Reply #33: AmeriCorps programs [View All]

[Chan790]

For some reason, AmeriCorps programs always seem to revolve around much hilarity ensuing.

My own AmeriCorps experience turned into a farce because my site supervisor (The executive director of the organization) could not grasp the simple concept that he wasn't allowed to fire us without legitimate cause. Not that this stopped him from trying, nor prevented him from calling the program coordinator (the assistant director of his parent organization) and begging weekly.

Usually his cited reason was that I refused to break the law or violate the Donor Bill of Rights in the course of my duties as a development staffer and that the other AmeriCorps member, an experienced public relations coordinator who left a professional position in the media to do AmeriCorps because she truly believes in the idea of a year of service, used to fact-check and correct made-up statistics in his press releases.

He hadn't wanted AmeriCorps members in the first place but had us foisted upon him because the parent organization felt he was a "poor" fundraiser and media liasion.