Recognizing the crushing need for greater active involvement by all Americans in community and public issues, we understand the critical need to involve population segments currently under-represented in today’s society. In particular, we are concerned with the adverse impacts on young people--the next generation of family, community and public leaders, of a culture over-absorbed with material wealth and social standing, resulting in environmental and social degradation. As the evening news broadcasts an alarming increase in incidents of youth violence, and leaders at every echelon from the church to congress grapple with ways to curb this modern blight on society, we at American Grassroots have turned our attention to a tangible piece of the puzzle that we can put in place in an "each one help one" format, a model that is being successfully replicated piece by piece by piece.

For young people in the Southern Appalachian Mountains region, the problems are magnified. As we turn the corner to a new millennium, much has changed and the changes have brought both positive and negative influences to our people and these majestic mountains: better roads and electronics have brought the world to our door, but they have also brought an economy based largely on tourism and service, on which people cannot support their families, even those with two bread winners in a household. The influx of affluent retirees has so increased the cost of land and housing that the indigenous people can no longer buy a home or maintain the family farm. Economic developers and forecasters tout the low unemployment rates, but fail to reveal that most people are forced to hold down two or even three low-wage jobs in order to make ends meet.

The young adults of working class families are especially hard hit. At a time when we have programmed our youth aspire to and believe anyone can go to college, and that a college education means a good paycheck, many are surprised to find they must choose between going to class or going to work as a swing manager at the local McDonald’s in order to pay tuition. In the end, those who stay the course struggle through to graduation within 5 or 6 years and then find they must move out of the area in order to earn enough money to repay college loans of $50,000 and more. This prospect frequently forces young women into unsuitable early marriages and motherhood responsibilities long before they are ready, and can turn the most robust, optimistic young man into a violent offender after he spends ten years in a dead-end job to which he is unsuited and on which he cannot support himself or his family. Working class parents, anxious for their sons and daughters to live out the American dream and do better than they, frequently unknowingly discourage their youngsters from reaching too high, fearing for their failure, and like all parents, guarded against what harms or disappoints might befall their child and skeptical about that which they themselves do not know. These factors, exacerbated by a religious and social culture permeated by patriarchy, suppress and supplant young men’s natural instincts and dreams, and oppress and obliterate the most basic of inalienable freedoms for young women.

American Grassroots prompts public and nonprofit agency leaders and staff--frequently under-funded and short-staffed, and reluctant to take on training and mentoring responsibilities with students-- to identify specific projects and tasks for internship assignment. We hone the project description to ensure that the agency gets their project or work completed to their specifications and the students get the orientation, training and mentoring they need to grow and learn. We then contact the colleges and universities with academic tracks matching the knowledge and skills needed for the approved projects and recruit, screen and skill-match students in internship assignments that best advance their knowledge and understanding of a particular problem and acquaint them with the pertinent governing and/or service providing agencies to which the student aspires as a vocation or an avocation.

American Grassroots works to ensure that each student receives a stipend by enlisting support from the public and by developing partnerships with business, industry, private foundations and government funding streams. We also provide the fiscal management, payroll functions, insurance and over-sight throughout the course of the internship, fostering and monitoring the student’s progress and growth, and working to resolve any problems or related needs. Each student is asked to keep a journal throughout the course of their internship, providing student, academic advisor, and program management with a retrospective, "been-there" view of the student’s progress and accomplishments--a document that is always invaluable as the student prepares her/his class presentation on the internship, a requirement at most colleges.

American Grassroots is recruiting now for many positions others in the Fall of ‘99. Internships average 250 hours, however, each assignment is tailored to meet the student’s academic requirements. Pay rate averages $5/hr for high school seniors, $7/hr for undergraduate students and $8/hr for graduate students. Affordable or free housing may be available in some locations. Every intern is guaranteed a great service-learning experience. Your summer will be unforgettable!