Through the Decades: 2000s




















September 2005
For the first time, Volunteers are deployed domestically when Crisis Corps assists relief operations in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
June 2007
Peace Corps launches Peace Corps Prep.
January 2009
After leaving the country during the 1994 genocide, Peace Corps returns to Rwanda and Volunteers begin working in secondary education and HIV/AIDS education and prevention.
2009
Joseph Acaba became the first returned Peace Corps Volunteer to serve as a NASA astronaut, making his first trip to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
December 16, 2009
President Barack Obama signs H.R. 3288 – an omnibus appropriations package that includes $400 million for Peace Corps operations in fiscal year 2010, the agency's largest budget appropriation from Congress.