BALDWINSVILLE — Like many young people figuring out their path in life, Evan Carey found himself in need of a purpose. The 2017 Baker High School graduate had an associate’s degree under his belt, and he was working a retail job that left him unsatisfied.

“I didn’t really see myself there for the next 10 years,” Carey said. “When you’re 18 and just out of high school or 20 and just out of college, you don’t really know what you want to do.”

Carey studied criminal justice at SUNY Canton and graduated in 2019. He looked into becoming a park ranger, but many of the positions required more advanced education.

“My time at Canton was worth it, but toward the end it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” Carey said.

What Carey wanted to do was travel, meet new people and help others. Through his 10-month stint with the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, Carey is doing just that. AmeriCorps is a federal agency that operates a number of community service programs across the United States.

Carey began his service term in October 2020 at the AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region campus in Sacramento, California.

“When we all came to campus, they had us quarantine for two weeks and they gave us two COVID tests,” Carey said. “After that, we were considered a bubble — like a family unit — and that’s how we can travel around [together].”

The NCCC service year is split into three rounds with projects lasting six to 12 weeks. Carey’s first project centered around the Hamilton Wetlands about 30 miles north of San Francisco.

“Evan’s team worked with the Novato Baylands Stewards to help support the restoration of area wetlands. The team performed tasks ranging from collecting and cleaning seeds to propagate plants, planting native plants, and removing invasive species,” said Quinn Walker, community relations specialist for the NCCC Pacific Region.

Carey said his team planted 10,000 plants on the site, which once was home to the Hamilton Field Air Force Base and Hamilton Army Airfield. Working on the project improved his plant knowledge and natural history expertise — “How things work, how things grow,” he said.

Next, Carey’s team moved on to the Seattle area.

“Evan’s team is serving with the United Way of King County to prepare taxes and conduct quality control,” Walker said. “The team is supporting a new effort at drop-off sites, including reviewing tax returns one-on-one, conducting outreach to ensure more low-income citizens know about the free service, and connecting clients to benefits for which they are eligible. The project will help provide low-income individuals with their entitled tax credits, allowing them to more easily meet their basic needs.”

The tax help assignment is worlds away from wetland restoration.

“It was definitely an interesting contrast between working physically and working from home,” Carey said. “It was [hard to adjust] in the beginning, to get a schedule established.”

After tax time, Carey’s team will head back to the NCCC Sacramento campus to help out with a Habitat for Humanity project. Then, the team will assist with COVID relief efforts in Los Angeles.

“We’re going to be helping with vaccine distribution at Dodger Stadium and helping out the L.A. Corps Food Bank,” Carey said.

By the time Carey’s whirlwind tour ends this summer, he will have completed 1,700 hours of community service.

“Most people don’t get that in their whole lifetime,” he said.

AmeriCorps NCCC has helped Carey improve his financial literacy, technological abilities and communication skills.

“Now I can just talk to people with ease,” he said.

As for what is next, Carey is looking into applying for other AmeriCorps programs. His advice for other young people thinking of joining AmeriCorps is “just do it.”

“You get to travel the country and help people out. … It’s really cool to see how people interact, their culture and ideas,” he said. “It’s random where you go and the quality of the project, but I still find the best out of it either way.”

AmeriCorps members range in age from 18 to 26 years old, but there is no age limit for team leaders. Benefits include scholarship money for higher education, cost-of-living stipends and leadership development. For more information about AmeriCorps NCCC, visit americorps.gov/nccc.