At the end of an AmeriCorps term, each volunteer receives an education award of about $5,000, which can be used to pay off loans or to go to school. In order to receive the award, you must complete 1700 service hours. In addition to my 45 hour work week, I volunteered for several weekend builds with RT, sometimes working 6 or 7 days a week. We were supposed to request another day or two off during the next week, but I ended up taking days off when friends would visit or when I would go home, so I didn't ask for a day off during the week.
However, AmeriCorps hours do not merely consist of the work we do for RT, but any volunteer work you do during your term. Through AmeriCorps I was able to have many other experiences, aside from renovating homes, including helping with the evacuation and reenty of the citizens of New Orleans for Hurricane Gustav, helping a Native American tribe gut their homes after Gustav devastated their community in Plaquemines Parish, installing an interacitve art exhibit for the anniversary of Katrina, which will be travelling around the country at some point, and helping with the election of Congressman Joseph Cao. That last bit wasn't actually through AmeriCorps because you can't do anything related to politics or religion while on duty as an AmeriCorps volunteer. (Plus I got paid.) However, the really great thing about being an AmeriCorps volunteer is that whenever an organization or an event needs a large group of active people, they turn to AmeriCorps. That's how we found out about a lot of events and a lot of us got to work at Saints and Hornets games and at concerts, like Coldplay. I have been exposed to so many more experiences than I was expecting through AmeriCorps and it is one reason why I would highly suggest AmeriCorps to anyone who is interested in concentrating on service for an extended period of time. You learn a lot of different skills and find yourself in a lot of different situations while in AmeriCorps. Plus, the range of activities that you can focus on in AmeriCorps is vast. You can work on healthcare or rebuilding or education or the environment. The possibilities are really endless and it's a way for people to serve our country and community without joining the military or the Peace Corps. There's work that needs to be done IN America. We don't have to go abroad to help people desperately in need or to experience a different culture or lifestyle.