Preservation Alliance of West Virginia responds to AmeriCorps cuts by DOGE
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Following last month's cuts to AmeriCorps by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that impacted 250 people across West Virginia, organizations that benefited from the cuts, like the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia (PAWV), are trying to figure out what to do next.
'This will have a big impact on our program, our organization, and just overall on the sites that we've been working with,' PAWV Executive Director Danielle Parker said.
The cuts also affected 22 members who worked across 20 historical sites under the PAWV's 'Preserve WV AmeriCorps Program.' Parker said that although PAWV has been working with 20 historical sites this year, they work with hundreds around the state, often having members do service projects at sites that aren't actually hosting AmeriCorps members.
'For the preservation and cultural heritage tourism industries that we have in the state, they are gonna be severely impacted,' Parker added. 'Because we're being affected on many different fronts here.'
Parker said that the PAWV utilizes arts and humanities funding a lot and that this funding is also being proposed for elimination. She told 12 News that the organization has also been using AmeriCorps members for over a decade to help staff some of these sites so that they're at capacity.
'Unforgiving cuts in Washington' could force Clarksburg History Museum to close
'Keeping these places open is now going to be a much harder thing to do because there is no mechanism,' said Parker. 'It's very challenging for counties and communities to obtain money from their county commission or their city government to support these sites.'
Parker said that members of the PAWV are concerned about deferred maintenance of sites that are publicly-owned, as well as what'll happen to collections. Overall, she said that these funding cuts will affect the organization's reach and its ability to go out and assist other sites.
According to Parker, the PAWV recently established a historic trades team with members on its statewide site to do hands-on projects. However, due to the elimination of this AmeriCorps funding, the organization is having to pull some of these people back while looking for other avenues to help support them.
'We're seeing that we're going to be stunted in the growth of training historic trades professionals as well for our state, where we're already seeing a decline in available craftspeople,' she added.
Once the organization found out about the cuts last week, it notified the affected sites right away so that they could begin planning. Parker said that the sites losing their members are trying to find ways to keep them on, with some of these sites, like the Clarksburg History Museum, even resorting to fundraising.
'We are trying to transfer members to other programs that have not been defunded yet,' said Parker. 'So that's a little tricky because you're still seeing that maybe the sites will still lose their members. So maybe they move to another program that's in their community, but they're doing something entirely different.'
Parker added that the PAWV is trying to consider the option of transferring sites and members to programs that overlap with their programmatic area(s). She said that there are currently two programs in the state that could possibly take on a site, but the organization is still in the process of working through those details.
When asked if the organization was given a reason for these cuts, Parker stated that the reasoning they received wasn't definitive. 'We were told that we no longer align with the administration's priorities, but not why we no longer align,' she added.
Parker stated that since the PAWV is doing workforce development through the AmeriCorps program, she would think that they would be in alignment. She added that she's not sure what the program did that no longer follows suit, and that it makes things difficult to plan for the future.
'Sometimes funding priorities change and you know, you try to work through that,' said Parker. 'So, we're trying to figure out how we can do that right now.'
Parker encouraged the public to take a look at the full list of the sites affected by these cuts. The historical sites in north central West Virginia are as follows:
Arthurdale Heritage in Preston County
Clarksburg History Museum in Harrison County
Morgantown History Museum in Monongalia County
Northern Appalachian Coal Mining Heritage Association in Marion County
'If you've visited any of these sites, please know that they are under threat from multiple angles right now and that this is a time to try and support them if you're able to,' Parker added. 'Whether you're volunteering, donating, learning more about what they do.'
You can find more information about the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia and the entities that they serve on the organization's website.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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