President's Challenge

During his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush called upon every American to get involved in strengthening America's communities and sharing America's compassion around the world. He called on each to dedicate at least two years over the course of their life to the service of others. He included all Americans because everyone can do something, and he created the USA Freedom Corps to help all Americans answer his call.

As part of this initiative, President Bush created the Citizen Corps, an integral component of the USA Freedom Corps, to engage Americans in volunteer activities that will make communities safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to emergencies, while providing opportunities to serve in everyday healthcare and citizen preparedness activities.

Since the beginning of 2002, nearly 1,000 communities, serving more than one-third of the U.S. population, have established Citizen Corps Councils to coordinate and expand opportunities for citizen volunteers to engage in homeland security efforts. The Department of Homeland Security announced $35 million in Federal funds for 2004 to provide necessary resources for State and local governments to support Citizen Corps.