AmeriCorps is a national service program funded by the Corporation for National Community Service. The program provides 10 month long full-time “members” to service programs around the country, including hundreds of faith-based and community organizations, higher education institutions, and public agencies. The purpose of these programs is to meet our country’s most critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment.
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC ®) launched Community HealthCorps in 1995 to bring these national service resources to community health centers, primary care associations and clinic consortia that provide primary health care to residents of medically underserved areas.
The CHCANYS Healthy Futures Corps has taken over the role of NACHC and works under the Corporation for National service to oversee the internal CHCANYS program as well as four other AmeriCorps programs through Ryan Chelsea Clinton, Open Door Community Health Centers, NYU Lutheran, and Hudson River Healthcare. The mission of CHCANYS Healthy Futures Corps is to increase health care access and enhance workforce development through community health center sponsored HealthCorps programs. The goal of the Healthy Futures Corps is to increase access and eliminate health disparities for the medically underserved though long-lasting sustainable projects.
Healthy Futures Corps members meet these goals through outreach to individuals with no regular primary care provider to increase access to health care; they provide health education on the importance of primary and preventative health, and they generate volunteers to support and expand community health center service capacity.
