17 ‘crucial' AmeriCorps programs in Mass. on the chopping block amid DOGE cuts

Yahoo

01-05-2025

One week ago, AmeriCorps Cape Cod held its annual Earth Day clean-up event in Barnstable County.
Over 900 pounds of trash were collected that day as the nine AmeriCorps members worked side by side with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and over 200 volunteers — all in an effort to keep the county's water clean — according to Program Manager Misty Niemeyer.
Now, the clean-up day — and the nine members of AmeriCorps Cape Cod — are at risk of never returning due to the program's grant being terminated, Niemeyer said.
'All these programs are driven by our members,' Niemeyer told MassLive.
On April 25, AmeriCorps announced an abrupt end to $400 million in grants for its programs throughout the country — ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Established in 1993, the federal agency gives Americans opportunities to engage in volunteer work to address critical needs throughout the country.
Of the $400 million terminated, $8 million would have gone to programs in Massachusetts, including AmeriCorps Cape Cod, according to Lindsay Rooney, the director of operations and external affairs for the Massachusetts Service Alliance (MSA).
The $8 million was terminated without notice — a move that has already resulted in detrimental impact, according to Rooney.
'AmeriCorps members who have dedicated a year of their life to serving our Commonwealth are finding their lives turned upside overnight and this will leave communities across the state without the crucial services provided by these critical programs,' Rooney wrote.
MSA is a state service commission that awards grants to local nonprofits and agencies. The service commission also manages funding from AmeriCorps.
The alliance received an email from the federal government on April 25 that called for a halt in distributing grants, Rooney confirmed to MassLive.
Of Massachusetts's 31 AmeriCorps programs for the 2024-2025 year, 17 are at risk of being shuttered due to these cuts, Rooney wrote in an email to MassLive.
The institutions where AmeriCorps programs are at risk of ending are as follows:
AmeriCorps Cape Cod
Boys & Girls Club of Metro South
Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity
City of Lawrence
DIAL/SELF (features two separate AmeriCorps programs)
Framingham State University
Greenagers
LUK
Mass. Promise Fellows
Perkins School for the Blind
Social Capital Inc.
Student Conservation Association
Teach Western Mass
TerraCorps
United Way of Massachusetts Bay
Walker Inc.
If these programs shutter, more than 200 AmeriCorps members would abruptly end their services, Rooney said.
'Many of these members have been serving the last eight months or more tutoring struggling students, providing a safe environment for youth in afterschool programs, supporting the mental health needs of our young people, and responding to recent storms and other disasters,' Rooney wrote.
The services provided by AmeriCorps members, such as education, construction and land management, are now at risk of ceasing.
The members of AmeriCorps Cape Cod, for example, offer natural resource management, disaster response, environmental education and community engagement to all of Barnstable County, Niemeyer told MassLive.
Projects done by members include removing marine debris from the ocean and conducting prescribed burns to prevent wildfires.
AmeriCorps Cape Cod serves 15 towns and has been doing so since 1999.
With the federal government now terminating grants, Niemeyer is trying to gather support from local and federally elected officials to keep the program afloat.
'I don't know what's going to happen with the proposed (grants) that have been submitted that are supposed to be awarded this summer,' she said. 'But it doesn't look promising.
Greenagers, an organization in South Egremont that engages teens and young adults with environmental conservation work, is also trying to raise support to save its AmeriCorps program.
The program's six members visit middle and high schools in the area to teach students about environmental education, according to Elia Del Molino, Greenangers's conservation program director and deputy director.
The team also fixes and builds hiking trails to improve the region's habitat and wildlife, Del Molino said.
Greenangers had been wanting to host an AmeriCorps program for a long time. Now, the organization faces a stark possibility of the program ending.
If the program were to shutter, with no one left to manage the wildlife, the forests in the region could see more invasive species and trails that were made to be accessible could become unsafe to walk.
'We're talking about widespread impacts across the county, in all of Western Mass.,' Del Molino said. 'Because we are not out there, because these trail crews aren't running, people aren't going to be able to access these natural spaces that they know and they love.'
The termination of programs also means the members won't be paid.
Del Molino said the members earn about $18 an hour for their work on the programs.
Additionally, they would have received an educational award at the end of their 1,700 hours of service.
'We have six AmeriCorps members and their world got turned upside down,' Del Molino said. 'They felt like they had stable employments with Greenagers and all of a sudden, that's been thrown up in the air and they don't know where it's going to land.'
Greenagers even had plans to expand the number of AmeriCorps members from six to 20, but those plans fell apart after the announcement of the grant terminations.
'It's too early to say what level of support the community is going to be able to offer us in this situation,' Del Molino said. 'I would love for them (AmeriCorps) to reverse the decision, to cancel the terminations but that doesn't seem to be likely.'
Even so, Del Molino said that these programs are worth fighting for and deserve as much support as possible.
'We need to rally behind around programs, non-profits like ours and do the very best we can on a day-to-day basis to ensure the community is served as it needs to be served,' Del Molino said. 'And to make sure individuals that are affected by these unlawful, unjust cuts are also served as best they can.'
In response to the grant terminations, more than 20 attorneys general and two governors filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Trump administration.
One of the attorney generals who signed onto the lawsuit was Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.
'AmeriCorps is the epitome of service and civic engagement, offering more than 1,100 Massachusetts residents meaningful opportunities to serve in various fields including public health, education, disaster relief and more,' Campbell said in a press release on Tuesday. 'I am proud to join my colleagues in pushing back on the Trump Administration's unlawful efforts to dismantle this service program.'
The lawsuit challenges the grant cuts and argues that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) illegally gutted the agency that was created by Congress, according to the Associated Press.
In April, AmeriCorps placed almost all of its staff at the federal level on administrative leave at the behest of the DOGE, according to the New York Times.
Jake Murray, the Chief External Affairs Officer and Executive Director of Walker Solutions told MassLive on Thursday that he supported the lawsuit against the Trump administration.
Walker Inc., the nonprofit Murray works for, had its three-year AmeriCorps program grant used for a wellness program eliminated.
Members of the program served as wellness coaches, working with children in schools and youth centers, according to Murray.
The nonprofit organization provides programming in the fields of child welfare, special education and behavioral health for children, according to its website.
'We think it's arbitrary,' Murray said of the grant cuts. 'At least fund the programs for the rest of the year.'
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Read the original article on MassLive.