The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a federal agency that operates nationwide service programs, may make available to Citizen Corps Councils volunteers that participate in AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America programs. Many of these participants are already active in disaster-related programs with other voluntary agencies. Volunteers could serve to help communities establish a training and information delivery system in neighborhoods, schools, and businesses, and could help with family preparedness and crime prevention initiatives in the community or across a region.

Volunteer support and participation in Citizen Corps can come from a variety of sources. Encourage your council members to be creative when thinking about potential resources that exist throughout the community. Appendix A is a list of government, emergency management, and first responder community websites that may be helpful to you as you expand your volunteer base. Appendix B includes a list of questions to help your council identify possible resources, including people, materials, and financial.

President Bush has requested more than $230 million from Congress in Fiscal Year 2003 to support and expand Citizen Corps initiatives. This amount includes funds for FEMA, DOJ, and HHS to support the five national Citizen Corps programs, including nationwide CERT training, and grants to communities through the state to support local activities that foster preparedness programs and partnerships between the first responder organizations and the volunteers. If Congress approves this budget, these funds would be available in October 2002.