Illinois Affiliate builds work force via AmeriCorps partnership.

AT 61, Dan Sigwart, PhD, MS, is proving that it's never too late to pursue a career in public health.

After retiring two years ago from his job as a professor of health science at Western Illinois University, Sigwart became "completely bored." More than anything, the Vietnam veteran wanted to rejoin the military and fight bioterrorism, "but I couldn't pass the physical. I was too old."

So Sigwart found another way to serve his country and address bioterrorism: He joined AmeriCorps, and through an Illinois Public Health Association program that places AmeriCorps members in public health agencies throughout Illinois, he landed a job in bioterrorism and defense planning with the McDonough County Health Department in Macomb.

For the past three years, the Illinois Public Health Association's AmeriCorps program has placed 60 volunteers --20 each year--in public health agencies around the state.

Currently, the association runs the nation's only program that places AmeriCorps members in public health settings for the purpose of increasing the public health work force, said Krissy Roseberry, the association's assistant director in Springfield, Ill.

Each year, three or four of the participants receive permanent, full-time positions with the health departments that host them, and several others decide to pursue graduate degrees in public health, Roseberry said.

The program is so popular that applicants outnumber available positions.

During their 11-month assignments, AmeriCorps members work full-time--1,700 hours in all--at a host site. Each member receives a living allowance of $10,600 as well as health insurance, professional development, child care subsidies and a student loan deferment while they are serving. After the 1,700 hours are successfully completed, the member receives an education award of nearly $5,000 that can be used to repay student loans or continue her or his education.

For Sigwart, the program provides opportunities to apply his skills and knowledge in a meaningful way.

"I was interested in serving my country, and AmeriCorps is service to the nation, first and foremost," said Sigwart, who worked in public health 30 years ago as a health inspector in West Virginia.

His "tour of duty" with AmeriCorps, which started last September and runs through August, has been a learning experience, he said.

"I knew a lot about public health because I'd worked in it years ago, but like any job that is completely different from what you were doing, there's a lot to learn," he said.

In his AmeriCorps assignment, Sigwart has become the office "go-to guy" on issues and questions pertaining to avian flu, and he has made several presentations to the staff on the topic.

About 200 miles away, Peter Bergquist, another AmeriCorps member brought into the program through the Illinois Public Health Association, spends his days in an equally challenging yet totally different public health endeavor. Assigned to the Winnebago County Health Department's Healthworks program, Bergquist, 23, works to ensure that the foster children who come into custody receive adequate health care.

Bergquist, who graduated in May from the University of Illinois, learned about AmeriCorps through a pre-med advisor in college who recommended the program as an alternative to medical school.

"If you have an interest in public health; but don't have previous experience in it, it's hard to get into a health department position," he said. "This gives you a window to get in."

The Illinois Public Health Association's AmeriCorps program is funded with a $500,000 grant from AmeriCorps' parent organization, the Corporation for National and Community Service. The federal grant requires local health departments that host AmeriCorps members to match the donation by contributing an equal amount of money.

Local health departments value the program because tight budgets often force understaffed agencies to forgo important pro grams and activities in their communities. Partnering with AmeriCorps, however, opens the door to getting a full-time staff member with college experience for 11 months.

"It's been encouraging to see the goal of the program playing out successfully, as it was intended," IPHA's Roseberry said.