Elizabeth Johnston, of Stevenson Ranch, is currently serving with the National Civilian Community Corps, a 10-month, full-time AmeriCorps program. Founded in 1994, AmeriCorps NCCC strengthens communities and develops its young adult members into leaders.
As a Corps member, Johnston is completing a series of different six- to 12-week-long service projects in different places across her assigned region as part of a five- to 12-person team. Projects support disaster relief, the environment, infrastructure improvement, energy conservation, and urban and rural development.
AmeriCorps NCCC operates out of four campuses, which serve as regional administrative hubs and training facilities. These campuses, located in Sacramento, Aurora, Colorado, Vinton, Iowa, and Vicksburg, Mississippi, train and deploy new classes of members several times each year. Johnston began her term of service on Feb. 9 at the North Central Region campus in Vinton, Iowa, and will graduate from the program on Nov. 18.
Before joining the NCCC, Johnston attended West Ranch High School and California Lutheran University, which she graduated from in May 2020 with a degree in global studies.
Johnston said, “I chose to do a term of national service because I also hope to work in a service-oriented field or do nonprofit work long term as well. I believe my life purpose is to help others and overall make the world a better place; this is why by my senior year of high school I felt a fervent desire to pursue either the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps once completing my bachelor’s degree. As a 2020 college graduate, I could not be more thrilled to become an official member of AmeriCorps NCCC and finally take an active part in the solution. I also feel a sense of patriotic and civic duty to serve my country for the greater good, and now during the unprecedented crisis brought by COVID-19, I feel that urge to take action now more than ever.”
AmeriCorps NCCC members complete at least 1,700 hours of service during the 10-month program. Corps members are all 18 to 26 years old. In exchange for their service, all program participants receive $6,345 to help pay for college. AmeriCorps NCCC is one of hundreds of programs administered by the larger AmeriCorps agency. For more information about AmeriCorps NCCC, visit the website at www.americorps.gov/nccc.
