The Peace Corps The Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by President
Kennedy to challenge our nation to look beyond our borders and
to serve our country by serving the people of other nations.
Fifty years later, we are reminded of the power of service and
how we can best invest in development, public diplomacy and our
global community. Peace Corps Response is a program within the
Peace Corps that has specialized short-term, high-impact
assignments ranging in length from three to twelve months.
Volunteers arrive in the field with the language, technical and
cross-cultural skills identified by our host country partners.
Peace Corps Response grew out of an effort established in 1996
at a White House ceremony by President Clinton. The President
announced the establishment of Crisis Corps, a program designed
to quickly mobilize Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and provide
short-term disaster relief and humanitarian aid to countries in
need. The name changed to Peace Corps Response in 2007 to
reflect the program’s expan