North Hollywood : AmeriCorps Opens Doors, Eyes for Grad

She joined on a whim last September, driven by the “romantic idea” of helping the less fortunate, Jennifer Whitcomb said. Last month, the 21-year-old North Hollywood resident became part of the first graduating class of AmeriCorps, President Clinton’s national service program.

It was a long road for the Valley native, who had never done volunteer work.

Previously she worked as a receptionist and a customer-service manager for a furniture company.

“We knew that we had a lot of goals to cover,” Whitcomb said of the program.

Indeed, during her 10 months as an outreach team member, she worked with half a dozen projects all over Los Angeles, from a farmers’ market to AIDS Project L.A.

Her longest stint was five months of advocacy work for clients of the San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services clinic in Pacoima.

“I liked working there a lot,” she said.

For her time in AmeriCorps, Whitcomb earned $5,000 toward a college education--and a sobering understanding of the homeless and hungry of Los Angeles.

“It breaks down your illusions. You have to realize that there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of,” she said. “It’s not in Bosnia, it’s outside your front door.”

Buoyed by her experience, Whitcomb is already planning to become a team leader for the next AmeriCorps project--that is, if the federal program survives a threatened funding cut. She is also planning to attend Valley College with an eye to studying psychology.

After that? “I’m hoping I’ll get a clue in college,” she joked. “I think I’ll always work with the community in some way. . . . It really does feel good.”