Since its founding in the early 1990s, the AmeriCorps program has attracted people fresh out of school, interested in giving back to the community by working at non-profits for a modest stipend -- about $900 a month in Maine. But in the past year, AmeriCorps has been seeing a larger and more diverse pool of applicants than usual, largely because of the tough job climate. Thanks to federal stimulus funds, AmeriCorps has been able to increase membership by 43 percent in Maine.

Fifty-three-year-old Dean Tsakos of Saco joined last June. Tsakos greets callers at 2-1-1 Maine, a hotline for people with questions on everything from the flu to heating assistance and flooded basements.

2-1-1 Maine, which was partly developed by the state, has opted to bolster its staff with volunteers during periods of high call volume, and through AmeriCorps, was able to hire Tsakos to recruit and train them. "I wanted to perform some kind of community service and also aid in disasters," Tsakos says.

And the work is the best that Tsakos has been able to find after a spate of odd jobs, including landscaping. Plus, it's the first time he's had health insurance since leaving a job at FedEx several years ago.

"I'm 53, and the economy had really -- it's not news to anybody, particularly here in Maine -- was really in rough shape, and so when I saw the 2-1-1 Maine opportunity, I thought it was a good thing to do."

Two-hundred-sixty-five people are serving in AmeriCorps in Maine, nearly 40 more than in 2008. Nationally, applications are up three-fold.

AmeriCorps spokeswoman Ashley Etienne credits some of the increase to what she calls a compassion boom. "And that is that, in these tough economic times, we've seen more Americans become committed to helping their neighbors."

Etienne acknowledges that the recession is also playing a role in the program's popularity. She says that for people just out of school, AmeriCorps offers help with school loans and a chance to hone work skills so they'll be more attractive job candidates.

That's the thinking of AmeriCorps member Kate McCarty, who manages volunteers in the nutrition department of the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

"It is more competitive for jobs and if I don't have a lot of professional experience on my resume, it's going to be harder for me to find a position in a non-profit because there are so many qualified candidates that already have that work experience," McCarty says.

The same goes for older, more experienced workers joining AmeriCorps in Maine. "They wanted to try and gain new experience in a different sector or are in career transition," says Rochelle Runge, a spokeswoman for the Maine Commission for Community Service, the group that disburses the AmeriCorps funding in the state.

She says that AmeriCorps is attracting older people these days. In one particular project, nearly 20 percent of the staff is over the age of 40. "We even have one woman that has gone back to work after having been retired and her first entree into gaining new skills is becoming an AmeriCorps member."

The poverty-level stipend is enough just to cover basic expenses, but some say that even that little can be very helpful.

"These kinds of positions go a long way towards helping to give people an opportunity while the economic recovery's in process. It's basically creating jobs that allow laid off workers, or people who are just entering the workforce, to earn a living while they search for permanent jobs," says Mark Sullivan, a spokesman with the progressive think tank, Maine Center for Economic Policy.

Over at 2-1-1 Maine, Tsakos is preparing to interview another volunteer. He says he'll be sad to leave when his one-year stint with AmeriCorps ends in June. "Well, hopefully, after the year is up, the economy will improve and we'll see what else happens."

Tsakos does have the option of applying to another AmeriCorps program. AmeriCorps coordinators are expecting to see continued expansion. The Serve America Act, passed last year, authorizes AmeriCorps to grow from about 88,000 members presently to 250,000 over the next decade.