What a Year of Service Can Mean

View our photo album from the graduation ceremony

On Wednesday, 25 AmeriCorps members gathered with colleagues and supervisors at The Brownstone to celebrate the completion of their 2025–26 service year with NJCDC.

Over the year, they mentored young people, led workshops, helped students navigate challenges, and became familiar faces they could count on. And, as NJCDC Founder & CEO Bob Guarasci reminded them at their graduation ceremony, the experience was about more than what they gave. “Not only have you served others, but I hope that, in a way, you’ve served yourself,” Bob told the graduates. “I hope that you leave the program this year having grown yourselves as leaders.”

AmeriCorps was NJCDC’s first program when we were founded in 1994, and with this year’s graduating class, more than 700 members have now served Paterson through NJCDC. Today, members serve through our Paterson Community Schools Corps (“Education”), helping eliminate barriers to academic achievement, and our Paterson Public Health Corps (“Public Health”), supporting young people’s mental health and well-being.

But spend time with the members themselves, and another description of their work emerges: they show up. And young people notice.

Becoming Someone Students Can Turn To

NJCDC’s Great Falls Teen Center Program Director Adam Jawiech admitted at graduation that he began the year expecting the learning to flow primarily in one direction. “I thought I’d be able to teach them more than I did this year,” he said, “and they ended up teaching me a lot more about my job.”

Sometimes, he explained, a student would simply give him a look — and Adam knew it meant he should leave the room so the student could speak more candidly with their AmeriCorps mentor. Those relationships allowed his team to serve more young people, supporting them through challenges ranging from academics and family difficulties to homelessness.

 For Education member Sabin Manandhar, one of the clearest signs of his impact came when he wasn’t there. “I know I’ve made a difference when I’m not here and a kid asks, ‘Where’s Mr. M? He’s usually here,’” Sabin said. Students might seek him out because they need to talk through something — or simply because they want to share an interest or tell him what happened at school. “That’s when I know I’ve made an impact.”

Public Health member Victoria Pearson saw the same process unfold through workshops and one-on-one conversations at International High School. One student eventually admitted that, at first, he attended her workshops only because he wanted to spend time in the Teen Center.

 “But as the year went on, he told me he was really learning a lot,” Victoria recalled. “He thanked me for taking the time to speak with the students and even meet with him one-on-one.”

Another student offered an even simpler assessment: “Victoria, you’re a breath of fresh air for us.”

Creating Spaces to Belong

Education member Sara Kim described the Teen Center where she served as a “haven for many teenagers.” “Growing up, there was nothing like this,” she said. “Here, students have a space where they can come in, relax, enjoy themselves and relieve stress — whether they’re playing games, chatting with one another, or even taking a nap on the sofa.”

 For Public Health member Sandra Toledo, connecting with students sometimes meant recognizing a little of herself in them. “I was a really shy high school student myself, so I understand them,” Sandra said. She remembered introducing herself to one particularly reserved student who initially barely spoke. “Once we started talking, she just opened up. It was really nice knowing I could be someone she felt comfortable talking to.”

Victoria developed workshops on subjects ranging from hygiene and healthy relationships to communication skills and financial literacy. Sandra was surprised to overhear students discussing Public Health lessons weeks later.

 “What really surprised me was seeing how much the students actually listen,” Sandra said. “It was nice to realize that some of these lessons were sticking with them.”

And although the program’s Community Schools Corps and Public Health Corps have different areas of emphasis, the members frequently worked together. At graduation, Education Program Director Gabrielle Foushee praised that collaboration, telling members, “Anything we’ve had to do, we’ve done it together.”

Growing Through Service

The relationships built over the year also changed the people doing the serving.

Before AmeriCorps, Sabin had worked on political campaigns but found himself questioning whether he was truly making a difference. His year of direct service offered an answer. “AmeriCorps rejuvenated my passion for what public service means,” he said. “It means building connections and helping a community.”

Sandra entered with a background in psychology and counseling but discovered an interest in incorporating public health into her future work. Victoria grew more confident speaking in front of groups, while Sara said her service strengthened the initiative and responsibility she brings to her work.

A Standard for the Next Class

“You did it, and you made a difference,” Gabrielle told the graduates, praising their work with Paterson’s children and families. AmeriCorps Public Health Program Director Maryam Ali similarly reflected on the members who had “bridged gaps” and created “tangible and lasting impacts in our community.”

Adam went a little further. After telling the room how much he had come to trust his AmeriCorps members with the young people he calls his “babies,” he issued a joking warning to next year’s program leadership: “This is officially the standard. So I’m sorry, Gabby and Maryam — anything less than what I had this year is not acceptable.”

For the graduates themselves, the measure of a successful year may be simpler.

“Years from now, maybe what I did will be remembered, or maybe it’ll be forgotten,” Sabin reflected. “But I know I put my best foot forward. If I helped make the community better — or even helped one kid just for a little bit — that matters.”

And as this year’s 25 graduates move toward whatever comes next, Bob left them with one final hope: that wherever their next stop takes them, serving others becomes “a lifelong habit and a lifelong obligation.”