required.

Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps
Washington, DC (202) 842-4700
http://www.avodah.net
Contact: mmorse@avodah.net
A yearlong service opportunity for young Jewish people who want to work on America's most pressing social problems. Volunteers work in community-based anti-poverty programs.

City Year
1888-4-CITYYEAR or 202-776-7780
http://www.cityyear.org/
City Year unites a diverse group of 17 to 24 year-old individuals for a year of full-time, rigorous community service, leadership development, and civic engagement in communities across America.

Covenant House
202-610-9600 or chw@chdc.org
http://www.covenanthouse.org
In addition to food, shelter, clothing and crisis care, Covenant House provides a variety of services to homeless youth including health care, education, drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, legal services, transitional living programs, and aftercare. Volunteers serve 13 months as full time volunteers; assisting homeless youth in one of Covenant House’s crisis shelters, in exchange for room, board and health insurance.

Green Corps
Boston, MA (617) 426-8506
http://www.greencorps.org
Contact: jobs@greencorps.org
This is a one-year, full time, paid environmental leadership training program to launch an organizing and advocacy career. Green Corps works with leading environmental groups in the country in their campaigns to protect the environment.

Greenpeace
Washington, DC (202) 462-1177
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org
Contact: info@wdc.greenpeace.org
An international, non-profit, environmental organization that works to preserve and protect the earth through non-violent direct action, grassroots, lobbying, public education, and research.

International Partnership for Service Learning
New York, NY (212) 986-0989
http://www.ipsl.org/
Contact: info@ipsl.org
Combines academic study and volunteer service for current or recent graduates. Volunteers provide personal care, organize activities, or work on human rights issues in domestic and international settings.

International Workcamps: Council on International Educational Exchange
(800)-40-STUDY or (800) 407-8839
http://www.ciee.org/
Contact: studyinfo@ciee.org
Participants from around the world come together for two to four week placements in Europe, Africa, or North America. Projects include construction and conservation projects, working with children, or participating in an archeological dig.

JDC Jewish Service Corps
New York, NY
http://www.jdc.org/help/volunteer.htm
Contact: volunteer@jdc.org
The JDC Jewish Service Corps (JSC) offers
qualified individuals the chance to serve a
Jewish community abroad in such areas as
Jewish outreach, community development,
health, and social welfare. Volunteers are
selected to match the particular needs of overseas communities. JDC provides round-trip travel
expenses, housing, health insurance, and a monthly stipend to cover basic living expense.

Jesuit Volunteer Corps
Baltimore, MD (410) 244-1744
http://www.JesuitVolunteers.org
Contact: jvceast@JesuitVolunteers.org
Volunteers work with community agencies to provide essential services to low-income people in domestic and international settings. Room and board and health insurance are provided; volunteers live with one another. Must be 21 years of age, emotionally mature and have a strong Christian motivation. Applications accepted January through July; service commitment is August to August.

National School and Community Corps
Lawrenceville, NJ (609) 392-6662
http://198.139.224.157/Program%20Pages/NSCC-Main2.htm
Contact: mail@educationworks-online.org
The National School and Community Corps (NSCC), an AmeriCorps national service program, is a dynamic part of school restructuring, joining national service with urban school reform. It brings, activities, services, and resources to schools and neighborhoods. NSCC members enrich the school environment and extend the school day, week and year to benefit students, their parents, and the community as a whole.

Orphanage Outreach
Glendale, Arizona, volunteer@orphanage-outreach.org
http://www.orphanage-outreach.org
Allows students and adults to live at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. Volunteers can stay for anywhere from 1 week to 3 months in either Monte Cristi or Esperanza. Experience the surrounding Dominican culture, bond with the orphans, teach in local schools, improve the campus’s buildings, plan or participate in several camps open to the community, and have an incredible, life-changing experience. Prior knowledge of the Spanish language is not necessary but helpful.

Peace Action & Peace Action Education Fund
Silver Spring, MD (301) 565-4050
http://www.peace-action.org
Contact: rgreene@peace-action.org
The largest grassroots peace and justice organization in the US, Peace Action works to promote global security and to make disarmament and economic justice a reality.

Peace Corps
Washington, DC (800) 424-8580 or (202) 692-1040
http://www.peacecorps.gov
Contact: dcinfo@peacecorps.gov
Volunteers work in another country for two years. Volunteers should be fluent in a language other than English, have great problem-solving abilities, and bring a special skill to the program, such as engineering, teaching, business, or computer knowledge. Monthly subsistence allowance received. Application process is long and competitive. Should apply nine months in advance of anticipated service.

Public Allies
Washington, DC (202) 293-3969
http://www.publicallies.org/washingtondc/index.html
Contact: washingtondc@publicallies.org
Public Allies envisions communities where people of different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences work together and share responsibility for improving their own lives and the lives of those around them. Public Allies advances diverse young leaders to strengthen communities for a ten-month experience at a non-profit organization.

St. Vincent Pallotti Center for Apostolic Development
Washington, DC 1-877-VOL-LINK or (202) 529-3330
http://www.pallotticenter.org/
Contact: Christy Williamson, pallotti@pallotticenter.org
Offers services for those seeking post-graduate full/part-time volunteer opportunities. Operates as a clearinghouse for volunteers, providing info about domestic and international volunteer programs. Publishes directory of over 200 full-time service opportunities.

The Student Conservation Association
Charleston, New Hampshire (603) 543-1700
http://www.thesca.org
Their mission is to inspire lifelong stewardship of the environment and communities by engaging young people in hands on service to the land. Opportunities to live and work individually or in team-based groups at natural and cultural sites are available nationwide;
varying term lengths available year round. Expenses paid, weekly living allowance and educational awards are all available.

Teach for America
Washington, DC (800) 832-1230 or (202) 962-0285
http://www.teachforamerica.org/tfa/
Contact: Patrick J. Pontius, patrick.pontius@teachforamerica.org
This is a national corps of outstanding and diverse recent college graduates, of all academic majors, who commit two years to teach in under-resourced urban and rural public schools. Each year, over 1,000 corps members reach more than 100,000 students at thirteen locations across the country.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Cambridge, MA (617) 868-6600
http://www.uusc.org
Contact: postmaster@uusc.org
The UUSC work camps provide volunteers with a hands-on learning experience around the country and overseas, to work on issues of racial, social and economic justice.

Volunteer Maryland
Crownsville, MD (410) 514-7270
http://www.volunteermaryland.org
Volunteers are trained to become volunteer coordinators in local non-profit agencies. They participate for one or two years to teach children to read, help low-income families move into homes, make neighborhoods safer, maintain Maryland’s beauty and much more. Their mission is to build stronger, healthier communities by developing volunteer and service-learning programs.

WorldTeach, Inc.
Cambridge, MA (800) 483-2240 or 617-495-5527
http://www.worldteach.org
Contact: info@worldteach.org
Places volunteers as teachers in developing countries that request educational assistance. Based at Harvard University at the Harvard Institute for International Development.