The Corporation for National and Community Service engages Americans of all ages and backgrounds in community-based service that addresses the Nation's educational, public safety, environmental, and other human needs to achieve direct and demonstrable results. In so doing, the Corporation fosters civic responsibility, strengthens the ties that bind us together as a people, and provides educational opportunity for those who make a substantial commitment to service.

The Corporation was established on October 1, 1993, by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 12651 et seq.). In addition to creating several new service programs, the Act consolidated the functions and activities of the former Commission on National and Community Service and the Federal agency ACTION.