As the inaugural year of Gov. Wes Moore’s signature service year program comes to an end, participants and host organizations preparing for a commencement celebration at Camden Yards on Tuesday afternoon said the experience has been positive.
“Working at Talisman has just been a life-changing experience for me,” Brad Krantz, a Maryland Corps member, said. “It’s given me the ability to serve others selflessly, which has really put me in touch with my true authentic self.”
The 55-year-old Talbot County resident works as an instructor at Talisman Therapeutic Riding, where he teaches horseback riding.
At the end of his riding classes, Krantz said both he and his students are smiling, or sometimes, shedding tears together.
“Now I have a direction and I have that ability to really step into who I’m meant to be in this world,” Krantz said.
For Julia Sigrist, a 25-year-old Maryland Corps member, the program allowed them to explore new paths. They’ve worked in special education after receiving their associate degree and now are at the Madison House Autism Foundation, a nonprofit providing resources to individuals with autism.
The stipend each participant receives for completing nine months of service will allow Sigrist to go back to school to complete their bachelor’s degree. Sigrist said they plan to stay in contact with colleagues from the program”]
Part of the program’s design seeks to “knit together” diverse groups of people, said Paul Monteiro, secretary of Maryland’s Department of Service and Civic Innovation.
Moore, who often says that “Service will save us,” campaigned on the platform of a paid year of service. Once elected, he established the Department of Service and Civic Innovation and signed the SERVE Act into law.
Individuals from ages 18-21 with a high school diploma or equivalent education are paid at least $15 an hour to work full time through the Service Year Option. Maryland Corps, which was passed years ago but never fully launched, offers the same paid service for those over the age of 21. All participants are eligible to receive a $6,000 stipend at the end of their nine-month service.
The programs launched in October with 280 participants, and Monteiro said the retention rate has been about 80%. As required by law under the SERVE Act, next year’s cohort will increase to 500 members.
Monteiro said he is confident that the cohort will reach that threshold but did not say how many applications have been received. The application deadline for the program’s second year is July 22.
While increasing the number of participants, the Department of Service and Civic Innovation will need to be fiscally responsible given the state’s projected deficit, Monteiro said. Though larger organizations contribute to their members’ wages, the state covers the cost for smaller organizations in addition to the stipend.
During the pilot year, employers contributed almost $2 million toward member costs, Monteiro said. Still, the department is working to have more of the larger host sites cover the costs of the program while also seeking outside donors.
“It’s very clear that we’re also a workforce development program,” Monteiro said. “And having people who are getting connected to meaningful employment or continuing their professional development through apprenticeship or school, that helps the condition of the state as it relates to the economic engine that we have here.”
Along with efforts to increase funding resources, Monteiro said they’ve “redoubled” their work to address counties that were not represented in the first cohort. Pilot year members hailed from several areas around the state, with representation from all jurisdictions except for Garrett, Allegany, Cecil, Caroline and Worcester counties.
Adobolia Buford, the CEO of VetWorkS, hopes to see an increase in service members next year from two to eight. There will always be struggles with the first year of any program, Buford said, but the program was successful in blending service and workforce development together.
“Because, you know, typically, when you have programs, there can be something to go wrong, and it can kind of be this push and pull effect,” Buford said. “But this was a dream for us.”
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