HELENA — A 3-day long ServeMontana Symposium kicked off at Carroll College this Wednesday. The event gathers 150 AmeriCorps service members from across the state in one spot, not only to make connections but to also gain skills to better serve their communities.
“The ultimate goal of AmeriCorps is that individuals go on to be civically engaged throughout their whole life strengthening communities, states, and essentially the whole country,” says Director of the Governor’s Office of Community Service, Sarah Sadowski.
Americorp service members work in rural, tribal, and city environments in a variety of avenues including public health, environmental stewardship, tax preparation, and more. Sadowski says that this program can help give this group of primarily young adults a better understanding of what direction they want to go in life.
“So, oftentimes AmeriCorps generates the opportunity and then those folks find their way and they say, I did Americorps and now I know what I want to do or at least to do a little bit more of,” says Sadowski.
Czar Sepe is in his first year of service with AmeriCorps. He started in September of last year with Justice for Montanans in Helena. He graduated from college a couple of years ago and is planning to enter law school when he’s done with AmeriCorps. This program has not only allowed him to give back to the community but to also have a better idea of what he wants to do during the next chapter of his life.
“I think the benefit of our program is that you get, you know, to serve with the communities that need this legal access the most. And, you know, if you want to become a future lawyer, you know, you kind of get that hands-on experience even before you become one and go to law school,” says Sepe.
