AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation's most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 1850,000 AmeriCorps members in intensive service roles; and empower millions more to serve as long-term, or one-time volunteers. In South Carolina, this spirit of service thrives through the South Carolina Commission on National and Community Service, the state’s hub for national service.
With over 2,000 active members and more than 400 project sites statewide, AmeriCorps SC directs more than $13 million annually in federal resources to locally driven initiatives. Guided by the principles of local leadership, state stewardship, and federal support, AmeriCorps members work tirelessly to “get things done for America.”
AmeriCorps is more than a program—it is a reflection of American values. It is neighbor helping neighbor. Stranger helping stranger. AmeriCorps is the American spirit in action.
Benefits of Service
The benefits that individuals serving with an AmeriCorps SC program are eligible to receive are listed below.
Living Allowance
Your living allowance will help cover the basic costs of living, which allows national service to be an option for everybody. Furthermore, living within tight economic bounds encourages AmeriCorps Members to relate more closely with the resource-limited communities they serve. (The amount of living allowance varies by program and term type. Please refer to the application process for each AmeriCorps SC program listed below for more details.)
Health Insurance
Health insurance, which meets Affordable Care Act standards, is provided to those serving full-time as AmeriCorps Members. Coverage varies by program, but general questions are addressed on this website.
Education Award
Following your successful completion of your AmeriCorps term of service, you will become eligible to earn the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. This can be applied to existing student loans or to future education endeavors. Each AmeriCorps Member can earn up to the equivalent of two full-time education awards, totaling over $11,000. Over 180 institutions of higher education will match your AmeriCorps Education Award.
Professional Development / Job Training
Many AmeriCorps Members utilize the valuable job training, professional development, and networking opportunities they participating in while serving in an AmeriCorps SC program to advance their career after their term of service.
Childcare Assistance
Full-time service Members may qualify for childcare assistance. The application process can be completed here.
Loan Forbearance
Your federal student loans qualify for loan forbearance (i.e. payment postponement) during your term of service. Furthermore, the federal government will pay for the interest that your loans accrue while in forbearance during your year of service. You can learn more about applying for loan forbearance here.
Meet Like-Minded Peers
You will get to serve alongside other service-minded peers who seek to strengthen our South Carolina communities. Further, you will join a network of over 1,000,000 AmeriCorps Alum, who can link you to resources and job opportunities following your AmeriCorps service. Register here to start receiving AmeriCorps Alum benefits today.
2026-2027 AmeriCorps SC Programs
Learn more about your local AmeriCorps programs!
ArtistYear places AmeriCorps national service volunteers in public Title I partner schools in Newberry County as professional teaching artists with discipline-specific expertise and experience in teaching or youth development. The AmeriCorps national service volunteers expand students’ access to arts education, common curriculum through a creative lens, and youth development opportunities for students through direct arts instruction, creative learning experiences, and school-community engagement. This program aims to expand arts education while improving core academic achievement, and positive character development.
City Year operates in schools across Richland and Lexington County providing critical support to students through academic tutoring, mentorship, and after-school programs. Our AmeriCorps Members serve as Student Success Coaches, working directly with students to enhance their educational experience, build essential skills, and foster a positive and productive school learning environment.
College Advising Corps (CAC) plans to place recent college graduates as AmeriCorps national service volunteers in high schools across South Carolina to serve as full-time postsecondary advisers. CAC advisers work primarily with high school seniors through a one-on-one advising regimen to help them develop individualized plans for life after graduation, including career exploration, financial aid applications, and college or workforce enrollment. CAC ensures students graduate with a clear long term plan, whether that includes a trade school, certificate program, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, or military service.
This program will bring in AmeriCorps national service volunteers to serve as Student Support Coaches in elementary, middle school, and high school campuses across the state to meet students where they are and provide wraparound support for students and their families to thrive. Goals of this program include high school dropout prevention, academic achievement, high school graduation and a successful transition into adulthood and post-secondary pursuits.
Teach For America recruits and develops promising leaders to serve as professional emergency credentialed educators for two years in under-resourced elementary schools in South Carolina's LowCountry, Pee Dee, or Midlands regions. As a professional corps, AmeriCorps participants serve as classroom teachers, receive extensive training, and gain a support system to build a rewarding career in education.
Breakthrough South Carolina offers joyful and rigorous summer academic programming in Horry, Georgetown, and Williamsburg Counties. AmeriCorps national service volunteers serve as Teaching Fellows in full time positions to help mitigate summer learning loss for middle school students at elevated risk as determined by their schools.
Through their Ready Readers program in Kershaw County, AmeriCorps national service volunteers focus on developing a love of literacy for elementary school students who are struggling to read. Knowing that basic literacy lifts lives out of poverty, and by inspiring children to read early and often, we can better prepare them for lifelong success.
Through its Environmental Conservation Corps (ECC), Sustainability Institute operates a service-learning and workforce development program which engages AmeriCorps national service volunteers in hands-on public projects that lead to careers in conservation. The goal of ECC is to cultivate the next generation of conservation leaders through practical projects such as artificial oyster reef installation, habitiat restoration, erosion control, and other conservation projects in the greater Charleston and Lowcountry coastal region of South Carolina.
Conservation Legacy operates the Southeast Conservation Corps (SECC), which engages young adults and transition-aged youth in hands-on AmeriCorps national service volunteer roles. The SECC program strengthens South Carolina’s forests, waterways, trails, and communities. AmeriCorps national service volunteers gain critical workforce skills, certifications, and career pathways in conservation, all while improving land in rural and coastal counties across South Carolina.
A Ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health Foundation, Healthy Learners operates across South Carolina by providing basic and essential health screening services to school-aged children in order to improve their overall well-being and academic performance. AmeriCorps national service volunteers are road warriors - traveling between schools and communities to ensure children receive vision screenings, dental exams, basic healthcare education, and parent referrals for child health follow-up items. By bridging the gap between healthcare and education, Healthy Learners contributes to a healthier future for South Carolina’s children.
Through their South Carolina programming, the National Mental Health Corps will be engaging AmeriCorps national service volunteers to deliver evidence-informed prevention and early intervention mental health activities that increase community knowledge, strengthen early identification of mental health challenges, and improve connections to care, helping to build a stronger local safety net across the state. The program will also develop a stronger mental health workforce pipeline by providing a hands-on, real-world service experience, skill-up training, and clear pathways into high-demand jobs within South Carolina’s mental health workforce.
The Community Health Worker (CHW) program operated by the South Carolina Free Clinic Association aims to increase access to basic medical care, increase health knowledge, promote positive change in health behaviors, and improve health outcomes for wholly uninsured patients in South Carolina. AmeriCorps national service volunteers are trained, certified, and serve as Community Health Workers providing patient care navigation at free clinic locations across South Carolina.
Able SC is a disability-led organization in Columbia and Greenville seeking transformational changes in systems, communities, and individuals. AmeriCorps national service volunteers focus on direct service to South Carolinians living with disabilities. This program supports residents to reach their self-sufficiency goals through skill building, peer support, finding and navigation resources, and more!
The AmeriCorps F.R.E.E. (Financial Readiness and Education for Everyone) is operated by UWSCL. AmeriCorps national service volunteers perform both direct service and capacity-building roles, providing financial education, coordinating workshops and events, and connecting individuals and families to essential resources. The F.R.E.E. program empowers youth and adults with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve greater financial stability and long-term family economic success.
@ AmeriCorps SC Alums
