Pete McRoberts

Denver AmeriCorps*NCCC Graduation. November, 15, 2002

I am personally so pleased to be back here spending this great day with you. I want to begin with a thank you and a congratulations to the new graduates of the AmeriCorps. You've worked hard this year. The country is grateful to you, and when you wake up tomorrow with no PT to get up and go to in the morning, then consider that an earned reward for your labor! I still remember very clearly our last day in the corps- I nearly didn't pass my final dorm-room inspection- how great it felt to complete that year!

I left my home in Iowa, for a year in 1994, to join what we had heard very little about up until that point- the brand new AmeriCorps. I had read about a potential Corps during the 1992 Presidential campaign, and I can remember when it came to be. I was sitting in a class in my last year of high school; there came an announcement on the P.A., "How would you like to take part in a new way to serve......"; I decided then I would join, and not long after that, our NCCC congregated for the first time. I was lucky to
be a part of that. We had nothing to start with except our ideas and a recognition of the work that needed to be done. We wanted to be the backbone of what might help.
My team did work you are all very familiar with; we went to Texas and worked on trails, tutored in a Denver school, helped out the Bureau of Land Management, among other projects. The reasons the Corps came to be- public safety, conservation; all these needs became evident as our work developed. I remember thinking on several occasions, 'there is no reason for us to be here, there is simply too much to do'; I was wrong. I
imagine, several years later, Denver corpsmembers are still working on projects that we too had. Good. That is part of creating a permanent ethic of service in our communities. When you go home today, you will see every institution- your places of worship, your businesses, your schools, and you will ask "What more can we do?". That is the seed the NCCC planted upon its inception in 1994, and it has only grown.
For many of us in Class I, the NCCC was the first step in our involvement with national and community service. I guarantee to each one of you as former members this corps, your involvement will stay and grow as you do. It was hard for me to think that we were a small part of a long tradition of work and care for our country; but that is precisely what the NCCC was founded to become, and now, as you return home, you are stewards of that charge.
The NCCC is with me with each step of the way in my professional and personal life. It was my time in the AmeriCorps that got me involved in politics; it only seemed like a natural step to make. In the Corps, we heard about -policy-; I wanted to know who made that policy. Several years after leaving the Corps, I spent a little time in the White House, interning for Vice President Gore, and lo and behold a man a few doors down had helped draft the law that created the Corps.
My own professional work regards law and agriculture within the political world. As an assistant to our U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, I went to each county in Iowa to talk with senior citizens about the lack of prescription drug care for retirees. I didn't know a thing about that issue when I started. But I knew how to look for and listen to those with unmet human needs, and that gave a perspective I hope helped; it came directly from the Corps.
Our time in the corps was not always pretty; but it was always valuable, and that value has matured, as has the corps as a whole. You have done well.

The idea of the AmeriCorps was the beginning of a new way for us to put our common spirit of community into practice. Just as you may not have known what to expect when showing up at Lowry a year ago, neither did we. All we knew is that we were to get our hands dirty and keep our minds open; if we did that- this could turn out for good.

To be sure, not everything happened right away. Our very first short term service project was picking up garbage around Lowry, walking up and down some of these streets with trash bags. At that time, I remember thinking out loud to my team leader- quite loudly and quite often, in fact- that we sure weren't going to have a whole year of that- of course, we didn't-- much to the happiness of our team.

After our training, the year got underway and it began well. We started not far from here, at the Temple Events Center, and we were sent to many corners of the country from there. We went to Texas to work to improve access to natural resources; we were sent to western Colorado to help make the water clean in a national forest, and that year- as we knew it would- ended up as one of great importance for my team and all in the corps. When my class was graduating several years ago, we looked back to see what had been done. We counted how many members had come through all branches of the AmeriCorps, we looked to the number of trees that had been planted, we talked about how much food had been served, and of course we listened to remarks not too different than these. We felt an sense of accomplishment but the truth struck us clearly, though, we weren't done. A year's time went by quickly and we left Lowry with a feeling that there was indeed much, much more to do. You know just what this is like. That is longing that will never leave you, and it is good that way. Of course your time here has left the country better off; there are points of service in every corner improved by your work. There are people who were offered a leg up, a little help, by this corps, and that is something to take home with you.

