If you live in or near Boston, Detroit, Miami, or one of sixteen other major US cities, you might notice people clad in red jackets and Timberland boots. Do you know the significance of this uniform? Those enterprising people are members of City Year, a ten-month service opportunity for young Americans ages 17-24.

When they apply, prospective City Year corps members get to choose the city where they will work if they are accepted. The program places corps members in schools, where they work as in-class aides, after-school tutors, and club leaders.

The work doesn’t stop with the last school bell, though. Volunteers help out with neighborhood transformation projects, like building playgrounds, planting gardens, and refurbishing schools.

In exchange for their 1,700 hours of service commitment, volunteers receive a stipend to cover living expenses, $4,725 from AmeriCorps to be used for tuition or student loans, basic health insurance, and a T-Mobile cell phone with monthly minutes.

Since it began in 1988, the program has attracted 12,500 corps members. More than 1 million children have been helped by City Year, making it an extremely valuable resource to the communities it serves.

But City Year is not the only post-graduate service program. A member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Josie Diebold of Buffalo, NY serves as a house parent at foster/adoptive agency Casa de Esperanza in Houston, TX.

The Jesuit Volunteer Corps, or JVC, places volunteers ages 21 or older in a variety of service sites. The JVC focuses on four core values: social justice, simple living, community, and spirituality. Participants don’t need to attend a Jesuit university or even be Christian to succeed, but they must be committed to the core values. Volunteers receive the AmeriCorps educational award, free housing, money for food, transportation to and from service sites, and a small stipend.

Josie, who graduated from Canisius College in 2009, decided on the JVC as her post-grad service program because of those values. She says, “When I come home from work, I am actively part of my community - we eat together, reflect together, pray together. We also challenge one another to constantly learn more.”

The JVC has both a domestic and an international presence, and applicants apply to one of the programs. Unlike City Year, the Jesuit Corps does not allow its members to choose an exact service location, which adds to the sense of adventure. They can give input to the type of the work and serve as paralegals, addiction counselors, job search specialists, and AIDS case managers, among many other assignments.

As a house parent, Josie’s responsibilities include changing diapers, giving baths, making meals, and just being there for the kids, who came to Casa de Esperanza because of abuse or neglect. She calls it “an amazing yet challenging position”.

Another player on the year-long service scene is the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, or LVC. Like the JVC, the organization accepts people of all faiths, ages 21 and older. The program is built around three principles: community, social justice, and simplicity.

“Being conscious about those three areas of life leads to living a spiritual existence everyday, and they are issues that I want to explore more,” says Katherine Jarvis of Edmond, OK, a 2009 graduate of Grinnell College. Katherine serves as a Volunteer Coordinator at Hospice House: The Josie Harper Residence in Omaha, NE where she coordinates activities for the residents, supervises volunteers, and helps with administrative duties.

Katherine knew for a long time that she wanted to do service after college. She describes service as having a great deal of meaning to her. Katherine was drawn to the Lutheran Volunteer Corps in particular because of its three principles. “Both my house and my work environments are incredibly supportive,” she says.

Corps members receive similar financial and housing benefits to the JVC. Currently, the LVC has volunteers in 10 US cities. They work at clinics, community centers, food banks, and think tanks.

Katherine encourages students interested in a post graduate service opportunity to carefully weigh all their options as there really is something for every interest. “There are many service opportunities out there and all of them bring something different to the table.”

“You will never have another opportunity to live as a full-time volunteer,” says Josie. “I cannot encourage you enough to consider it.”