AmeriCorps City Year Members serving in Miami have been informed that City Year leadership is directing all ACM to start serving in-person as soon as October fifth. There is no option for ACM to serve virtually, despite the fact that many ACM live with at-risk individuals and family members at home. By failing to provide an option for ACM to serve virtually, City Year leadership is willingly putting ACM at risk and on the front-line of the pandemic. By proxy, City Year leadership is placing the families and those residing with ACM at risk and on the front-line of the pandemic. This petition demands the option for AmeriCorps City Year Members to serve virtually for the safety of themselves and for the safety of their families. 

The sudden decision to force ACM to serve in-person came as a surprise, as City Year leadership had informed ACM serving in Miami that the earliest they would be obliged to serve in-person would be the fourteenth of October, not the fifth. Additionally, City Year leadership had informed ACM that they would be given the option to serve virtually if they had concerns about serving in-person. By revoking this option, City Year leadership is endangering at-risk individuals and family members that live with ACM. 

As we well know, the on-going pandemic is still rampant. Merely two days ago, one of the most significant topics of the first presidential debate was the handling of the pandemic. The end of the pandemic is nowhere in sight, and the option to serve and work virtually is the only way that ACM can protect themselves and those that they live with. There are ACM who have had loved ones pass away from COVID, and the decision by City Year leadership to force in-person service is not only terrifying and threatening to these individuals and their families, but remarkably insensitive as well. 

This petition is not about wanting to work or not, it is about saving lives and being safe. COVID is still spreading and killing, especially in Florida. The majority of businesses, schools, and institutions are still closed. Some schools are making the decision to reopen, with the caveat of in-person attendance being optional. As AmeriCorps City Year Members serving in these schools, we demand the same option. 

The failure to provide ACM with the option to serve virtually is a significant failure in City Year leadership and conveys hypocrisy since City Year leadership has no obligation to serve in-person themselves. This decision shows that City Year leadership is willing to put others at risk without taking that same risk themselves, and we demand that they reverse it.