As AmeriCorps members, we aren't paid a salary per say, but we are paid a living stipend. Basically amounts to enough to pay rent and buy a bulk package of Ramen noodles. The amount varies depending on the cost of living where you're placed, but even when I was looking at programs in New York City, the living stipend was hardly enough to, well, live off of. Folks who have done this in the past recommend all kinds of tips and tricks in order to save money and not starve during your service year. Since our AmeriCorps living stipend is not technically considered income (why then it is taxed I can't tell you), we are eligible for public assistance in the form of food stamps. When I first heard this, my initial reaction was, "No way. That is for people who need this to feed their families, not me." But as the reality of my financial situation set in and I found that Anchorage grocery prices are pretty comparable to those in New York City, I gave it a second thought.
After careful deliberation and checking my bank statments, I heeded my co-AmeriCorps members and supervisors advice and decided to at least go fill out the application.
Remember that part about self-exploration? Yeah, that happened today. Today was my first venture into a public assistance office. And although it wasn't particularly scary or anything like that, there were some emotions that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It really made me think about the way the collective we looks at public assistance. I guess it's something that I always knew was there and appreciated, but had never encountered face to face. After living where I lived for the past two years and going to school where I went to school, it that small experience today really made me step outside myself and take stock of why I'm doing what I'm doing.
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