Your accomplishments are indeed impressive; none of your work happened overnight; I can imagine that there were difficulties each day. I know from experience that sometimes working for the government can offer, shall we say, intricacies that must simply be dealt with and lived through. But even then, there is a role for you to play in our government. The root of national service rests upon citizen participation, something you all know a great deal about. Take your place.

So much has happened in the years of this corps; you came in the shadow of a great sadness in our country as the duties of Americans changed. You came to do your part when the country needed you and you have provided. The corps has grown into the needs of the nation, led by you.

There is also an aspect to this AmeriCorps that I think is just as lively and worthwhile as the actual work done; over these past few years, it has become clear to me. I come from a small city in Iowa; that is my home and that is where I returned to from the Corps. On our very first day out here at Lowry, I remember meeting my new colleagues; there were people from all over the country, of so many religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, urban and rural - a truly diverse environment- and at once, we came into an setting where we were to depend upon each other, learn from each other, and that is how we were placed to get the work done. We knew that was America, and we were-- you are - stronger for it. This is the spirit of the AmeriCorps, and the tenacity of the country. Most of us also had very little experience around people situated like many we would meet during that year; homebound seniors, kids living with the scourge of poverty-- people with unmet human needs. This is something we as corpsmembers can take with us; you came out here a year ago to see what needed to be done, you were asked to listen to the people in the communities. To that, we can look at the work done; look for the trees planted, see the houses painted and the trails built; and place that in esteem. And then we look a little deeper, and we see people. It is within those people that you will find the value of this time in the corps, and the worth of that you take with you today, to your homes.

For all that was taught us during my own time in the Americorps, it became clear to me quickly that the best tool for the benefit of the communities of the nation was the faith and hope shown by people, that there could be a better life for their children, or that their water could be cleaner; the faith that they too had a part to play in America, and that they were to be a part of what's right in this country. You have seen that faith as you taught children to read. You have seen that faith as you helped families recover from natural disasters ...you have seen that at Whittier elementary and our job in national and community service. is to live up to that faith and give it right back to the people from communities in need. That is the core of this corps; this is the cornerstone of the work you have done and this is the reason for the work you will continue to do; now that faith is part of you and let it remain your fuel.

There is indeed very real charge you have been given by the people in the communities you've served. This year has been a chance for you to see where you belong best in a life of national and community service. That is what led you to come out to Denver a year ago. Where this charge leads you from today on is up to you.

Tomorrow, you wake up at home with another set of duties; how exciting and important that is. You will, to be sure, each find, along with your newfound independence, ways to use the principle of purpose that brought you here to Denver. That principle, that unity of purpose, is the heart of the national service movement you are all a part of.

Martin Luther King once said anyone can be great, because anyone can serve- take that to the heart and to the home; that is a fortune we all have. He spoke of a soul generated by love and a heart full of grace. What good there is! Share it! Pass the fire!

Last week at Whittier Elementary, a kid could read better because you got up and went to work every day this year. There are families sleeping under the roof of their first home, because you decided to come give a year to this corps. There are women and children who have been removed to safety from domestic violence and harm because you all did what you knew needed to be done.

The work you have done has had a tremendous impact on the lives of the people you've served, and there is no greater duty you have than taking this time, this apprenticeship, and putting that spirit into what you're primed to do in your own towns and cities. It's time to take it home, take that consistent ethic of service with you as the next steps of your lives and work begin. This is our country and we are obliged to work for it and our citizenry; let the tenor of all work you do reflect that.

A great American, Hubert Humphrey once said that "the moral test of a society is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life -- the sick, the needy, and the handicapped." He said that nearly thirty years ago and today that is even more true. If there is cold in the world, cold in the country, then you hold yourself out as part of the warmth. You have done wonderful work this year. You have brought your own fortunes to many in this country, and so much has been done. You know that better than I; but you also know there remain people in those shadows. Seek them out. They are your people. You came to the corps for them, and what they have shown you.

Your work is just beginning. Congratulations on your year. Hurry home. Get back into to the hearts and minds of those in your communities and put this AmeriCorps into the rest of the country. Go out with your skills and find your work, and follow your plan.

This adventure is yours to shape. Your charge is clear-- take your good faith, your strong backs and your agile minds, and Keep - On - Working. Thank you very much.