The Ohio Community Service Council was established by Ohio statute in 1994 (its original name was the Governor's Community Service Commission), specifically to administer grants in Ohio under the federal National & Community Service Trust Act of 1993. The largest of these is AmeriCorps. However, the Council has always worked under a broader mission:

"The mission of the Ohio Community Service Council is to strengthen Ohio's communities through service and volunteerism."

In that collaborative spirit of volunteerism and service, the council focuses on five major activities:

1) AmeriCorps

2) Service Learning

3) Youth Leadership Development

4) Supporting Volunteerism and Community Service

5) Ohio Citizen Corps

The Council and its activities are funded by a combination of state and federal funds. The federal funds are used in three ways:

- Most are passed through in the form of grants to local programs;
- The funds are also used to conduct training and technical assistance to AmeriCorps and other volunteer or service programs, and;
- To support the administrative functions of the Ohio Community Service Council in Ohio.

Ohio's General Revenue Funds provide the required state match, which is now a dollar-for-dollar match for the administrative part of our budget. To date, the activities of the Council have used less than $800,000 in GRF funds, which has leveraged more than $16 million federal dollars in Ohio.

On average, to date, each state dollar invested has returned $21 in federal funds. The same dollar has leveraged an additional $10 in local support, for a total return of $31 per state dollar invested.