AmeriCorps cuts begin to affect local programs
The Trump administration cut around $400 million in grant funding to AmeriCorps, a federal agency providing national service and volunteerism throughout the country to various community organizations.
This has resulted in the termination of nearly 32,000 Ameri- Corps service members nationwide and the dissolution of regional programs that provide services to residents.
In Maryland, 250 AmeriCorps service members were immediately terminated, according to Paul Monteiro, the Maryland secretary of Service and Civic Innovation.
In Western Maryland, one of the biggest AmeriCorps funded programs was immediately terminated at the end of April — Frostburg State University's Appalachian Service Through Action and Resources, also known as ASTAR.
'The ASTAR AmeriCorps Program has been a transformative force for Frostburg State University and the communities we serve,' said Lisa Clark, the director of ASTAR, in a press release from the university.
Clark called the program's termination a 'devastating loss.'
FSU said that the ASTAR program and its members had contributed 'hundreds of thousands' of hours to students in the community.
ASTAR was established in 1994 in Maryland and places AmeriCorps service members at various nonprofit organizations, schools and government agencies in 'Western Maryland's rural and underserved communities,' according to FSU.
At the university, the PAWS Pantry, Children's Literature Center, Center for Literary Arts, the Education Department's PALS program and the Biology Department have been directly affected by the termination of AmeriCorps members' service.
One of the organizations that benefited from Ameri- Corps volunteerism is the Evergreen Heritage Center, an environmental education group located in Mount Savage that has served thousands of students over the past year alone.
'AmeriCorps has enabled us over the last 11 years to go from serving 2,500 students to over 18,000,' Janice Keane, the owner and director of Evergreen, said.
Keane said the ASTAR program provides instructors from AmeriCorps to teach students from across Western Maryland.
Five instructors were terminated 'immediately' at the end of April, according to Keane. 'It was a huge impact on them with no notice,' she said.
Keane said some of the instructors relied on the stipend provided by ASTAR and the AmeriCorps program to pay for rent, groceries and other bills.
'If you're a young person and you've planned the year of service and you're counting on a stipend to pay your bills, that's a huge impact.'
Keane said it will be 'difficult to plan' future events and services for the community due to the termination of ASTAR.
'There may be other services that we were planning to provide that we won't be able to provide,' Keane said. 'We will have to put more of that money into instruction instead.'
Keane said that Evergreen is hoping that ASTAR and AmeriCorps will return to provide much needed services in the near future.
'I'm hoping it comes back, but, you know, we have to plan in the case that it doesn't come back,' she said.
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